idbi bank Management discussions

BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

During the Financial Year (FY) 2022-23, the global economy, which was gradually recovering from the COVID-19 related shocks, was challenged by various factors such as high inflation, supply chain disruptions due to escalation in geo-political tensions and reduced business and consumer confidence amidst heightened uncertainty. In the midst of the challenges, India continued to be a ‘bright spot in the global economy with resilient economic expansion. Several domestic factors helped to insulate the economy from the global turmoil. The private sector balance sheet has improved over the past couple of years, which has led to pick up in the investment cycle. Furthermore, the balance sheets of banks have been strengthened, aiding the banking system to come out of the asset quality cycle and support the uptick in the credit demand. Additionally, pick up in the pace of economic activity, aided partially by higher capex, especially on infrastructure, created a multiplier effect on the economy. Consumer demand has also strengthened with better economic prospects. These factors helped the domestic economic activity to remain in an expansionary mode during the year. Furthermore, India continued to maintain its position as one of the fastest growing major economies globally and has upped its share in the global economy. The credit offtake also remained healthy during the year underscoring the unabated pick-up in the pace of economic activity.

Going forward, Indias economic growth is likely to remain healthy in FY 2023-24 and beyond. It is likely that the inflationary pressures in the economy have peaked and would ease going ahead, aided by the measures taken by the policymakers as well as the base effect. This would help in supporting the domestic consumption demand, spurring further investment in the economy. Additionally, higher public spending, especially on infrastructure and healthy foreign investment inflows are expected to support the overall pace of economic activities. The resilience demonstrated by Indias economy in the face of the deteriorating external environment is expected to stand it in good stead and strong macroeconomic fundamentals are likely to ensure continued healthy economic growth in the near term.

BUSINESS REVIEW

Your Bank continued to maintain a strategic focus on profitable growth in business, bolstered by a strong balance sheet, healthy capital adequacy and prudent provisioning. The broad contours of the Banks business strategy continued to be centred on its intended positioning as a retail bank. To further strengthen its retail franchise, the Bank added 42 branches to its network during the year. As at end-March 2023, the Bank had a wide presence with a network of 1,928 branches, comprising 434 metro branches,

472 urban branches, 599 semi-urban branches and 421 rural branches (including 264 Financial Inclusion branches) across India, one overseas branch at Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Dubai and one International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) Banking Unit (IBU) at Gujarat International Finance Tec–City (GIFT), Gandhinagar. The Bank also served its customers through its network of 3,334 ATMs and 58 e-lounges on a pan-India basis as on March 31, 2023. At the same time, the Bank added several functionalities in its digital touchpoints, viz. internet banking and mobile banking, with an endeavour to create a seamless omni-channel experience to its customers.

Leveraging its expanding reach and improvement in digital capabilities, the Bank continued to target garnering low-cost and stable deposit base, i.e. CASA deposits and retail term deposits. Considering the revival in the domestic economic activity and consequential uptick in the credit demand, the Bank also tapped bulk deposits at competitive rates to augment its deposit base. The Bank supplemented its initiatives in this regard by tapping into business opportunities arising from its areas of synergy with Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). To drive growth in its business, the Bank has scaled up its data analytics capabilities and put in place Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system for insight-backed targeting of products/ services. Taking advantage of the strengthening credit demand in the economy, the Bank targeted growth in its retail & priority sector business as also explored lending opportunities to well-rated corporates to drive loan growth. Further, as a prudential measure, the Bank has been maintaining adequate provisioning which would be crucial in cushioning the impact of shocks, if any. Recognising the critical importance of ensuring quality asset book for stable and profitable growth, the Bank accorded due focus to resolution of non-performing assets and mitigating risk of slippages in the asset quality. Towards this end, the Bank has set up dedicated teams for corporate and retail cases to drive a focussed recovery effort. The Bank has set up a centralised dedicated desk for the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) cases and also identified a cross-section of nodal officers for cases filed in the Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRTs) in order to expedite the resolution of NPAs. To contain its fresh slippages, the Bank has set up a dedicated Credit Monitoring Group (CMG) for close monitoring of stressed loan accounts to prevent them from turning NPAs. Underpinning its strategic endeavours for business growth, the Bank continued to emphasise on imbibing prudent risk management practices and robust compliance culture in its day-to-day activities which is critically important for not just lending stability to its business but also for reinforcing its reputation as a trusted bank. The Bank continued to adhere to the highest standards in corporate governance in alignment with the regulatory and statutory norms.

