To the Members of Bandhan Bank Limited
Report on the Audit of the Financial Statements
Opinion
1. We have audited the accompanying financial statements of Bandhan Bank Limited (the "Bank") which comprise the Balance Sheet as at March 31, 2023, and the Profit and Loss Account and the Cash Flow Statement for the year then ended, and notes to the Financial Statements including a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory information ("the Financial Statements").
2. In our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the explanations given to us, the aforesaid financial statements give the information required by the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 as well as the Companies Act, 2013 ("the Act") and the circulars and guidelines issued by Reserve Bank of India, in the manner so required for banking companies and are in conformity with the accounting principles generally accepted in India including the accounting standards specified under Section 133 of the Act as applicable to banks and give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Bank as at March 31, 2023, and its profit and its cash flows for the year ended on that date.
Basis for Opinion
3. We conducted our audit in accordance with the Standards on Auditing (SAs) specified under Section 143(10) of the Act. Our responsibilities under those Standards are further described in the "Auditor's Responsibilities for the Audit of Financial Statements" section of our report. We are independent of the Bank in accordance with the Code of Ethics issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India together with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the Financial Statements under the provisions of the Act and the Rules thereunder, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements and the Code of Ethics. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
Key audit matters
4. Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgment, were of most significance in our audit of the Financial Statements of the current year. These matters were addressed in the context of our audit of the Financial Statements as a whole and in forming our opinion thereon, and we do not provide a separate opinion on these matters. We have determined the matters described below to be the key audit matters:
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Identification and Provisioning of Non-performing Advances (NPA):
Total NPA as at March 31, 2023: '5298.62 Crores Provision for NPA as at March 31, 2023: '4070.35 Crores (Refer Schedule 9 & 18.6 to the Financial Statements)
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Key Audit Matter
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How our audit addressed the key audit matter
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Identification of NPA and measurement of provision on
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Tested the design and operating effectiveness of key controls
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account of NPA is made based on the assessment of various
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(including application controls) over approval, recording,
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criteria stipulated in the Reserve Bank of India ('RBI')
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monitoring, and recovery of loans, monitoring overdue/stressed
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guidelines on 'Prudential Norms on Income Recognition,
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accounts, identification of NPA, provision for NPA, and valuation
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Asset Classification and Provisioning pertaining to advances'
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of security including collateral. Testing of Application controls
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('IRACP').
The Bank is also required to apply its judgement to determine
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includes testing of automated controls, reports and system reconciliations.
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the identification and provision required against NPAs by applying quantitative as well as qualitative factors. The risk of identification of NPAs is affected by factors like stress and
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Evaluated the governance process and tested controls over calculations of provision on non-performing advances, basis of provisioning in accordance with the Board approved policy.
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liquidity concerns in certain sectors.
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Selected the borrowers based on quantitative and qualitative risk factors for their assessment of appropriate classification as NPA including computation of overdue ageing to assess its correct classification and provision amount as per the IRACP norms and Bank policy.
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Key Audit Matter
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How our audit addressed the key audit matter
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The provision against advances is based on criteria such
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Performed other substantive procedures including but not limited to
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as past due status, out of order status etc. The provision
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the following:
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in respect of such NPAs are made based on ageing and
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• Selected sample of performing loans and assessed them
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classification of NPAs, recovery estimates, value of security, nature of loan products and other qualitative factors and is
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independently as to whether these should be classified as NPA;
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subject to minimum provisioning levels prescribed by the RBI
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• For sample selected, examined the security valuation, financial
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and approved policy of the bank in this regard. In addition to
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statements and other qualitative information of the borrowers;
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this, for restructured accounts, provision is made for erosion/
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• Considered the accounts reported by the Bank and other Banks as
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diminution in fair value of restructured loans, in accordance
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Special Mention Accounts ("SMA") in RBI's Central Repository of
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with the RBI guidelines. Further, NPA classification is made borrower wise whereby if one facility of the borrower
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Information on Large Credits (CRILC) to identify stress;
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becomes NPA then all facilities of such a borrower will be
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• Performed inquiries with the credit and risk departments to
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treated as NPA.
