PREAMBLE
Be it enacted by Parliament in the Sixty-sixth Year of the Republic of India as follows
Prefatory Note Statement of Objects and Reasons. The Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976 provides for the incorporation, regulation and winding-up of Regional Rural Banks. The said Act was amended from time to time and the last amendment was in the year 2005.
2. In view of growing business of the Regional Rural Banks and expansion of their role in both qualitative as well as quantitative terms in extending banking services in rural areas, a need was felt to amend the Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976 to strengthen their capital base and improve their overall capabilities.
3. The Regional Rural Banks (Amendment) Bill, 2013, inter alia, seeks to make amendments to the said Act in respect of the following, namely
(a) to provide for the managerial and financial assistance from Sponsor Banks to the continued beyond the first five years of functioning of the Regional Rural Banks;
(b) to provide for the authorised capital of each Regional Rural Bank to be enhanced from five crore rupees to five hundred crore rupees;
(c) to provide for the issued capital to each Regional Rural Bank to be not less than one crore rupees;
(d) to make provisions for raising capital by Regional Rural Banks from sources other than the Central Government, the State Government and the Sponsor Bank subject to the condition that in no event the combined shareholding of the Central Government and the Sponsor Bank shall be less than fifty-one per cent. The State Government concerned shall be consulted if its shareholding is reduced below fifteen per cent and the Central Government may raise or reduce the shareholding of the Central Government, State Government concerned and the Sponsor Bank, by notification, with prior consultation with the State Government concerned;
(e) to make provisions for shareholders to elect directors in view of the proposed provisions for raising private capital by Regional Rural Banks from sources other than the Central Government, the State Government and the Sponsor Bank;
(f) to provide for the term of the Directors appointed by the Central Government on the Board of Directors of the Regional Rural Banks under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of Section 9 to be fixed for a period not exceeding two years and eligibility for re-nomination, and; the combined tenure of the Central Government nominated Director on the Board of one or more Regional Rural Bank, either separately or continuously, shall not exceed four years;
(g) to bring uniformity in accounting year, i.e. the date of closure of accounts from 31st day of December to 31st day of March .
4. The Bill seeks to achieve the above objects.
(1) This Act may be called the Regional Rural Banks (Amendment) Act, 2015.
(2) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint and different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act.
In the Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976 (21 of 1976) (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), in Section 3, in sub-section (3), in clause (c),
(a) the words during the first five years of its functioning shall be omitted;
(b) the proviso shall be omitted.
In the principal Act, in Section 5,
(a) for the words five crores of rupees divided into five lakhs of fully paid-up shares of one hundred rupees each , the words two thousand crore of rupees, divided into two hundred crore of fully paid-up shares of ten rupees each shall be substituted;
(b) in the proviso, for the words twenty-five lakhs of rupees, and the shares shall be, in all cases, fully paid-up shares of one hundred rupees each , the words one crore of rupees, and the shares shall be, in all cases, fully paid-up shares of ten rupees each shall be substituted.
In the principal Act, in Section 6,
(a) in sub-section (1), for the words twenty-five lakhs of rupees or exceed one crore of rupees , the words one crore of rupees shall be substituted;
(b) in sub-section (2), the following provisos shall be inserted, namely
Provided that in case the Regional Rural Bank raises its capital from sources other than the Central Government or the State Government or the Sponsor Bank, the shareholding of the Central Government and the Sponsor Bank shall not be less than fifty-one per cent:
Provided further that the Central Government shall consult the concerned State Government if the level of shareholding in the Regional Rural Bank of such State Government is reduced below fifteen per cent. ;
(c) after sub-section (2), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely
(2-A) The Central Government may, in consultation with the Sponsor Bank and the State Government, by notification, either raise or reduce the limit of shareholding of the Central Government, the State Government or the Sponsor Bank specified in sub-section (2):
Provided that the Central Government shall consult the concerned State Government before reducing the limit of shareholding of such State Government. ;
(d) in sub-section (3), after the words, brackets and figure as is specified in sub-section (2) , the words, brackets, figure and letter or, as the case may be, notified by the Central Government under sub-section (2-A) shall be inserted.
In the principal Act, in Section 9, in sub-section (1),
(a) in clause (a), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely
Provided that no person shall be nominated as a director, if he is already a director on the Board of any other Regional Rural Bank; ;
(b) after clause (e), the following clause shall be inserted, namely
(f) such number of directors elected by the shareholders other than the directors nominated by the Central Government, the State Government, the Sponsor Bank and other institutions owned or controlled by the Central Government or the State Government, whose names are entered in the register of shareholders of the Regional Rural Bank at least ninety days before the date of the meeting in which the election of directors takes place on the following basis, namely
(i) where the total amount of equity share capital issued to such shareholders is ten per cent or less of the total issued equity capital, one director shall be elected from such shareholders;
(ii) where the total amount of equity share capital issued to such shareholders is more than ten per cent but less than twenty-five per cent of the total issued equity capital, two directors shall be elected from the shareholders including the shareholders referred to in sub-clause (i);
(iii) where the total amount of equity share capital issued to such shareholders is twenty-five per cent or more of the total issued equity capital, three directors shall be elected from the shareholders including shareholders referred to in sub-clauses (i) and (ii). ;
(c) after sub-section (2), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely
(3) The Central Government may appoint an officer of the Central Government on the Board of Regional Rural Banks, if it considers necessary for the purposes of effective functioning of the Regional Rural Banks. .
In the principal Act, for Section 10, the following section shall be substituted, namely
10. Term of office of director. A director nominated under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of Section 9 shall hold office during the pleasure of the Central Government and for such term, not exceeding three years, from the date on which he assumes his office, as the Central Government may specify at the time of his nomination and shall be eligible for re-nomination:
Provided that no such director shall hold office either continuously or intermittently for a period exceeding six years. .
In the principal Act, in Section 19, in sub-section (1), for the figures, letters and words 31st day of December , the figures, letters and words 31st day of March shall be substituted.
1. Received the assent of the President on May 12, 2015 and published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section 1, dated 12th May, 2015, pp. 1-3, No. 18