4.15 Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets
A provision is recognised when the Bank has a present
obligation as a result of past event, it is probable that an outflow of resources embodying economic benefits will be required to settle the obligation and a reliable estimate can be made of the amount of the obligation. Provisions are not discounted to their present value and are determined based on the best estimate required to settle the obligation at the reporting date. These estimates are reviewed at each reporting date and adjusted to reflect the current best estimates.
A contingent liability is a possible obligation that arises from past events whose existence will be confirmed by the occurrence or non-occurrence of one or more uncertain future events beyond the control of the Bank
or a present obligation that is not recognised because it is not probable that an outflow of resources will be required to settle the obligation. A contingent liability also arises in extremely rare cases where there is a liability that cannot be recognised because it cannot be measured reliably. The Bank does not recognise a contingent liability but discloses its existence in the financial statements.
Contingent Assets are not recognised in the
financial statements.
4.16 Leases
Leases where the lessor effectively retains substantially all the risks and benefits of ownership of the leased items are classified as operating leases. Operating lease payments are recognised as an expense in the profit and loss account on a straight line basis over the lease term.
4.17 Cash and Cash equivalent
Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, balances with RBI, balances with other banks and money at call and short notice.
4.18 Share Issue Expenses
Share issue expenses are adjusted against the Securities Premium Account in terms of Section 52(2) of the
Companies Act, 2013.
4.19 Reward points
Reward points on cards are accounted for based on value per point after taking into account the probability of redemption of such reward points
4.20 Derivative Transactions
Derivative transactions comprises of forward contracts, currency swaps and interest rate swaps. The Bank undertakes derivative transactions for trading and hedging balance sheet assets and liabilities.
The Bank recognises all derivative contracts (other than those designated as hedges) at fair value, on the date on which the derivative contracts are entered into and are remeasured at fair value as at the Balance Sheet or reporting dates.
Derivative transactions such as Foreign exchange forward contracts, Forex swap and Interest rate swaps outstanding as at the Balance Sheet date and held for trading, are fair valued at present value basis. The resulting profit or loss on valuation is recognised in the Profit and Loss Account.
Derivatives which are not intended for trading such as Foreign exchange forward contracts and Forex swaps and which are outstanding at balance sheet date are fair valued at the FEDAI closing SPOT rate. The premium or discount arising at the inception of such Forward contracts and Forex swaps is amortised as expense or income over the life of the contract.
Derivatives are classified as assets when the fair value is positive (positive marked to market value) or as liabilities when the fair value is negative (negative marked to market value).
Pursuant to the RBI guidelines, any receivable under a derivative contract with a counterparty which remains overdue for more than 90 days, mark-to-market gains on any other derivative contract with the same counterparty, is reversed through Profit and Loss account.
Note: The Bank has assessed its obligations arising in the normal course of business, including pending litigations, proceedings pending with tax authorities and other contracts including derivative and long term contracts. In accordance with the provisions of AS 29 on 'Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets', the Bank
recognises a provision for material foreseeable losses when it has a present obligation as a result of a past event and it is probable that an outflow of resources will be required to settle the obligation, in respect of which a reliable estimate can be made. In cases where the available information indicates that the loss on the contingency is reasonably possible or the amount of loss cannot be reasonably estimated, a disclosure to this effect is made as contingent liabilities in the financial statements. The Bank does not expect the outcome of these proceedings to have a materially adverse effect on its financial results.
18.2 Capital
During the year ended March 31, 2025, the Bank has allotted 1,657 Equity Shares (Previous Year: 133,268) of ?10/- each in respect of stock option exercised aggregating to ?0.0298 crore (Previous Year: ?2.40 crore). Accordingly,
share capital increased by T0.0017 crore (Previous Year: T0.13 crore) and share premium increased by T0.03 crore (Previous Year: ?2.27 crore) respectively.
18.3 Proposed dividend
The Board of Directors at its meeting held on April 30, 2025, has proposed a dividend of ?1.50 per share
(Previous Year: T1.50 per share) for the year ended March 31, 2025 subject to approval of the members at the ensuing Annual General Meeting. In terms of revised Accounting Standard (AS) 4 'Contingencies and Events occurring
after the Balance sheet date as notified by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs through amendments to Companies (Accounting Standards) Rules, 2021, the Bank has not accounted for proposed dividend aggregating to T241.65 crore (Previous Year: T241.65 crore) as a liability for the year ended March 31, 2025. Effect of the proposed dividend has been reckoned in determining capital funds in the computation of capital adequacy ratios as at March 31, 2025 and March 31, 2024.
#An amount of ?0.0298 crore raised pursuant to exercise of employee stock options during the year ended March
31, 2025 (year ended March 31, 2024: T2.40 crore)
*The Bank has not raised (March 31, 2025: Nil) perpetual debt capital instruments qualifying for Additional Tier-1 capital and subordinated debt qualifying for Tier-2 capital (March 31, 2024: Nil).
In accordance with the RBI guidelines, banks are required to make consolidated Pillar 3 and Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR) disclosures under the Basel III Framework. These disclosures are available on the Bank's website at the following link:httDs://www.bandhanbank.com/regulatorv-disclosures. The disclosures have not been subjected to audit by the statutory auditors of the Bank.
