Free Press Journal: New Delhi: Friday,
May 05, 2017.
The SBI has
declined to share information about the quantum of money lying in suspended
bank accounts where customers do not claim interest on their deposits due to
religious reasons. Replying to an RTI query, the State Bank of India (SBI) said
it does not maintain such information in its database “in normal course of
business and extraction of the same will be voluminous and time taking
activity. “We, therefore, decline your application under Section 7 (9) of RTI
Act as the information sought by you is likely to divert disproportionately the
resources of the bank,” it said in reply to the application filed by PTI.
The section
bars disclosure of information which would disproportionately divert the
resources of the public authority or would be detrimental to the safety or
preservation of the record in question. These suspended accounts belong to
Muslims who do not want interest on their deposits.
The Islamic
law or Shariat prohibits paying any fee for renting money (called riba) for
specific periods of time. Islamic banks follow the principle of interest-free
banking.
The bank was
asked to provide details of suspended accounts, including their number and
money lying in those. It was also asked to share details of guidelines to deal
with interest accruing from the deposits. The interest which is not claimed by
depositors due to religious reasons is kept in suspended bank accounts.
According to an article published in the Reserve Bank of India’s journal in
2005, thousands of crores of rupees earned as interest is kept in suspended
accounts.
“Research reveals that a handsome bulk of money in India owned by
believers is lying idle, which if invested in profit sharing basis and utilised
properly, can have a major impact on the Indian economy,” the article read.