By Sarita Patnaik, IANS
New Delhi : SBI Cards – a joint venture between the nationalised State Bank of India and a private company – has approached the Delhi High Court contending it is a private entity and does not fall within the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The verdict in this case will decide whether a business scheme launched by a public sector bank – such as credit cards, home loans and other services – with a private company would be a private or a public entity.
On a petition by SBI Cards & Payment Services Pvt Ltd (SBI Cards), Justice S. Ravinder Bhatt of Delhi High Court last week issued notices to the Central Information Commission (CIC), besides the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and two SBI Cards customers.
The petitioner had approached the high court challenging a recent ruling of the CIC. SBI Cards is a joint venture between SBI, India’s largest nationalised bank, and GE Capital.
Admitting the appeal, the high court bench suspended the CIC order asking SBI Cards to provide requisite information to its customers Arun Kumar Verma and Dileep Ayachit under the RTI Act.
The bench suspended the CIC order saying that “the whole matter needs to be closely examined”. The bench fixed Nov 23 for the next hearing of the case.
In its July ruling on an appeal by two SBI Cards subscribers, the CIC held, “SBI Cards is a ‘public authority’ and hence customers can seek any information about the entity under the RTI Act.”
At that time, the RBI had taken the stand that SBI Cards and Payment Services Pvt. Ltd. cannot be treated as a public authority and hence cannot give any information.
Rejecting the contentions of the RBI and SBI Cards, Information Commissioner Padma Balasubramanian had grilled the government bank, asking: “Why does SBI Cards use the SBI’s logo in promotional activities in case it’s a private company?”
During the adjudication of appeals by information seekers, the CIC had also asked the RBI “to elaborate how SBI Cards cannot be treated as public authority by applying all the parameters laid down in the RTI Act”.
The CIC had delivered its ruling on the appeal by Verma and Ayachit. Cheques issued by them within the stipulated deadline in favour of SBI Cards were not encashed by the latter. Yet SBI Cards subsequently levied late payment charges and interest on them.
Upset by SBI Cards’ “high-handed and dishonest” behaviour akin to other private banking companies in the credit card business, Verma and Ayachit approached SBI Cards seeking information from them in October 2006 under the RTI Act, but SBI Cards rudely showed them the door saying it was not a public entity and was beyond the ambit of the RTI Act.
It was against this refusal that the two had approached the CIC.