"Basis the clarification received, the Bank w.e.f quarter ended June 30, 2024 has assigned risk weight of 125% to its Emerging Entrepreneurs Business (EEB) Group Loans and Small Business & Agri Loans (SBAL) portfolio as
against 75% risk weight assigned earlier. Accordingly capital adequacy as on March 31, 2024 been recomputed at 14.69% as against 18.28% disclosed earlier. Subsequently as per RBI Circular on "Review of Risk Weights on
Microfinance Loans" dated February 25, 2025; the Bank has assigned risk weight of 75% to its EEB Group Loans and SBAL portfolio where such advances meets the criteria to be classified as regulatory retail portfolio (RRP) for regulatory capital purposes.
B) Draw Down From Reserve
There has been no draw down from reserves during the year ended March 31, 2025 and March 31, 2024.
C) Sale and transfers of Securities to / from HTM Category
During the year ended March 31, 2025 and the Previous Year ended March 31, 2024 the Bank has not sold and transferred securities to or from HTM category exceeding 5% of the book value of investment held in HTM category at the beginning of the year. The 5% threshold referred to above does not include onetime transfer of securities to/from HTM category with the approval of Board of Directors permitted to be undertaken by banks as per extant RBI guidelines, sale of securities under pre-announced Open Market Operation (OMO) auction to the RBI and sale of securities or transfer to AFS / HFT consequent to the reduction of ceiling on SLR securities under HTM.
F) Divergence in asset classification and provisioning
In terms of the RBI guidelines banks are required to disclose the divergence in asset classification and provisioning consequent to RBI's annual supervisory process i n their notes to accounts to the financial statements, wherever the additional provisioning assessed / additional gross NPAs identified by RBI exceeds the threshold specified by RBI. The threshold for provisioning is 5 per cent (Previous year 5 per cent) of the reported profit before provisions and contingencies for the reference period and that for additional gross NPAs is 5 per cent (Previous year 5 per cent) of the published incremental Gross NPAs for the reference period.
Based on the above, there was no divergence in asset classification and provisioning for NPAs in current year and no reportable divergence for the Previous Year.
G) Transfer of Loan Exposures
Details of loans transferred excluding through Inter- Bank Participation Certificate (IBPC) & acquired during the year ended March 31, 2025 under the RBI Master Direction on Transfer of Loan Exposures dated
September 24, 2021 are given below:
i) Details of Financial Assets sold to Securitisation / Reconstruction company for Reconstruction
There was no stressed loans transferred and Investment made in Security Receipts during the year ended March 31, 2025 to ARCs for technically written off and NPA accounts. Details for the Previous Years is given below:
ii) Details of Non Performing Financial Assets Purchased
The Bank did not purchase any Non Performing Financial Assets during the year ended March 31,2025 and March 31,2024.
iii) Details of Special Mention Account (SMA) or Stressed Financial Assets Purchased
The Bank did not purchase any Special Mention Account (SMA) or Stressed Financial Assets during the year ended March 31,2025 and March 31,2024.
Note:
Exposure is higher of limits sanctioned or the amounts outstanding as at the year end.
#As per the Master Circular on Exposure norms dates July 01,2014 banks direct investment in shares, convertible bonds, convertible debentures, units of equity oriented mutual funds and exposures to venture capital funds have been shown at their respective cost price.
C) Details of Single Borrower Limit (SGL) / Group Borrower Limit (GBL) exceeded by the Bank
During the year ended March 31, 2025 and March 31, 2024, the Bank's credit exposure to single borrower and
group borrowers was within the prudential exposure limits prescribed by RBI.
D) Unsecured Advances against Intangible Collaterals
During the year ended March 31, 2025 and March 31, 2024, there are no unsecured advances for which intangible securities such as charge over the rights, licenses, authority etc. has been taken as collateral by the Bank.
E) Risk Category wise Country Exposure
As per the extant RBI guidelines, the country exposure of the Bank is categorised into seven risk categories namely insignificant, low, moderately low, moderate, moderately high, high, very high on the basis of Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of I ndia Limited (ECGC) guidelines. The net funded exposure of the Bank in respect
of foreign exchange transactions with each country is within 1% of the total assets of the Bank and hence no provision is required to be made in respect of country risk as per the RBI guidelines.
F) Unhedged Foreign Currency Exposure
During the year ended March 31, 2025, the Bank made provision of ?0.16 crore (Previous Year: ?4.20 crore) towards un-hedged foreign currency exposure. As on March 31, 2025, the Bank held cumulative provision towards un-hedged foreign currency exposure of ?11.56 crore (Previous Year: ?11.40 crore). As on March'25, the Bank is required to provide additional Capital of ?90.17 crore (Previous Year: ?124.88 crore) towards borrowers having un-hedged foreign currency exposures in accordance with RBI guidelines.
G) Intra Group Exposures
The Bank did not have any intra group exposure during the year ended March 31,2025 and March 31,2024.
H) Factoring Exposures
The Bank did not have any factoring exposure during the year ended March 31,2025 and March 31,2024.
D) The Code on Social Security, 2020
The Code on Social Security 2020 ('the Code') relating to employee benefits, during the employment and postemployment, has received Presidential assent on September 28, 2020. The Code has been published in
the Gazette of India. Further, the Ministry of Labour and Employment has released draft rules for the Code on November 13, 2020. The effective date from which the changes are applicable is yet to be notified and rules for quantifying the financial impact are not yet issued. The Bank will assess the impact of the Code and will give appropriate impact in the financial statements in the period in which, the Code becomes effective and the related rules to determine the financial impact are published.
