The Hindu Business Line : Change laws to recover debts: AP bank union

THE Andhra Pradesh Bank Employees' Federation (APBEF) has urged the Government of India to amend the relevant laws to recover the huge bad debts of wilful defaulters and also treat wilful default as a criminal offence.

Addressing newspersons here today, the APBEF General Secretary, Mr B.S. Rambabu, said the federation, affiliated to the All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA), reiterates its demand to attach the personal properties of all the directors of defaulting companies.

"Further, we demand that the bank loan defaulters should not be allowed to occupy any public offices by debarring them to contest any election right from Sarpanch to the President of India," Mr Rambabu said.

According to Mr Rambabu, there are around 750 accounts from Andhra Pradesh leading to defaults of Rs 4,500 crore where suits were already filed. There were over 100 other cases where suits were not yet filed and the defaulted amounts aggregated over Rs 2,800 crore as at the end of March 2004. The federation proposes to come out with the latest list of defaulters for the fiscal ended March 2005 in the next couple of months.

The APBEF has also expressed serious concern and strong reservations on certain provisions in the Securitisation Act.

The APBEF alleged that the Act underwent many amendments leading to total dilution. While the defaulted companies were required to deposit up to 75 per cent of the disputed amount in the court as per the earlier provisions of the Act, the relaxed provisions now require them to deposit only 10 per cent amount.

"This should be raised at least to a level of 50 per cent," Mr Rambabu said.

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