Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has delisted three major private banks from its empanelled list due to their consistent underperformance in key government schemes over the past two financial years.
In a letter to principal secretaries of all government departments, finance department principal secretary Saswata Mishra cited poor performance in flagship schemes and discouraging general banking parameters of HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank as reasons for the removal.
All state government departments, directorates, heads of departments (HoDs), agencies, public sector undertakings (PSUs), societies, and universities have been directed to immediately close all savings, current, or other running accounts maintained with these three banks. “All these organisations are directed to immediately close their savings bank or current and other running accounts maintained in these three banks and transfer the account balance to any new or existing account opened or maintained in any other empanelled bank,” the letter read.
The letter, however, clarified that existing fixed or term deposits in these banks need not be closed now until maturity to avoid loss of interest. “But, on maturity of these deposits, the entire deposit along with accrued interest should be shifted to other empanelled banks,” it stated.
The departments have been warned that any non-compliance will be viewed seriously. “This instruction will be made effective prospectively from the date of issue of this letter. Non-compliance with these instructions will be viewed seriously. You are, therefore, requested to kindly circulate this letter to all state government and state government supported organisations coming under the administrative control of your respective department,” it added.