The Bank has entered the expansionary business cycle from a position of strength, backed by diversified and granular balance sheet and healthy capital position and is well-positioned to further accelerate its growth momentum. Leveraging its improved operational & technological capabilities to ensure superior customer experience, the Bank will continue to target growth in its CASA deposits and retail term deposits to keep its cost of deposits at moderate levels. Further, the Bank will seek to tap its enhanced data analytics capability to drive personalised product offerings, thus enhancing customer wallet share. On the asset front, the Bank will continue to place emphasis on growing the retail asset portfolio, including Priority Sector Lending portfolio, in alignment with its strategic objective of having a diversified and granular portfolio mix. The Bank will also explore opportunities for growth in its corporate loan book through a risk-calibrated approach of targeting well-rated corporates, especially mid-sized ones, as well as taking exposure in the growth sectors. The Bank will continue to keep a close watch on its asset quality to minimise the risk of slippages and thus, maintain asset quality. Your Bank will strive to boost its fee income from cross-sell of transaction banking, third party and capital market products and thus, add to its bottom-line. To support its strategic business objectives, the Bank will continue to invest in technological advances and embed digitalisation across its systems & processes to enhance operational efficiency as well as to maximise customer ease and satisfaction. The Bank has integrated robust risk management, compliance and corporate governance practices in its operations and functions which would help it in reinforcing its brand identify as a trusted banking partner. Looking ahead, the Bank is poised for higher trajectory of growth, fuelled by relevant and customised product offerings, well-diversified loan book, robust risk management framework, technology-led transformation and strong compliance & corporate governance culture.

RETAIL BANKING

Retail Liability Products

Your Bank offers a gamut of deposit products, specifically designed to cater to the banking requirements of customers from all segments of the society.

Your Bank pursued its endeavour of _ne-tuning products/ processes, in tandem with the changing consumer preferences in the midst of evolving market dynamics. The Bank implemented state-of-the-art technology in digitising the customer on-boarding journeys through its Video Account Opening (VAO) platform. Mirroring the upward revision in the Repo Rate by the RBI, the Bank also revised its deposit interest rate.

In line with its customer engagement approach, the Bank extensively used data analytics and adopted Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools for driving targeted product offerings and for enhancing its business penetration.

NRI Services

Your Bank offers a wide array of products across the spectrum of Non-Resident (External) (NRE) Deposits/ Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) Deposits/ Foreign Currency Non-Resident (FCNR) Deposits, investments including equity market investments through Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS), remittances and loans to meet the banking and financial needs of the Indian diaspora across the globe.

Your Bank continued to undertake product/ process improvements for augmenting customer experience, service delivery and convenience of banking for its NRI customers.

Retail Assets

Your Bank continues to target a progressively larger retail business portfolio in keeping with its intended positioning as a full-service new generation commercial bank. The Bank currently offers a bouquet of retail asset products including Housing Loan (HL), Loan Against Property (LAP), Personal Loan (PL), Education Loan (EL), Auto Loan (AL), Loan against Securities (LAS), among other products. The products are periodically reviewed and modifications/ innovations/ customisations are carried out on a regular basis in tandem with the changing customer preferences. Your Bank processes the structured retail loans on an Automated Loan Processing System which helps in ensuring a faster Turn-Around Time (TAT).

To cater to the emerging needs of its customers, your Bank has launched new variant of Home Loan, viz. Ultra Saver Home Loan, wherein the loan is offered as an overdraft account which is intended at resulting in interest saving for customers with surplus cash flows. The Bank has also launched digital Personal Loan to cater to the financing requirements of tech-savvy customers.

Additionally, in order to support students from the Economically Weaker Sections (EWSs) of the society, the Bank continues to extend subsidy benefit to education loan borrowers under the Government of India (GoI) schemes such as Central Sector Interest Subsidy Scheme (CSIS), Dr. Ambedkar Central Sector Scheme of Interest Subsidy (CSIS) and Padho Pardesh Scheme.

During FY 2022-23, your Bank continued to remain a dominant player in the structured retail finance segment with best-in-class product offerings and services. The Bank registered a growth of over 14% on an annualised basis in its structured retail asset book. Within the structured retail loan book, the housing loan segment registered a growth of around 16%.

PRIORITY SECTOR BANKING

Your Bank has been contributing significantly to the Priority Sector Lending (PSL) as mandated by the RBI. As per the regulatory requirement, the Bank primarily focussed on financing to the agriculture sector and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) during the year. To extend its reach, the Bank provided its services in the unserved/ under-served areas through its Corporate BC/ BF network. The Bank had tie-ups with 43 Corporate BC/ BF service providers as on March 31, 2023. In terms of the GoI schemes/ directions, your Bank has been extending loans under various Central Government/ State Government sponsored schemes like Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), Stand-up India, Prime Minister Street Vendor Atmanirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi), Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), Agri Infrastructure Fund (AIF), etc. Your Bank is also committed towards lending to the minority communities and the weaker sections, including Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes (SCs/STs). During the year, the Bank launched two new products, viz. GST Plus and GST Express, in order to boost lending to the GST-registered entities. Your Bank also entered into co-lending tie-ups with select partners.