18.11 Segment Reporting
A) Segment Identification
Pursuant to the guidelines issued by RBI on AS 17 - Segment Reporting - Enhancement of Disclosures dated April 18, 2007, the following business segments have been reported:
i) Treasury :
Treasury operations include investments in sovereign securities and trading operations. The Treasury segment also includes the central funding unit.
ii) Retail banking :
Includes lending to individuals/small businesses through the branch network and other delivery channels subject
to the orientation, nature of product, granularity of the exposure and low value of individual exposure thereof. It also includes liability products, card services, internet banking, mobile banking, ATM services and NRI services.
All deposits sourced by branches are classified in retail category.
iii) Corporate/Wholesale Banking:
Includes corporate relationships not included under Retail Banking.
iv) Other Banking Business :
Include para banking activities like third party product distribution and other banking transaction not covered under any of the above three segments.
Income, expenses, assets and liabilities are either specifically identified with individual segments or are allocated to segments on a systematic basis.
The liabilities of the Bank are first used by the units generating the same. Any excess liabilities of the units are pooled to central funding unit (Treasury). Treasury then lends these funds to other units at appropriate rates.
The transfer pricing mechanism of the Bank is periodically reviewed. The segment results are determined based on the transfer pricing mechanism prevailing for the respective reporting periods.
Revenues of the Treasury segment primarily consist of fees and gains or losses from trading operations and i nterest income on the investment portfolio. The pri ncipal expenses of the segment consist of interest expense
on funds borrowed from external sources and other internal segments, premises expenses, personnel costs, other direct overheads and allocated expenses.
Revenues of the Corporate/Wholesale Banking segment consist of interest and fees earned on loans given to customers falling under this segment and fees arising from these. Revenues of the Retail Banking segment
are derived from interest earned on loans classified under this segment, fees for banking services and ATM interchange fees. Expenses of the Corporate/Wholesale Banking and Retail Banking segments primarily comprise interest expense on deposits and funds borrowed from other internal segments, infrastructure and premises expenses for operating the branch network and other delivery channels, personnel costs, other direct overheads
and allocated expenses.
Segment income includes earnings from external customers and from funds transferred to the other segments. Segment result includes revenue as reduced by interest expense and operating expenses and provisions, if any, for that segment. Segment-wise income and expenses include certain allocations. I nter segment interest income
and interest expense represent the transfer price received from and paid as per the transfer pricing mechanism presently followed by the Bank.
Notes:
The business of the Bank does not extend outside India and it does not have any assets outside India or earnings emanating from outside India. Accordingly, the Bank has reported operations in the domestic segment only.
'Treasury segment liabilities includes share capital and reserve & surplus
The RBI vide its circular dated April 07, 2022 on establishment of Digital Banking Units (DBUs), has prescribed reporting of Digital Banking Segment as a sub-segment of Retail Banking Segment. The Bank does not have any DBUs, hence Digital Banking Segment disclosures is not applicable.
Previous year figures are shown in"()".
Segment information is provided as per the MIS available for internal reporting purposes, which include certain estimates/assumptions. The methodology adopted in compiling and reporting the above information has been relied upon by the auditors.
18.12 Related Party disclosure
The Bank has transactions with its related parties comprising of associates/other related entities, key management personnel and the relatives of key management personnel.
As per AS 18 "Related Party Disclosures", notified under section 133 of the Companies Act 2013, read together with
paragraph 7 of the Companies (Accounts) Rules 2014, the Bank's related parties for the year ended March 31, 2025 are disclosed below:
18.15 Liability for Operating Leases
The Banking Units premises are generally rented on cancellable terms for less than twelve months with no escalation clause and renewable at the option of the Company. The Head office and the Bank Branches office premises are obtained on non- cancellable lease terms. Lease payment during the year are charged in the statement of profit & loss.
The amount of rent expenses included in the Profit & Loss account towards operating leases aggregate to 7364.80 crore (Previous year ended March 31,2024: 7298.43 crore).
Particulars of future minimum lease payment in respect of Head office & Bank branches are as mentioned below :
18.16 Small and Micro Industries
Under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 which came into force from October 02, 2006, certain disclosures are required to be made relating to Micro, Small and Medium enterprises.
There have been no reported cases of delays in payments to micro and small enterprises or of interest payments due to delays in such payments during the years ended March 31, 2025 and March 31, 2024. The above is based on the information available with the Bank which has been relied upon by the auditors.
18.17 Description of contingent liabilities
i) Claims against the Bank not acknowledged as debts:
An amount of 7280.77 crore (Previous year: 799.73 crore) is outstanding as at March 31, 2025, as claims against the Bank not acknowledged as Debts including 7162.90 crore (Previous year: 740.69 crore) being in the nature
of a contingent liability on account of proceedings pending with Tax authorities. The Bank is a party to various taxation matters in respect of which appeals are pending and various legal proceedings in the normal course of business. The Bank has reviewed and classified these items as possible obligations based on legal opi nion/judicial precedents/assessment and does not expect the outcome of these proceedings to have a materially adverse effect on the Bank's Financial Statements.
ii) Liability on account of Forward Exchange contracts
The Bank has entered into foreign exchange contracts with interbank Counterparties. Forward exchange contracts are commitments to buy or sell foreign currency at a future date at the contracted rate. The forward exchange contracts that are not intended for trading and are entered into to establish the amount of reporting currency required or available at the settlement date of a transaction are effectively valued at closing spot rate. The premium or discount arising on inception of such forward exchange contracts is amortised over the life of the contract as interest Expense / income. The amount in contingent liability represents notional outstanding principal amount.
iii) Guarantees given on behalf of constituents, Acceptances, Endorsements and Others
An amount of 72,008.19 crore (Previous year: 71,716.15 crore) is outstanding as at March 31, 2025. As part of its
commercial banking activity, the Bank issues documentary credit and guarantees on behalf of its customers. Guarantees generally represent irrevocable assurances that the Bank will make payments in the event of the customer failing to fulfil its financial or performance obligations.
iv) Currency swaps & interest rate swaps
This item represents the notional principal amount of various derivative instruments which the Bank undertakes
in its normal course of business. The Bank undertakes these contracts to manage its own interest rate and foreign exchange positions.
