Mis-selling an offence under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, banks should concentrate on core business: FM

NEW DELHI: (Feb 23) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday came down heavily on banks resorting to mis-selling of financial products, including insurance, saying it is an offence under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

"Banks should concentrate on their core business... My pet peeve has always been .... you're spending more time on selling insurance when it is not required, and conveniently, it fell between two stools (of RBI and IRDAI)," Sitharaman told reporters after her customary post-Budget address to the Central Board of the RBI.

On February 11, the RBI had issued draft guidelines on mis-selling, saying banks will have to refund the entire amount paid by the customer for purchase of the product or service and also compensate the customer for any loss arising due to mis-selling as per an approved policy. The public has been given time until March 4 to give feedback.