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ascertain if there were indicators of stress or an occurrence of an event of default in a particular loan account or any product
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We have identified 'Identification of NPA and Provisioning on
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category which needs to be considered as NPA;
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Advances' as a key audit matter in view of the significant level
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• Assessed the appropriateness of asset classification and
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of estimation involved, as well as the stringent compliances
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adequacy of related provisioning by performing procedures
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laid down by the RBI in this regard.
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such as computation of overdue ageing, assessment of borrower level, NPA identification and verification of applicable provision rates as per IRACP norms and Bank's Policy on test check basis; and assessed the adequacy of disclosures against the relevant accounting standards and RBI requirements relating to NPAs.
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Information Technology ("IT") Systems and Controls impacting Financial Reporting
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The Bank has a complex IT architecture to support its day-to-day business operations. High volume of transactions are processed and recorded on single or multiple applications.
The reliability and security of IT systems plays a key role in the business operations of the Bank. Since large volume of transactions are processed daily, the IT controls are required to ensure that applications process data as expected and that
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Our procedures with respect to this matter included the following:
In assessing the controls over the IT systems of the Bank, we involved our technology specialists to obtain an understanding of the IT environment, IT infrastructure and IT systems. We evaluated and tested relevant IT general controls over the "in-scope" IT systems and IT dependencies identified as relevant for our audit of the financial statements and financial reporting process of the Bank. On such "inscope" IT systems, we have tested key IT general controls with respect
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changes are made in an appropriate manner.
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to the following domains:
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Appropriate IT general controls and application controls are
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• Program change management, which includes that program
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required to ensure that such IT systems are able to process
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changes are moved to the production environment as per defined
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the data, as required, completely, accurately and consistently
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procedures and relevant segregation of environment is ensured.
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for reliable financial reporting.
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• User access management, which includes user access provisioning, de-provisioning, access review, password management, sensitive
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We have identified 'IT systems and controls' as key audit
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access rights and segregation of duties to ensure that privilege
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matter because of the high level automation, significant
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access to applications, operating systems and databases in
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number of systems being used by the management and
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the production environment were granted only to authorized
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the complexity of the IT architecture and its impact on the financial reporting system.
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personnel.
• Program development, which includes controls over IT application development or implementation and related infrastructure, which are relied upon for financial reporting. In addition, understood where relevant, changes made to the IT landscape during the audit period.
• IT operations, which includes job scheduling, monitoring and backup and recovery.
We also evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness of relevant key IT dependencies within the key business process, which included testing automated controls, automated calculations/ accounting procedures, interfaces, segregation of duties and system generated reports, as applicable.
We communicated with those charged with governance and management and tested a combination of compensating controls or remediated controls and/or performed alternative audit procedures, where necessary.
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Other Information
5. The Bank's Board of Directors is responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report but does not include the Financial Statements and our auditor's report thereon. The annual report is expected to be made available to us after the date of this auditor's report.
Our opinion on the Financial Statements does not cover the other information and we will not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.
In connection with our audit of the Financial Statements, our responsibility is to read the other information identified above when it becomes available and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the Financial Statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. When we read the annual report, if we conclude that there is a material misstatement therein, we are required to communicate the matter to those charged with governance and take appropriate action as applicable under the relevant laws and regulations.