18.19 Disclosures on Remuneration Qualitative Disclosures
A) Information relating to the composition and mandate of the Remuneration Committee.
The Bank's Nomination and Remuneration Committee (NRC) oversees the framing, review and implementation of the Compensation Policy on behalf of the Board of Directors. The NRC reviews the policy at least once a year to ensure that the reward design is aligned to industry best practices and is consistent with effective risk management and long term business interests of the Bank. The NRC works in close coordination with the Risk Management Committee of the Bank, to achieve the effective alignment between remuneration and risks.
As on March 31,2025 the NRC comprises of the
following directors.
Mr. Suhail Chander - Chairman
Dr. A S Ramasastri Mr. Philip Mathew
The NRC functions with the following main objectives:
i) To identify persons who are qualified to
become directors in accordance with the criteria laid down, recommend to the Board
their appointment, re-appointment or removal and to carry out evaluation of every Director's performance;
ii) To formulate the criteria for determining qualifications, positive attributes and independence of a Director and decide their 'fit & proper' status;
iii) To oversee the framing, review and implementation of compensation policy of the Bank and recommend to the Board the overall remuneration philosophy and policy including the level and structure of fixed pay, variable pay, perquisites, bonus pool, stock based remuneration to employees;
iv) To oversee the framing, implementation and review of the Remuneration of the Whole Time Director (WTDs) /Managing Director (MD)/ Chief Executive Officer (CEOs) as per the RBI Guidelines and Companies Act, 2013. The Committee shall recommend to the Board the remuneration package for the Managing Director & CEO and the other Whole Time Directors - including the level of fixed pay, variable pay, stock based Remuneration and perquisites;
v) To review the HR strategy and policy i ncluding the conduct and ethics of the Bank
and review any fundamental changes in the organisation structure which could have wide ranging and high risk implications;
vi) To review and recommend to the Board, the
succession policy at the level of Managing Director & CEO, other WTDs, senior management one level below the Board and key roles.
B) Information relating to the design and structure of remuneration processes and the key Features and objectives of remuneration policy
The Compensation Policy reflects the Bank's
objectives for good corporate governance as well as sustained and long-term value creation for stakeholders. The aims of the Bank's remuneration framework are to:
i) Attract, motivate and retain people with requisite skill, experience and ability to
deliver the Bank's strategy;
ii) Create an alignment and balance between the rewards and risk exposure of shareholders and interests of employees;
iii) Link rewards to creation of long term sustainable shareholder value consistent with strategic goals and appropriate risk management; and
iv) Encourage behaviour consistent with the Bank's values and principles.
v) Support appropriate conduct and meritocratic culture through differentiated
performance rewards
To achieve the above objectives, the philosophy adopted by the Bank is as follows:
i) Market referenced: offer employees
competitive salary, achieved through benchmarking with peer groups.
ii) Making fixed salary the main remuneration component.
iii) Ensure that jobs of similar internal value are grouped and pegged within a range guided by market benchmarked jobs.
iv) Risk Adjusted: By integrating non-financial
considerations relating to conduct in performance assessments, employing proper mix of compensation elements and aligning compensation incentives to risk outcomes and factoring the time horizon of risks
v) Focus on 'Total rewards', all aspects of compensation, rewards and well defined benefits, including rewarding work environment and personal development.
vi) The focus will be to ensure that the Bank is competitive in its overall salary offer to its employees without being excessively expensive for the Bank.
The compensation structure for the MD & CEO also mirrors the Bank's philosophy of aligning with the principles of sound compensation practices to ensure:
i) Effective and independent governance of compensation.
ii) Effective alignment of compensation with
prudent risk taking.
iii) Effective supervisory oversight and engagement by stakeholders.
Design & Structure of Remuneration process
The total compensation is a prudent mix of fixed remuneration and performance-based variable remuneration
The key remuneration elements are:
1) Fixed Pay
2) Discretionary Performance-based Variable Remuneration
The Bank ensures that the fixed pay element is reasonable, taking into account the market rates and trends. The fixed pay is reviewed annually using market intelligence provided by a leading global performance/reward consulting and benchmarking firm for financial services industry to ensure that the Bank remains competitive in
marketplace and that the Bank is able to attract and retain best talent. The level of fixed pay shall be sufficient enough in order to discourage
inappropriate risk-taking.
Performance-based variable remuneration may comprise cash bonus, stock linked instruments,
and is awarded by ensuring:
i) an appropriate balance between fixed and performance-based components;
ii) that the fixed component represents a higher proportion of the total remuneration;
iii) that the performance-based component reflects the risk underlying the achieved result;
iv) that a substantial part of the performance- based component may be deferred;
v) that no hedging of deferred shares takes place;
Presently, the bank utilises only two form of
performance based variable remuneration, viz.,cash bonus, ESOP, as referred in note no 18.32
is linked to continuous service with the Bank.
