The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has fined private lender RBL Bank Ltd Rs 2.27 crore for not complying with certain directives on loan recovery agents.

The RBI said it noticed "deficiencies in regulatory compliance" after it examined complaints received against RBL Bank’s recovery agents during the financial years 2018-19 to 2021-22.

 The RBI said the Mumbai-based lender failed to ensure that the loan recovery agents it engaged during those periods did not resort to intimidation or harassment and that it did not ensure police verification of the agents before employing them.

 This action is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers, the RBI added.

 Last year, the RBI issued a circular advising the financial institutions it regulated to "strictly ensure that they or their agents did not resort to intimidation or harassment of any kind", and that any violation would be "viewed seriously".