Responsibilities of management and those charged with governance for the Financial Statements
6. The Bank's Board of Directors is responsible for the matters stated in Section 134(5) of the Act, with respect to the preparation of these Financial Statements that give a true and fair view of the financial position, financial performance and cash flows of the Bank in accordance with the accounting principles generally accepted in India, including the Accounting Standards specified under Section 133 of the Act, and the provisions of Section 29 of the Banking Regulations Act, 1949 and circulars, guidelines and directions issued by the Reserve Bank of India ("RBI") from time to time. This responsibility also includes maintenance of adequate accounting records in accordance with the provisions of the Act for safeguarding of the assets of the Bank and for preventing and detecting frauds and other irregularities; selection and application of appropriate accounting policies; making judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and design, implementation and maintenance of adequate internal financial controls, that were operating effectively for ensuring the accuracy and completeness of the accounting records, relevant to the preparation and presentation of the Financial Statements that give a true and fair view and are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
7. In preparing the Financial Statements, management is responsible for assessing the Bank's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless management and Board of Director either intends to liquidate the Bank or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.
8. The Board of Directors are also responsible for overseeing the Bank's financial reporting process.
Auditor's Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Statements
9. Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the Financial Statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with SAs will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these Financial Statements.
10. As part of an audit in accordance with SAs, we exercise professional judgment and maintain professional skepticism throughout the audit. We also:
• Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the Financial Statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.
• Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances. Under Section 143(3) (i) of the Act, we are also responsible for expressing our opinion on whether the Bank has internal financial controls with reference to the Financial Statements in place and the operating effectiveness of such controls.
• Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by management of the Bank.
• Conclude on the appropriateness of management's use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the Bank's ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditor's report to the related disclosures in the Financial Statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor's report. However, future events or conditions may cause the Bank to cease to continue as a going concern.
• Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the Financial Statements, including the disclosures, and whether the Financial Statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation.
11. We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.
12. We also provide those charged with governance with a statement that we have complied with relevant ethical requirements regarding independence, and to communicate with them all relationships and other matters that may reasonably be thought to bear on our independence, and where applicable, related safeguards.
13. From the matters communicated with those charged with governance, we determine those matters that were of most significance in the audit of the Financial Statements of the current year and are therefore the key audit matters. We describe these matters in our auditor's report unless law or regulation precludes public disclosure about the matter or when, in extremely rare circumstances, we determine that a matter should not be communicated in our report because the adverse consequences of doing so would reasonably be expected to outweigh the public interest benefits of such communication.
Other Matter
14. The Financial Statements of the Bank for the previous year ended March 31, 2022, were jointly audited by Deloitte Haskins & Sells and M M Nissim & Co LLP, who, vide their report dated May 13, 2022, expressed an unmodified opinion on those Financial Statements.
Our opinion on the financial statements is not modified in respect of the above matter.
Report on other legal and regulatory requirements
15. In our opinion, the Balance Sheet and the Profit and Loss Account have been drawn up in accordance with the provisions of Section 29 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and Section 133 of the Act.
16. As required by sub-section (3) of Section 30 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, we report that:
(a) we have obtained all the information and explanations which, to the best of our knowledge and belief, were necessary for the purpose of our audit and have found them to be satisfactory;
(b) the transactions of the Bank, which have come to our notice, have been within the powers of the Bank;
(c) During the course of our audit, we have visited 29
branches and 50 banking units to examine the books of account and other records maintained at the branch and performed other relevant audit procedures. Since the key operations of the Bank are automated with the key applications integrated to the core banking system, the audit is carried out centrally at the Bank's Head Office located in Kolkata, as all the necessary records and data required for the purposes of our audit are available there.