The compensation policy of the Bank is reviewed
by the NRC and approved by the Board of Directors. The NRC oversees the implementation
of the policy and reviews the fixed pay increases, the organisational performance threshold for bonus to be paid, cash bonus and deferred variable remuneration.
C) Description of the ways in which current and future risks are taken into account in the remuneration process
The MD & CEO, employees in the grades of
SVPs and above and employees engaged in the functions of Risk Control and Compliance are included in the policy of risk alignment of compensation.
The alignment of compensation to prudent risk taking is ensured through the following:
i) Structure of remuneration is such that a significant part of performance based variable remuneration is deferred.
ii) Performance hurdles includes financial and non-financial parameters, ensuring compensation is aligned to both.
iii) Fixed Salary is reasonable and sufficient, thereby discouraging inappropriate risk taking.
iv) Annual Bonus Plan is managed with an independent governance framework.
v) Variable remuneration awards are conditional, discretionary and contingent upon a sustainable and risk-adjusted performance. They are therefore capable of forfeiture or reduction at the Bank's discretion.
vi) For employees included in the policy of risk
alignment of compensation, NRC has the discretion to apply malus and clawback - ex-post risk adjustment, allowing the Bank
to adjust previously awarded remuneration to take account of subsequent performance and potential risk outcomes and thus enabling to recoup variable pay in the event of a negative contribution.
Deferral of Variable Pay
To ensure that risk measures are not focused only on the achievement of short term goals, variable payout is deferred, if it exceeds 50% of the fixed pay.
The Bank's compensation policy aims to ensure that both ex-ante estimates and ex-post
outcomes of risk affect payoffs; so that one or the other, can better address the various situations or risks.
D) Description of ways in which the Bank seeks to link performance, during a performance measurement period with levels of remuneration.
The Bank has a performance measurement framework in place to assess the achievements of the organisation as a whole, its business lines and organisational units as well as individual employees. In order to maximise the incentive to deliver adequate performance and to take into account any risks of the business activities, the Bank seeks to closely link remuneration outcomes with performance and risk outcomes. Accordingly, the Bank's performance management and compensation philosophy is designed in a manner to help achieve the Bank's business objectives.
The performance management system in the Bank is aligned to the balanced scorecard approach. The goal setting process helps
individuals to have clarity on their roles and align their profiles in line with the broad organisation strategy. Both quantitative / financial and qualitative / non-financial performance measures are considered. The qualitative or non-financial measures include customer service, adherence to risk and compliance standards, behaviour and values such as accountability, team work, etc., which builds a culture conducive to sustainable business performance.
The performance appraisal process starts with the employee conducting self-appraisal followed by the assessment of the supervisor via appraisal feedback and discussion.
Individual fixed pay increases and variable remuneration are based on the final performance ratings. In addition, the fixed pay increase is also influenced by an employee's position in
the salary range and relevant market salaries. Performance related variable compensation is linked to corporate performance, business performance and individual performance. The performance ratings based bonus distribution matrix is reviewed by the NRC.
Employees engaged in all control functions including Compliance and Risk do not carry business profit targets in their goal sheets and hence are compensated based on their achievement of key result areas as per the balance score card. The aim is to ensure that the remuneration system and outcomes relating to such control functions maintain the independence of the function and Bank's robust risk management framework. Accordingly, for the control functions, the variable pay is conservative to promote prudent risk management behaviour and the 'pay mix' is skewed towards fixed pay.
In the case of performance evaluation of the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of
the Bank, factors such as financial performance measures, cost management initiatives, other strategic initiatives, prudential risk and compliance management, recognition and awards to the Bank, etc., is taken into account, which may vary from year to year depending on the Bank's strategic priorities. Based on the inputs from NRC, the Board reviews the performance and
recommends the rate of bonus to be paid, and the increments for the MD & CEO, for regulatory
approval in terms of Section 35B of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (B.R. Act, 1949).
E) Bank's policy on deferral and vesting of variable remuneration and bank's policy and criteria for adjusting deferred remuneration before vesting and after vesting.
In terms of RBI guidelines, the Compensation Policy
specifically addresses the following categories of employees:
Category I : Managing Director &Chief Executive Officer / Whole Time Directors / Material Risk Takers
Category II : Risk Control and Compliance Staff
Category III: Other Categories of Staff (employees
receiving share-linked variable pay)
The following principles are applied for grant and deferral of performance-based variable remuneration for the above categories of employees.
Category I
i) Variable pay shall not exceed 3 (three) times the annual fixed pay for MD & CEO and WTDs.
ii) Variable pay shall not exceed 2.5 (two and half) times the annual fixed pay for MRTs.
iii) At minimum, variable pay shall be equal to the annual fixed pay.
iv) If an executive is barred by regulation/ statute to receive grant of share-linked i nstruments,
the variable pay shall be capped at 1.5 (one and half) times the annual fixed pay, but will be more than 50% of the annual fixed pay
v) I f variable pay is up to 2 (two) times the annual fixed pay, then at least 50% of the variable pay shall be in the form of share- linked instruments (i.e. non-cash).
vi) If variable pay is between 2 (two) to 3 (three) times the annual fixed pay, then at least two— thirds of the variable pay shall be in the form of share-linked instruments (i.e. non-cash).
vii) At least 60% of total variable pay shall be deferred including at least 50% of cash- based variable pay. However, in cases where the cash component of variable pay is under ?25 lakh, the Bank at its discretion, may not necessarily have deferral requirements.