DIGITAL BANKING

The technological advancements in banking space have been pivotal for robust digital banking services. There is a significant growth in digital customers owing to comfort, safety, convenience and 24x7 availability of digital banking channels. Your Bank has seen a growth of 51% in overall digital transactions, 65% growth in the UPI transactions and 24% growth in active mobile banking customer base. Your Bank firmly believes that ‘Digital is the new Normal and foresees its digital journey to enrich customer experience, to provide personalised services on digital channels, to achieve sustainable growth in adoption of digital channels, to augment digital transactions by migrating customers on digital channels, thereby, lowering the operational cost by digitising processes, improving productivity and profit per employee. Your Bank has upgraded the Mobile Banking App ‘GO Mobile+ with NextGen look, improved and simpli_ed customer journeys and incorporated various new features to enrich its customer experience. New features in the app includes online creation/ closure of fixed deposits, recurring deposits, e-nomination, online subscription to Mutual Fund,

National Pension System, Public Provident Fund, Sukanya Samriddhi Account and other social security schemes of the Government, change of service branch, generation of loan statement & interest certificates, NACH mandate, ASBA IPO, NAMAN and doorstep banking services for senior citizens, etc.

Your Bank has set up a dedicated ATM Command Centre for 24x7 monitoring of ATM infrastructure and availability. As a result, ATM availability has improved substantially. Your Bank has also replaced more than 600 old ATMs during the year. Your Bank has put in place the necessary governance structure for engaging with FinTechs to achieve its strategic objectives of digital transformation, innovation and growth to explore new customer segments, develop more innovative products, streamline internal processes for cost efficiencies and provide value added services to customers. Your Bank has implemented Cardless ATM, Account Aggregator, API Services for digital on-boarding of retail loans, DigiKCC (Kisan Credit Card) and eSCF (Supply Chain Finance) in partnership with FinTechs.

THIRD PARTY PRODUCTS AND CAPITAL MARKET PRODUCTS

The Third Party Product (TPD) segment of your Bank offers various value-added products and services to customers, keeping in view their risk profile and financial goals. During FY 2022-23, your Bank launched various campaigns for imparting necessary thrust in enhancing fee income and fostering healthy sales culture. Your Bank distributes various products that include life insurance products through its life insurance partners, viz. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and Ageas Federal Life Insurance Co. Ltd. (AFLI), general & standalone health insurance products through its channel partners, viz. New India Assurance Co. Ltd., TATA AIG General Insurance Co. Ltd. and Niva Bupa Health Insurance Co. Ltd., mutual fund through various Asset Management Companies (AMCs), viz. IDBI Asset Management Ltd., LIC Mutual Fund etc., capital market products such as Demat Account, 2-in-1 Account (Savings and Demat accounts), 3-in-1 Account (Savings and Demat accounts linked to Online Trading account), Application Supported by Blocked Amount (ASBA) and Syndicate ASBA (SASBA), National Pension System (NPS) as well as bonds such as Government of India (GoI) bonds & capital gains bonds.

Your Bank undertook various initiatives for digitalising the third party product distribution. These initiatives include introduction of online mutual fund investment module, digital on-boarding in NPS account opening & e-nomination and mandatory KYC updation in Demat accounts through GO Mobile+ application.

Your Bank enabled Demat account opening through its mobile and internet banking channels. Your Bank also launched an abridged two-page Account Opening Form (AOF), viz. Duranto Demat Account, to extend the reach of Demat accounts to non-users of digital channels, by enabling instant Demat account opening with minimum documentation through the branch channel.

SYNERGIES WITH LIC

Since LIC acquired majority stake in your Bank in January 2019, numerous initiatives have been taken to leverage the potential business synergies between the two entities. Your Bank has identified specific action points in order to garner business in synergy areas through its best-in-class products and services especially in order to build low-cost deposit book, viz. current account book, along with efficient and optimal utilisation of its distribution channels/ touchpoints to source business as Corporate Agent of the LIC under the bancassurance channel. Your Bank has also been extending transaction banking services to meet collection/ payments related requirements of various offices of the LIC through its branch/ digital channels.

FINANCIAL INCLUSION

Your Bank has been proactive in partnering with the policymakers to further the objective of financial inclusion by ensuring access to financial products and services needed by vulnerable sections of the society at affordable cost in a fair and transparent manner. Your Bank has been actively promoting the agenda of financial inclusion with interventions in three key areas, viz. offering appropriate financial products, making intensive use of technology and enhancing financial literacy.

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) and Social Security Schemes

Your Bank has been proactively participating in the GoIs financial inclusion programme, viz. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) and in the GoIs social security schemes, viz. Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) for accident insurance cover, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) for life insurance cover and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) for old-age pension.

Business Correspondents (BCs)/ Business Facilitators (BFs)

Your Bank has leveraged its network of Business Correspondents (BCs)/ Business Facilitators (BFs) in an effort to increase penetration of banking services in rural and semi-urban locations and also to boost its Priority Sector Lending (PSL). Your Bank has conducted extensive training sessions/ workshops for all the BCs/ BFs at various locations across the country. Besides, your Bank has also provided on-the-job training to the BCs/ BFs to develop their technical skills for operating on technology platform while conducting banking transactions. Your Bank, in partnership with the CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd. (CSC), has been promoting the BC network. As on March 31, 2023, 2,255 Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLE) are acting as Business Correspondent Agents (BCAs) and providing basic banking activities at 2,255 locations.