17. As required by Section 143(3) of the Act, we report that:
(a) We have sought and obtained all the information and explanations which to the best of our knowledge and belief were necessary for the purposes of our audit;
(b) In our opinion, proper books of account as required by law have been kept by the Bank so far as it appears from our examination of those books;
(c) The Balance Sheet, the Profit and Loss Account and the Cash Flow Statement dealt with by this report are in agreement with the books of account;
(d) In our opinion, the aforesaid Financial Statements comply with the Accounting Standards specified under Section 133 of the Act, to the extent they are not inconsistent with the guidelines prescribed by RBI;
(e) On the basis of the written representations received from the directors as on March 31, 2023 taken on record by the Board of Directors, none of the directors is disqualified as on March 31, 2023 from being appointed as a director in terms of Section 164(2) of the Act;
(f) With respect to the adequacy of the internal financial controls with reference to Financial Statements of the Bank and the operating effectiveness of such controls, refer to our separate report in "Annexure A"; and
(g) With respect to the other matters to be included in the Auditor's Report in accordance with Rule 11 of the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014 (as amended), in our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the explanations given to us:
i. The Bank has disclosed the impact of pending litigations on its financial position in its Financial Statements - Refer Schedule 12 & 18.16 to the Financial Statements;
ii. The Bank did not have any long-term contracts including derivative contracts for which there were any material foreseeable losses.;
iii. There has been no delay in transferring amounts, required to be transferred, to the Investor
Education and Protection Fund by the Bank, during the year ended March 31, 2023;
iv. (a) The management has represented that,
to the best of its knowledge and belief, other than as disclosed in the Schedule
18.31 to the Financial Statements, no funds have been advanced or loaned or invested (either from borrowed funds or share premium or any other sources or kind of funds) by the Bank to or in any other person(s) or entity(ies), including foreign entities ("Intermediaries"), with the understanding, whether recorded in writing or otherwise, that the Intermediary shall, whether, directly or indirectly, lend or invest in other persons or entities identified in any manner whatsoever by or on behalf of the Bank ("Ultimate Beneficiaries") or provide any guarantee, security or the like on behalf of the Ultimate Beneficiaries;
(b) The management has represented that, to the best of its knowledge and belief, other than as disclosed in the Schedule
18.31 to the Financial Statements, no funds have been received by the Bank from any person(s) or entity(ies), including foreign entities ("Funding Parties"), with the understanding, whether recorded in writing or otherwise, that the Bank shall, whether, directly or indirectly, lend or invest in other persons or entities identified in any manner whatsoever by or on behalf of the Funding Party ("Ultimate Beneficiaries") or provide any guarantee, security or the like on behalf of the Ultimate Beneficiaries; and
(c) Based on such audit procedures that we considered reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances, nothing has come to our notice that has caused us to believe that the representations under sub-clause (a) and (b) contain any material misstatement.
v. As stated in Schedule 18.3 to the Financial Statements, the Board of Directors of the Bank have proposed dividend for the financial year 2022-23 which is subject to the approval of
the members at the ensuing Annual General Meeting. The amount of dividend proposed is in accordance with Section 123 of the Act, as applicable, until the date of this report.
vi. As proviso to Rule 3(1) of the Companies (Accounts) Rules, 2014 (as amended), which provides for maintaining books of account in accounting software having a feature of recording audit trail of each and every transaction, creating an edit log of each change made in books of account along with the date when such changes were made and ensuring that the audit trail cannot be disabled, is applicable to the Bank only with effect from financial year beginning April 1, 2023, the reporting under clause (g) of Rule 11 of the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014 (as amended), is currently not applicable.
18. In our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the explanations given to us, the provisions of Section 197 of the Act are not applicable to the Bank by virtue of Section 35B(2A) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. Accordingly, the reporting under Section 197(16) of the Act regarding payment/ provision for managerial remuneration in accordance with the requisite approvals mandated by the provisions of Section 197 read with Schedule V to the Act, is not applicable.
For M M Nissim & Co LLP
Chartered Accountants
(Firm Registration No. 107122W/ W100672)
Navin Kumar Jain
Partner
Membership No. 090847 UDIN: 23090847BGXVAV7363 Place: Kolkata Date: May 19, 2023
For Singhi & Co
Chartered Accountants (Firm Registration No. 302049E)
Ankit Dhelia
Partner
Membership No. 069178 UDIN: 23069178BGYIGJ3403 Place: Kolkata Date: May 19, 2023
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