Finance Minister Urges Banks to Stop Mis-selling and Focus on Core Business

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman urged banks to focus on their core functions of deposit mobilisation and lending, condemning the mis-selling of financial products, especially insurance. She welcomed the Reserve Bank of India's draft guidelines, effective July 1, which require banks to refund customers and compensate losses from mis-selling. Sitharaman highlighted regulatory gaps between RBI and IRDAI that allowed such practices, emphasizing that mis-selling is an offence under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Public feedback on the guidelines is open until March 4.