Financial Literacy

Financial literacy has been identified as a pre-requisite for effective financial inclusion and an integral part of the PMJDY in order to let the beneficiaries make best use of the financial services being made available to them. Your Bank has been conducting various outreach programmes to spread awareness among people about various banking products. Your Banks Rural Self Employment Training Institute (IDBI RSETI) located at Satara district of Maharashtra conducts self-employment training aligned to National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) for the rural youth of the district as instructed by Ministry of Rural Development, Rural Skill Division, Gol. During the year under review, IDBI RSETI trained 723 candidates, of which 590 candidates (81.60%) have been reported as settled by establishing self-enterprises.

Other Initiatives under Financial Inclusion

Your Bank is registered with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) as Registrar for Aadhaar enrolments. The Bank has actively participated in the Direct Benefit Scheme of the Central/ State Governments. Further, the Bank has continued with the distribution of social security pension through its BC channel.

Your Bank has developed One-Time Password (OTP) based web modules that facilitate customers to enrol themselves under the APY, the PMJJBY and the PMSBY digitally. Your Bank has launched its own Kiosk Banking Solution (KBS), which is integrated with the Core Banking Solution (CBS), for facilitating financial and non-financial transactions using biometric authentication of customers at BC points.

CORPORATE BANKING

The corporate banking segment of your Bank comprises two verticals, viz. the Mid Corporate Group (MCG) and the Large Corporate Group (LCG).

Your Banks corporate banking portfolio includes exposure spread over varied sectors such as pharmaceuticals, engineering, power generation & distribution, EPC-infra, construction, telecom, cement, chemicals, basic metals and steel, mining & quarrying, engineering, electrical machinery, electronics & electrical equipment, power, oil & gas, fertilisers, automobiles, textiles, plastics, paper & paper products, rubber, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), food processing, sugar, tourism, hospitality, education, agriculture & allied activities, transport, computer software & related activities, IT services & technology, Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), etc. Your Banks product basket for corporate clients includes term loans for both projects and non-projects, working capital (both fund-based and non-fund based), packing credit and post-shipment credit to exporters, bill discounting, intraday limits, etc. Your Bank also offers various products such as Short-Term Loan – Non-Committed Line, Receivable Buyout, Funding against Stand by Letter of Credit, etc. to cater to the financing needs of its corporate clients. Within the ambit of corporate banking, your Bank also places due emphasis on Priority Sector Lending (PSL) by offering products such as channel financing and vendor financing for dealers/ vendors of corporates as also lending to NBFCs for on-lending to customers from the PSL segment.

ASSET QUALITY

Your Bank continued to focus its efforts towards containment of fresh Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) and maximising recovery from the existing impaired assets. As at end-March 2023, 93.62% of your Banks Total Assets were Performing Assets, whereas 6.38% were NPAs. The focussed efforts by the Bank have aided in containing fresh slippages to 1.98% of Standard Advances in FY 2022-23. During the year, the Banks recovery from impaired assets and upgrade of NPAs to Performing Assets amounted to

4,970 crore, which helped in reducing the end-level NPAs as on March 31, 2023. The Bank made adequate provisions in conformity with extant regulatory guidelines. As a prudent approach, your Bank has Provision Coverage Ratio (PCR) of 97.94% as on March 31, 2023. Your Bank has a dedicated vertical, viz. NPA Management Group (NMG), for driving focussed and aggressive approach towards resolution and recovery with account-specific strategies and close monitoring of corporate NPAs. Your Bank has set up a centralised desk for cases under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP). This dedicated desk has been playing a proactive role in providing an overall view by aiding internalisation of learning from the field and dissemination across teams for navigating through the complexities, thereby enabling the Bank to successfully handle the CIRP cases.

As of March 31, 2023, a total of 306 cases with an aggregate gross principal outstanding of 45,765 crore ((including NPAs/ Technically Written-Off (TWO) Assets) were undergoing CIRP within the ambit of Insolvency& Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016. Your Bank was able to resolve some of these cases and recover a sum of 682 crore during FY 2022-23. Your Bank has a ‘One Time Settlement (OTS) Management System which facilitates submission of an OTS application through its website and also enables end-to-end processing of an OTS proposal, including tracking of recovery. During the year, your Bank has also transferred five accounts (three NPA accounts and two Technically Written-Off accounts) with the Gross Principal Outstanding (GPO) amounting to 4,428 crore for consideration of 2,054 crore (which consists of cash recovery of 627.29 crore and Security Receipts of 1,426.30 crore) to the Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs). Your Bank has been pursuing legal action under the applicable laws including enforcement actions under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act, 2002. The Bank has also been following up with Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRTs)/ courts on a continual basis and has identified nodal cross-functional team of officers from the Banks NMG, Legal and Retail Recovery departments for the DRT work so as to minimise the delays in obtaining recovery certificates/ decrees and execution thereof.