viii) Deferral of cash based variable pay shall be for 3 years on pro-rata yearly basis (annual vesting).
ix) Deferral of share-linked variable pay shall be for 4 years on pro-rata yearly basis (annual vesting).
x) In case the employee exits the organisation before the vesting of all three parts, the remaining deferred cash based variable pay will not be paid
Category II
i) The mix of Fixed Pay and Variable remuneration will be weighed towards Fixed Pay.
ii) Variable pay shall not exceed the annual fixed pay.
iii) At least 40% of the variable pay shall be in the form of share-linked instruments (i.e.
non-cash).
iv) Deferral of share-linked variable pay shall be for 4 years on pro-rata yearly basis (annual vesting).
v) The compensation will be commensurate to their key role in the Bank.
Category III
i) Variable Remuneration will be as per the NRC approved pay-out levels in terms of performance, grade and role matrix.
ii) Variable pay shall not exceed the annual fixed pay.
iii) At least 50% of the variable pay shall be in the form of share-linked instruments (i.e.
non-cash).
iv) Deferral of share-linked variable pay shall be for 4 years on pro-rata yearly basis (annual vesting).
For the three categories of employees mentioned hereinabove, the awarded performance based variable pay shall be subject to in-year adjustment, malus or clawback as decided by the NRC, in the event of negative contribution of the Bank and / or relevant line of business and in material cases of detrimental conduct of individual or business.
Negative contribution of the Bank and / or relevant line of business is defined as:
Conduct related:
i) If an employee engages in certain detrimental conduct, including mis-selling practices, manipulation of interest rate benchmarks, illegal activity, breach of a fiduciary duty, etc. that causes material financial or reputational harm to the Bank.
ii) If the award was based on a material misrepresentation by the employee.
iii) If there is reasonable evidence of employee
malfeasance and breach of integrity inviting disciplinary actions.
iv) Violation of Anti Hedging and Anti Pledging Policy or Code of Conduct for Prevention of
Insider Trading.
Risk related and others:
i) If the awarded performance-based variable pay was granted on a deliberately erroneous foundation or an incorrect decision made due to gross negligence not considered as errors of judgement.
ii) If the employee who is reasonably expected
to be aware of the failure, misconduct or weakness in approach that contributed to the failure, improperly or with gross negligence failed to identify, assess, report or escalate in a timely manner.
iii) If the performance, decisions or actions taken leads to the Bank or the relevant business unit suffering a significant material downturn in its financial performance.
iv) If the RBI assessed divergence in the Bank's provisioning for Non-Performing Assets
(NPAs) or asset classification exceeds the prescribed threshold for public disclosure, the bank shall not pay the unvested
portion of the variable compensation for the assessment year under malus clause. Further, in such a situation, there shall not be any increase in variable pay for
the assessment year. In case the bank's
post assessment Gross NPAs are less than 2.0%, these restrictions will apply only if the criteria for public disclosure are triggered either on account of divergence in provisioning or both provisioning and asset classification.
v) In the event of a material restatement, correction or amendment of the Bank's financial results for the relevant period.
18.26 Green Deposits raised by the bank
There has been no green deposits during the year ended March 31, 2025 and March 31, 2024.
18.27 Disclosure on Liquidity Coverage Ratio
(A) Qualitative disclosure
The Bank has adopted the Basel III framework on liquidity standards as prescribed by RBI and has put in place requisite systems and processes to enable periodical computation and reporting of the Liquidity Coverage
Ratio (LCR). The Risk department computes the LCR and reports the same to the Asset Liability Management Committee (ALCO) every month for review.
The Bank follows the criteria laid down by RBI for calculation of High Quality Liquid Assets (HQLA),gross outflows and inflows within the next 30-day period. HQLA predominantly comprises Government securities in excess of minimum SLR requirement viz. Treasury Bills, Central and State Government securities and excess of minimum
cash reserve ratio (CRR).
The Board of Directors has the overall responsibility for management of liquidity risk. The Board at overall level decides the strategy, policies and procedures of the bank to manage liquidity risk in accordance with the liquidity risk tolerance/limits. The Board has constituted Risk Management Committee, which reports to the Board, and consist of Managing Director and certain other Board members. The Committee is responsible for evaluating the overall risks faced by the bank including liquidity risk.
18.29 Disclosure on Derivatives
(i) Derivatives
Derivatives are financial instruments whose characteristics are derived from underlying parameters like interest rates or foreign exchange rates. These include forward contracts, swaps, etc. These transactions may expose the Bank to risks primarily in the nature of market and credit risk. The following sections outline the nature and
terms of the derivative transactions undertaken by the Bank.
Interest Rate swaps undertaken by the Bank involve the exchange of interest obligations with a counterparty for a specified period without exchanging the underlying principal i.e., notional amount. The Bank has undertaken derivative transactions in Rupee Interest Rate Swaps (OIS) only on the Astroid platform of CCIL for proprietary trading.
Foreign Exchange forward contracts and Foreign Exchange Swaps are agreements to buy /sell/exchange fixed amounts of currency against another currency at an agreed exchange rate on Spot / forward date. These instruments are carried at fair value.
The Bank has adopted the following mechanism for managing risks arising out of the derivative transactions.
