Scam record · 2023 · Banking / fraud
Bank write-offs: lakh-crore cleanup on public books
Parliament answers citing RBI show public-sector and scheduled banks writing off huge NPAs since 2014–15. Recovery from written-off accounts stays far smaller. Government says write-off is not waiver. Depositors still fund the cleanup story.
After the Asset Quality Review, NPAs were recognised more honestly. That part is real. What followed was also real: massive write-offs to clean balance sheets.
Finance Ministry replies in Lok Sabha, quoting RBI, put PSB write-offs around ₹10.42 lakh crore from FY2014–15 to FY2022–23, with recovery from written-off accounts around ₹1.61 lakh crore in that window. Broader SCB write-off totals cited in other replies run even higher over multi-year spans.
Official line: write-off is accounting after provisioning; borrower liability continues; recovery tools (DRT, SARFAESI, IBC) stay open. Citizen line: when recovery ratios stay low, the loss sits with the banking system that the public ultimately backstops.
List this beside PNB/Nirav and DHFL stress. Classic frauds are one lane. Quiet technical write-offs at scale are another. Both belong on a citizen proof shelf.
What is proven here
Proof level: official-record via RBI data in Parliament replies. Write-off ≠ proven criminal waiver. Large-industry share of write-offs is part of the public debate and should be checked against the specific reply year.
Sources
- Hindu BusinessLine: PSB write-offs vs recovery (Lok Sabha / RBI) (News + docs)
- The Hindu: banks write off ₹11.17 lakh crore in six years (News + docs)
- Economic Times: SCB write-offs since 2014–15 (Parliament) (News + docs)
- INC framing (secondary): 8 years, 8 frauds (Document)