As on March 31, 2023, your Bank classified 343 cases as wilful defaulters with punitive actions initiated against such borrowers/ promoters/ directors and declared eight cases as Non-Cooperative Borrowers.

Retail Collections

The Bank has set up a dedicated retail collection team to control incipient stress & slippages and collect dues and overdues from retail loan accounts. The retail collection activity entails reduction of Pre-Special Mention Accounts (SMAs), High Risk Accounts, SMAs and probable/ Marked First Time Non-Performing Assets (FTNPA). The retail collection team drives the collection activities with the help of a team of Collection Officers posted at different Zones/ Regions of the Bank and is also supported by the Call Centre, the Collection Agencies, Business Correspondents (BCs)/ Business Facilitators (BFs) and the branches/ the Retail Asset Centres (RACs) for branch-centric products.

The retail collection team makes extensive use of the Banks Call Centre and the Collection Agencies to achieve higher resolution rate on collections. The high risk accounts emanating from predictive model are being used to contain inflow of SMA by the Retail Asset Centres (RACs)/ branches, for focussed collection and for initiating remedial measures by the field functionaries. An Integrated Collection & Recovery Module (ICnRM), which is aimed at assisting the Bank to identify the stress and deploy resources (in-house/ external agencies) effectively, has been developed and is being implemented in stages. The digitised processes are aimed at facilitating a platform for convenient online collection & recovery of dues from delinquent borrowers and also providing a complete & seamless Management Information System (MIS) in the Bank.

Retail Recovery

Your Bank continued to aggressively follow up for recovery of bad loans by identifying and attaching unencumbered properties, ensuring enforcement of securities, opting for negotiated settlements, etc. With the rollback of COVID-related restrictions and appointment of Presiding Officers (POs) in most of the Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRTs), your Bank intensi_ed its efforts in resorting to all available legal remedies, viz. Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) actions, obtain permission from Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM)/ District Magistrate (DM) for taking physical possession of mortgaged assets, filing of suit for fast recovery, etc. With a thrust on maximising the recovery further in large number of retail Non-Performing Assets (NPA)/ Technically Written Off (TWO) accounts, your Bank has launched special One-Time Settlement (OTS) campaigns, non-discriminatory and non-discretionary special settlement schemes.

Your Bank also conducted mega e-auctions under SARFAESI Act and auctions through Honble Courts/ legal forums on a pan-India basis with wide publicity. Your Bank also actively participated in National Lok Adalats held every quarter on a pan-India basis for resolving small value loans.

Credit Monitoring Group

In the present banking scenario, persistent, timely and effective management of standard assets portfolio aids in preserving and improving the overall quality of loan portfolio. Therefore, Structured Loan Review Mechanism, Monitoring Credit Administration Parameters (CAP) & Monitoring of Onset of Stress in corporate & retail portfolio is undertaken by the Credit Monitoring Group (CMG) in the Bank. The Early Warning Signal (EWS) system, which is an integral part of the CMG, has been operational since December 2019. It has the ability to detect the incipient stress by using data feeds from internal/ external sources and throwing alerts on real time basis. Risk bucketing under High/ Medium/ Low risk is carried out in respect of all corporate and retail accounts within the threshold limit, which augments the capability of your Bank to identify high-risk accounts and accounts showing early signs of stress in pre-SMA stage. This enables your Bank to undertake prompt, pre-emptive actions and timely measures. A periodic review of the EWS system is undertaken and new features are being added in line with continuously evolving regulatory requirement and best practices.

Through the asset monitoring tool ‘SAJAG, your Bank monitors the compliances of various credit administration parameters which helps to improve credit culture, identification of incipient weaknesses in the loan portfolio and prevent slippages. Your Bank uses Structured Loan Review Mechanism (LRM) to provide timely feedback on the effectiveness of credit sanction and regular follow-up is undertaken to ensure compliance of policy guidelines, tracking of early warning signals and timely compliance of the CAP. All these initiatives have helped in identifying and managing the incipient stress of the accounts, compliance of the CAP and thereby, improving the credit quality of your Bank.

TRADE FINANCE

Your Bank has a dedicated Trade Finance (TF) Department, which offers a wide range of products and services to its large/ mid corporate and retail customers at competitive pricing. The offerings range from the most commonly used products such as inward/ outward remittances, Letters of Credit (LCs), Bank Guarantees (BGs), Standby Letters of Credit (SBLCs), etc. to more complex domestic and cross-border trade products involving import/ export of goods & services, pre-shipment & post-shipment export finance, short-term import trade credits (buyers credit and suppliers credit), merchanting trade, capital account transactions, viz. Overseas Direct Investments (ODls), External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs), Foreign Direct Investments (FDls), mergers and acquisitions, opening of overseas offices, etc. These trade finance products/ services are offered through the Centralised Trade Processing Centres (CTPCs), which operate on a hub-and-spoke model at three major metro centres, viz. Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi. The CTPCs cater to the needs of all branches of the Bank and thus, facilitate standardised processing, efficient communication and faster Turn-Around-Time (TAT). Your Bank, as an Authorised Dealers (AD) Category I bank, has 44 dedicated TF centres, which are authorised to handle all types of foreign exchange transactions.