The derivative transactions are governed by the Investment Policy and Market Risk Management Policy of the Bank as well as by the extant RBI guidelines. The risk limits are set up and actual exposures are monitored vis-a-vis the limits allocated. These limits are set up taking into account market volatility, risk appetite, business strategy and management experience. Risk limits are in place for risk parameters viz. Value at Risk (VaR), Maximum tenor, deal size and Price Value of a Basis Point (PVBP). Actual positions are monitored against these limits on a daily basis and breaches if any are reported promptly.
The Treasury has entered into derivative transactions with interbank counterparties. The Bank has an independent back-office and mid-office as per regulatory guidelines. The MTM position of the derivative portfolio is monitored
on a daily basis. The risk profile of the outstanding portfolio is reviewed by the Board at regular intervals.
Derivative transactions such as foreign exchange forward contracts, foreign exchange swap and Interest rate swaps outstanding as at the Balance Sheet date and held for trading, are fair valued. The resulting profit or loss on valuation is recognised in the Profit and Loss Account. Derivatives which are not intended for trading such
as, Foreign Exchange forward contracts and Forex swaps and which are outstanding at balance sheet date, are fair valued at the FEDAI closing rate. The premium or discount arising at the inception of such Forward contracts and Foreign Exchange swaps are amortised as expense or income over the life of the contract. Derivatives are classified as assets when the fair value is positive (positive marked to market value) or as liabilities when the fair value is negative (negative marked to market value). Bank has placed margin/collateral to Central Counterparty (CCIL) for various asset classes, wherever applicable.
18.32 Employee Stock Option Scheme (ESOS)
On July 26, 2017 the board of directors approved the Bandhan Bank Employee Stock Option Plan Series 1 for issue of stock options to eligible employees and directors of the Bank.
The Shareholders of the Bank at the meeting held on November 23, 2017 has approved the Employee Stock Option
Plan Series 1 and the grant of Employee Stock Option to the employees of the Bank. The said approval accords the Board of Directors of the Bank or any Committee including the Nomination and Remuneration Committee, which the Board has constituted, to create, offer, and grant at any time to permanent employees of the Bank, including any Director of the Bank, whether whole-time or otherwise but excluding Promoter(s), Independent Directors and Directors holding directly or indirectly more than 10% of the outstanding equity shares, employee stock options from time to time in one or more tranches.
This plan was framed in accordance with the SEBI (Employee Stock Option Scheme & Employee Stock Purchase
Scheme) Guidelines, 1999 as amended from time to time and as applicable at the time of the grant. The accounting for the stock options has been in accordance with the SEBI (Share Based Employee Benefits) Regulations, 2014 to
the extent applicable.
Employee Stock Option Plan Series 1 provides for the issuance of options at the recommendation of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee of the Board ('NRC') at the closing price on the working day immediately preceding
the date when options are granted. The closing price of the Bank's equity share on an Indian stock exchange with the highest trading volume as of the working day preceding the date of grant set forth by the NRC at the time of grant. The period in which the options may be exercised cannot exceed five years from date of expiry of vesting period. However, if the participant's employment terminates due to retirement (including pursuant to any early/ voluntary retirement scheme), the whole of the unvested options shall vest on the first vesting date relating to the said grant, immediately following the date of superannuation. During the years ended March 31, 2025 and March 31, 2024, few modifications were made to the terms and conditions of ESOPs as approved by the NRC.
18.34 Disclosure under Rule 11(e) of the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014
As part of the normal banking business, the Bank grants loans and advances to its borrowers with permission to lend/invest or provide guarantee/security in other entities identified by such borrowers or on the basis of the basis of security/guarantee provided by the co¬ borrower. Similarly, the Bank may accept funds from its customers, who may instruct the Bank to lend/invest/ provide guarantee or security or the like against such deposit in other entities identified by such customers. These transactions are part of Bank's normal banking business, which is conducted after exercising proper due diligence including adherence to "Know Your Customer" guidelines.
Other than the nature of transactions described above:
• No funds have been advanced or loaned or invested by the Bank to or in any other person(s) or entity(ies) ("Intermediaries") with the understanding that the Intermediary shall lend or invest in party identified by or on behalf of the Bank (Ultimate Beneficiaries).
• The Bank has not received any fund from any party(s) (Funding Party) with the understanding that the Bank shall whether, directly or indirectly lend or invest in other persons or entities identified by or on behalf of the Bank ("Ultimate Beneficiaries") or provide any guarantee, security or the like on behalf of the Ultimate Beneficiaries.
18.35 Disclosure of Items that exceeds one percent under respective categories:
Other expenditure includes IT Operating expenses amounting to ?277.20 crore (Previous Year: ?305.13 crore) exceeding 1% of the total income of the Bank.
18.36 Other Assets includes Investment in RIDF (Rural Infrastructure Development Fund) amounting to ?4,499.88 crore (Previous Year ended March 31, 2024
?6,244.61 crore)
18.37 Remuneration by way of sitting fees paid to the Non-Executive Directors for attending meeting of the Board and its committees during the year ended March 31, 2025 amounting to ?4.25 crore (Previous
Year: ?3.38 crore).
18.38 Accounting Software Used for maintenance of Books of Accounts
As per the requirements of rule 3(1) of the Companies (Accounts) Rules 2014 the Bank uses only such
accounting software(s) for maintaining its books of account that have a feature of recording audit trail of each and every transaction creating an edit log of each change made in the books of account along with the date when such changes were made within such accounting software. This feature of recording audit trail has operated throughout the year and was not disabled, tampered with during the year and audit trail has also been preserved in accordance with statutory record retention requirements, except
(a) the audit trail configured at database level logs record only modified values in respect of two accounting software(s). Further, for one of these applications, the changes to capture pre-modified values was implemented from March 25, 2025.
