Shares of RBL Bank hit a 52-week low following a news report that the private lender wrote off a Rs 300-crore loan within seven months of being sanctioned.

The stock fell close to 10% on Thursday to close at Rs 130.40 on BSE, despite earlier assurances from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that the financial health of the private lender is stable and there is no reason for depositors and other stakeholders to react to speculative reports. 

RBL Bank made the loan to a company as part of a consortium of lenders in 2018 and RBI has been seeking details about the bank’s loan portfolio from risk department for the past few months, according to the report.

“RBI had not explicitly red-flagged any particular transaction, but sensing that things were amiss, some board members of RBL Bank decided to meet deputy governor Rajeshwar Rao on 29 November to seek clarity, but they did not get any inkling of what RBI was planning," business daily Mint quoted a source as saying.

RBI decided to act and on 24 December appointed its chief general manager Yogesh Dayal on the board of RBL Bank.

In the 25 December board meeting, Dayal said the continuation of chief executive Vishwavir Ahuja has become untenable and RBI would have no choice but to supersede the board, as it did in the case of Yes Bank and Lakshmi Vilas Bank, if Ahuja did not step down immediately, Mint reported.

Earlier in June, RBI had approved the reappointment of Ahuja for a year instead of the three-year term sought by the bank. According to regulations, RBI can supersede a bank’s board under Section 36 ACA of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, but only after consultations with the government.