Your Bank always endeavours to ensure high standard of customer service and time-bound delivery. Your Bank has been constantly evolving and improving its core banking platform as also offering digitised trade processing to increase customer engagements to make every step of the trade operation process seamless and convenient. Your Bank has taken up various IT initiatives to make the transaction executions faster, error-free and seamless. For instance, the Bank has an internet-based Trade Finance platform, viz. IDBI eTRADE that allows customers the flexibility to transact on a 24x7 basis. The Bank has built SWIFT gpi capabilities which helps in real-time tracking of cross-border payments, thereby enhancing customer experience. Your Bank, through its retail internet banking portal, has enabled online initiation of foreign outward remittances under Liberalised Remittances Scheme (LRS) of the RBI. The Bank has a centralised processing set-up for execution of foreign inward remittances up to a certain threshold limit favouring individuals that would enable faster/ immediate credit to its customers. Further, as a measure of efficient service delivery, your Bank has developed an online Bank Guarantee Confirmation Module, which enables beneficiaries of the BGs issued by it to obtain online confirmation of issuance of guarantees.

With a view to benefiting from the emerging usage of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) in the sphere of Trade Finance, your Bank has become one of the equity holders in Indian Banks Blockchain Infrastructure Co. Pvt. Ltd. (IBBIC). The IBBIC aims to build trade ecosystem by harnessing potentialities of DLT. Your Bank has been actively engaging with the IBBIC for building processes to digitise and automate trade finance operations.

The SWIFT operations of your Bank are carried out through a Centralised SWIFT Cell (CSC) with utmost due diligence and multiple validation processes under a secured IT platform to ensure smooth and _awless operations. Further, your Bank has laid down policies, processes, Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs), operating manuals, robust monitoring mechanisms, etc. in compliance with regulatory/ statutory norms and regulations as well as international trade practice guidelines. Your Bank, in its endeavour to mitigate cyber fraud risks and also to build effective control mechanism to address Anti-Money Laundering (AML)/ Combating of Financing of Terrorism (CFT) concerns in cross-border payments, has instituted effective system control mechanisms in the form of Payment Controls System & Transaction Screening processes. YourBankhasputinplaceappropriateoperational/compliance alerts enabled with round-the-clock fraud monitoring. Your Bank diligently follows Anti-Money Laundering (AML)/ Know Your Customer (KYC)/ Combating of Financing of Terrorism (CFT) guidelines, robust Trade-Based Money Laundering (TBML) red _agging procedures and the US/ EU sanctions screening for international payments. Your Bank, as a matter of principle, verifies international cargo movement in merchanting trade through the International Maritime Bureau (IMB). The Bank verifies credentials, core activities, scale of business and payment velocity of overseas parties through Business Information Reports offered by reputed agencies in order to safeguard the interests of all stakeholders.

Your Banks bill finance policy covers purchase/ discount/ negotiation of all genuine bills arising out of trade in Indian Rupee (INR) and Foreign Currency (FCY). Your Bank has covered all its clients availing export credit under Whole Turnover Export Credit Insurance for Banks (ECIB) policies offered by the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC).

The Bank has developed a widespread network of correspondent banking arrangements with around 800 banks across the globe through bilateral Relationship Management Application (RMA) and consequently is able to render trade and non-trade services across the world. The Bank has put in place arrangement with correspondent banks to handle remittances in about 130 currencies across the globe.

GOVERNMENT BUSINESS

Your Bank acts as an agent of the RBI in handling receipt and payment transactions of the Central Government and the State Governments. Your Bank is authorised to collect Central Government Taxes, viz. Direct Taxes, Customs Duty and Goods & Services Tax. Your Bank is actively collecting receipts in 16 states/ Union Territories (UTs). Your Bank provides 24x7 internet banking facilities for tax payments. Your Bank has enabled online collection of Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) dues. Your Bank is also authorised by the Government to offer Small Savings Schemes, viz. Public Provident Fund (PPF), Senior Citizens Savings Scheme (SCSS) and Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme (SSA) through its branches. Your Bank is also authorised to disburse Central Civil, Defence and Railway Pensions.

In line with the GoIs initiative, your Bank has gone live with more advanced and secured module for collection of direct taxes, i.e. Tax Information Network (TIN) 2.0.