(b) the audit trail to log any direct data changes was enabled at database level in case of one accounting software, from May 25, 2024.
The Bank has preserved the audit trail as per the statutory requirements for record retention except in the case of two sunset software discontinued during the previous financial year and one accounting software wherein audit trail was enabled at database level from February 18, 2024.
18.39 Provision for credit card and debit card reward points
Reward points on cards are accounted for based on value per point after taking into account the probability of redemption of such reward points. The Bank made provision of ?5.85 crore in FY 24-25 (Previous Year: Nil) in respect of reward points on debit & credit cards.
18.44 Implementation of IFRS converged Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS)
The RBI issued a circular in February, 2016 requiring
banks to implement Indian Accounting Standards ('Ind AS') and prepare Ind AS financial statements with effect from April 01, 2018. In line with the RBI
guidelines on Ind AS implementation, the Bank has formed a Steering Committee comprising members from the concerned functional areas. As advised by the RBI, the Bank has also submitted Proforma Ind AS financial statements every half year to the RBI.
Further, RBI vide its communication dated August 08, 2021, had advised the bank to submit
Proforma Ind AS financial statements.
Further on January 16, 2023 RBI released a discussion paper on the Expected Loss (EL) based approach for loan loss provisioning by banks to formulate a principle based guidelines supplemented by regulatory backstops wherever necessary.
However, the RBI in its press release issued on March 22, 2019 has deferred the applicability of Ind AS till
further notice for Scheduled Commercial Banks.
The Bank has made a diagnostic study to identify the gaps, process and system changes required to implement Ind AS and is in the process of implementing necessary changes in its IT system and other processes. The Bank is regularly holding workshops and training for its staff.
18.45 The Bank has applied its significant accounting policies in the preparation of these financial results consistent with those followed in the annual financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2024 and any circular / direction issued by RBI is implemented prospectively when it becomes applicable. Basis the RBI circulars/ directions, changes has been made during the year which are disclosed in Note
18.46 below.
18.46 A) Policies on classification and valuation
of investments:
With effect from April 01, 2024 the Bank adopted the
revised framework of classification and valuation of investments issued by RBI vide Master Direction No. RBI/DOR/2023-24/104 DOR.MRG.36/21.04.141/2023- 24 on Classification, Valuation and Operation of Investment Portfolio of Commercial Banks (Directions), 2023 dated September 12, 2023. The disclosure of transition impact in terms of Para 43 of the RBI Circular is disclosed in Note 18.5(A)(ii) of Notes to Accounts & Accounting Policy (refer 4.2)
B) Accounting for Employees Stock Option Expense:
Pursuant to RBI Guidelines on Compensation of Whole Time Directors/ Chief Executive Officers/ Material
Risk Takers and Control Function Staff, the Bank was recognising the cost of new stock options granted on or after April 01, 2021 to the Whole Time Directors,
Chief Executive Officers, Material Risk Takers and Control Function Staff at fair value on the date of grant using the Black-scholes model. During the year, pursuant to RBI advisory, the Bank has changed its accounting policy in respect of share based payment to all employees from intrinsic value method to fair value method for stock options granted after March 31, 2021 and consequently the bank has recognised fair value of options estimated using Black-Scholes model, as compensation expense over the vesting period as discosed in Accounting Policy (refer 4.10)
18.47 With respect to the claim under Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro Units (CGFMU), the Bank has received from NCGTC on January 21, 2025 the claim payout of ?289.59 crore. Accordingly, 'Other Income' for the year ended March 31, 2025 includes an amount aggregating to T537.61 crore (claim receivable of ?289.59 crore and reversal of ?248.02 crore pertaining to recoveries related to first tranche of accounts held under 'Other Liabilities'). In relation to the ECLGS scheme, the Bank has received a claim of ?123.25 crore from NCGTC during the year ended March 31, 2025. This is in addition to the claim received of T161.13 crore in earlier years. The balance claim would be received in line with the Scheme Guidelines. The said amount has reduced the provisions debited to Profit & Loss Account under "Provisions & Contingencies" and also been considered for computing Net NPA's as per the consistent accounting policy followed by the Bank.
18.48 Previous year figures have been regrouped/ reclassified, wherever necessary, to conform to current year classification.
As per our report of even date For and on behalf of Board of Directors
For Bandhan Bank Limited
For Singhi & Co For V. Sankar Aiyar & Co. Partha Pratim Sengupta Anup Kumar Sinha Vijay Nautamlal Bhatt
Chartered Accountants Chartered Accountants Managing Director & CEO Non-Executive ACB Chairman &
(Independent) Chairman Independent Director
Firm Registration Number : Firm Registration Number : Kolkata Kolkata Kolkata
302049E 109208W DIN: 08273324 DIN: 08249893 DIN: 00751001
Ravi Kapoor Karthik Srinivasan Ratan Kumar Kesh Rajinder Kumar Babbar Rajeev Mantri
Partner Partner Executive Director & COO Executive Director & CBO Chief Financial Officer
Membership Number : 040404 Membership Number : 514998 Kolkata Kolkata Kolkata
Place : Kolkata Place : Kolkata DIN: 10082714 DIN: 10540386
Date : April 30, 2025 Date : April 30, 2025
Indranil Banerjee
Company Secretary Kolkata
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