Actions against HDFC Bank, Mastercard driven by keenness to ensure compliance of norms: Das

A keenness to ensure compliance to regulatory guidelines has led the RBI to initiate strong actions against entities like HDFC Bank, Mastercard and American Express, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Friday. The RBI has banned HDFC Bank from selling new credit cards after instances of service outages, and asked Mastercard and American Express to not sell any new cards for data localisation non-compliance.

“Whenever there are deviations or violations of the regulatory guidelines, as the regulator, it is our job, it is our responsibility to ensure compliance. “All our actions are an outcome of our keenness and our responsibility to ensure that regulatory guidelines are complied,” Das told reporters in the customary post-policy review press conference. Refusing to comment on individual cases, Das said the central bank imposes restrictions as and when required.

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Das said a regulated entity, be it a card company, bank or non-bank lender, is expected to comply with regulatory guidelines. As the regulator, it is the RBI’s job to ensure compliance to the guidelines and flag it whenever there is a violation of the same, he added. The actions in many of the cases have been unprecedented and have been continuing for months together, resulting in the loss of market shares that will haunt in the future.