CASH MANAGEMENT SERVICES

Your Bank is committed towards providing state-of-the-art Cash Management Services (CMS) to help corporates accelerate their collections, handle their bulk payments efficiently and smoothen their flow of funds. Your Bank offers comprehensive range of CMS collections, payment and transaction banking solutions to suit the needs of corporates and put them in complete control of their cash position. The Banks CMS products are unique and differentiated, catering to specific needs of large institutions, which help in creating long-lasting relationships with corporates and also add to new revenue stream. The Bank is also in the process of upgrading its legacy CMS system to a new-age latest version available in the market.

Your Bank offers various new age technology solutions like Liquidity Management Solutions such as Corporate Liquidity Management Solutions (C-LMS) and Government Liquidity Management Solution (G-LMS), new-age CMS products such as National Automated Clearing House (NACH), Virtual Accounts, Utility Payments through Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), Direct Debit, FASTag etc. In addition to this, the Bank offers various other customised e-solutions that have been technologically integrated (through Host-to-Host technology) with client systems. Your Bank is also authorised to participate in e-freight payment system of Indian Railways and has been collecting e-freight in 12 Zones of the Railways. Your Bank has also launched Quick iPay, which is an institutional collection product that enables institutions in Business-to-Consumer (B2C) segment to collect dues from their customers through all possible online and of_ine modes using one single system.

TREASURY OPERATIONS

Your Bank has integrated Treasury operations in various market segments like Money Market, Fixed Income, Foreign Exchange, Derivatives and Equities. Your Banks Treasury operations involve active role in balance sheet management, liquidity management, maintenance of Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) & Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR), Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR), trading & investments in market instruments and forex & derivatives transactions and also providing hedging solutions to customers.

Your Banks Treasury has been actively participating in auction of Government Securities (G-Sec)/ State Development Loans (SDL)/ Treasury Bills (T-Bills) for its trading/ investment portfolio and market making in Government Bonds. The Banks Treasury ensured regulatory compliances with respect to the CRR, SLR and LCR requirements in FY 2022-23. To actively manage liquidity, the Treasury used various instruments such as the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF), the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF), the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF), the Term Repo and the Open Market Operation (OMO) of the RBI as well as other market instruments/ platforms such as Triparty Repo (TREPS), Clearcorp Repo Order Matching System (CROMS) and Call & Notice money. Surplus liquidity is deployed in various short term instruments like Certificates of Deposits, Liquid Mutual Funds, Call/ Notice/ Term Money and other placements/ investments etc. Your Bank is a Primary Dealer (PD) and is involved in market making activities for G-Sec. The PD desk ensured that all regulatory requirements like bidding commitment and turnover ratio for G-sec and success ratio for T-bill auctions etc. were met for FY 2022-23.

Your Bank also provides Constituent Subsidiary General Ledger (CSGL) service to the Gilt Account Holders (GAHs). Further, in order to provide liquidity in the secondary market for retail investors under the RBI Retail Direct facility, your Bank also involves in market making by offering buy/ sell quotes to retail investors on the Negotiated Dealing System - Order Matching (NDS-OM) platform (odd-lot and Request for Quotes segment). Your Banks IDBI Samriddhi G-Sec portal provides facility to the retail investors to invest in G-Sec through online mode and ATMs.

Your Banks Treasury has active forex interbank and derivatives desk. The forex interbank desk provides competitive forex rates to clients. The derivatives desk provides various interest rates and exchange rate hedging solutions to client to meet their hedging requirements.

Customers are supported by the Treasury Marketing Officers (TMOs) located at 15 centres across the country. The TMOs work closely with all the relationship managers of the Bank covering its corporate & retail clients. The TMOs proactively interact with clients to provide solutions for effectively managing their exposures in currencies, rates and also advising them with investment solutions in debt instruments (G-Sec, Non-SLR Bonds, etc.). Being an active participant in treasury operations, your Bank continues to be one of the submitters to Financial Benchmark India Pvt. Ltd. (FBIL) for FBIL Polled Term MIBOR and FBIL Polled FC-Rupee Options Volatility.

The Bank did not undertake any long-term Rupee borrowings/ issue of debt capital in FY 2022-23. During the year, your Bank repaid long-term Rupee borrowings on due dates as per the issue terms. Your Bank borrows foreign currency funds from overseas markets as per business requirements. During the year, your Bank has repaid foreign currency borrowings on maturity dates as per the contracted terms. In March 2021, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced future cessation dates for all 35 London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) settings across five currencies in which London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) is published. Your Bank has started offering all new products/ facilities linked to Alternate Reference Rate (ARR) instead of London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) with effect from January 1, 2022.

CROSS-BORDER BRANCHES

Your Banks International Banking Unit (IBU) at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), Gandhinagar, Gujarat commenced its operations on May 6, 2016. The IBU comes under the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) of GIFT City and its functioning is regulated by the provisions/ guidelines issued by International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA). Beside other products, the Banks IBU is also focussed on funding against Buyers Credit (BC) and External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) for eligible Indian corporates. Your Banks overseas branch at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Dubai has completed thirteen years of operations. The operations of the DIFC branch have been rationalised and are restricted to selected services, viz. arrangement of deals in investments (debentures), advisory services for financial products (debentures) and arrangement & advisory services for credit.

