Karnataka banks file cases to recover Rs 120.25 cr

Source :BL :BANGALORE, JUNE 19:2011

Banks, belonging to both the public and private sector in Karnataka, have filed 25,473 revenue recovery cases, amounting to Rs 120.25 crore under the Revenue Recovery (RR) Act.

According to a note prepared for the 117{+t}{+h} State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC)-Karnataka meet to be discussed on Monday, there are 8,588 cases pending for more than three years for recovery under the RR Act, Karnataka Agricultural Operations and Miscellaneous Provisions (KACOMP) Act and Karnataka Public Moneys Recovery of Dues (KPMR) Act.

In the current quarter, banks filed 783 applications involving a loan amount of Rs 5.04 crore.

At the 115th SLBC meet, it was reported that deputy commissioners of Chickmagalur and Kodagu districts were not accepting cases under the RR Act .

The State Revenue Department was requested to advise district-level authorities to expedite execution of recovery certificates for realising the dues.

“The State Revenue Department has been asked to inform the SLBC meet on Monday on steps taken in this regard,” said the SLBC convenor.

DEBT RECOVERY TRIBUNAL

Positions of presiding officer and recovery officer at Bangalore Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) have not been filled and are lying vacant for long. This has hampered the cases pending before the tribunal.

The presiding officer of Chennai DRT holds additional charge of Bangalore DRT.

As a result, it is reported that numerous instances of delay in taking the recovery measures to logical end even after issuance of a decree/order/RC.

“The delay in appointment is leading to deterioration in asset quality and value of assets charged to the banks. Since this is of prime concern to all banks, the State Bank of India has requested for taking up DRT matters in SLBC meetings for solving the issues,” explained the convenor.

RECOVERY TAHSILDARS

The Under Secretary to the Government Finance Department, in a letter on July 13, 2010, informed as follows, “Earlier the districts with large amount of bank dues to be recovered as arrears of land revenue used to have Recovery Tahsildars assisted by few staff. The salary of the recovery unit was being met by the banks. It is advised to place this matter before the SLBC to take a view whether the same arrangement can be revived.”

The matter was discussed during earlier SLBC meetings and based on the suggestion of the sub-committee on recovery and rehabilitation, it was decided in the previous SLBC meeting to select Belgaum, Bellary, Uttara Kannada and Bijapur districts for appointment of special tahasildars for recovery as these districts have have a higher number of cases pending under the RR Act.

expected to inform the steps taken in this regard.

SLBC has requested the State Finance Department for the appointment of special Tahasildars in the above districts and the Finance Department is

expected to inform the steps taken in this regard.