CREDIT RATING

Your Bank obtains credit ratings for both its domestic and foreign currency borrowings. The rating action during FY 2022-23, along with current ratings for the Rupee resources as on March 31, 2023, are as follows:

Ratings for Rupee Borrowings
Rated Instruments	CRISIL	ICRA	India Rating	CARE
Rating action in	Feb 2023	Sept 2022@	July 2022	Dec 2022
Fixed Deposit	CRISIL AA-/ Stable^	[ICRA] A+ / Positive ^^	IND A+/ Stable^^^	-
Short Term Borrowings (Certificate of Deposit)	CRISIL A1+	[ICRA] A1+	IND A1+&	CARE A1+
Long Term Rupee Bond (Senior and Lower Tier II Bonds)	CRISIL A+/ Stable	[ICRA] A+/ Positive	IND A+/ Stable % #	-
Hybrid Upper Tier II Bonds	CRISIL A- / Stable	-	-	-
Hybrid – IPDI (Basel II)	CRISIL A- / Stable	-	-	-
Tier II Bonds (Basel III)	CRISIL A+ / Stable	[ICRA] A +/ Positive	IND A+/ Stable%	CARE A+/ Positive@

Note:

@ - O utlook revised to positive from Stable

^ - Rating migrated to CRISIL AA-/Stable from FAA/Stable

^^ - Rating migrated to [ICRA] A+/Positive from MAA- (Stable)

^^^ - Rating migrated and upgraded to IND A+/Stable from IND tA/Stable

& - Rating upgraded to IND A1+ from IND A1

% - Rating upgraded to IND A+ from IND A

# - Only Senior Tier II bonds has been rated

The Medium Term Note (MTN) Bonds rated by foreign rating agencies, viz. S&P Global Ratings (S&P) and Fitch Ratings (Fitch), were fully repaid on November 30, 2020. Hence, the Bank had terminated the rating engagements/ agreement with them on May 21, 2021, for various issues made under the MTN Bond Programme. Accordingly, the rating for Foreign Currency Borrowings stands withdrawn.

RISK MANAGEMENT

The risk management strategy of your Bank essentially focusses on the fundamental tripod, viz. identification, measurement and monitoring. While identification enables the Bank for further analysis and assessment, measurement empowers the Bank to manage risk effectively. This strategic approach allows the Bank to attain improved decision-making and confidence therein through available risk management tools. A well-defined policy framework outlining appropriate limits and procedural aspects enable the Bank to mitigate and manage risk within its overall risk appetite. Periodic policy updates attempt to ensure further refinement in the risk management practices by capturing the essence of business dynamics, banking innovations, emerging risk scenarios and regulatory changes. Your Bank constantly endeavours to improve its risk management culture by spreading risk awareness across all its verticals and making it an integral decision-making criterion. While the Risk Management Committee (RMC) of the Board is responsible for overall risk management, the day-to-day activities are conducted at various levels based on the risk governance structure. The risk management systems and processes are continuously upgraded in alignment with the regulatory requirements. For a more robust and technologically advanced risk management system, your Bank has implemented Integrated Risk Management Architecture (IRMA) comprising software solutions, viz. Risk Assessment Module (RAM), Capital Assessment Model (CAM) and Comprehensive Operational Risk Evaluator (CORE). The IRMA helps in identifying and measuring credit & operational risks, which, in turn, facilitate formulation of suitable risk management strategies. Further, the Bank has well-established Financial Analytical Application for its Asset Liability Management (ALM), Fund Transfer Pricing (FTP), Profitability Management and Liquidity Risk Management.

Implementation of Basel Norms

In adherence to the Pillar 1 guidelines of the RBI under Basel III framework, your Bank computes regulatory capital requirement for credit, market and operational risks on a quarterly basis. In addition, banks in India are mandated to maintain the Capital Conservation Buffer (CCB) of 2.50%. Your Bank also monitors the movement of the CRAR at a monthly periodicity. Your Banks ‘Total Capital + CCB ratio was 20.44% as on March 31, 2023 against the regulatory requirement of 11.50%. Similarly, your Banks ‘Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) + CCB ratio was 18.08% as against the regulatory requirement of 8.00%. Your Banks ‘Tier 1

+ CCB ratio stood at 18.08% as on March 31, 2023 as against the regulatory requirement of 9.50%. Your Banks Leverage Ratio as on March 31, 2023 was 7.86% against the minimum regulatory requirement of 3.50%. Your Bank has a Board-approved policy on Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Process (ICAAP) in line with the Pillar 2 norms of the Basel III framework. This policy enables your Bank to internally assess and quantify those risks which are not covered or not adequately covered under Pillar 1 as well as to develop appropriate strategies to manage and mitigate risks under normal and stressed conditions. Your Bank has also put in place a comprehensive stress testing framework in line with the RBI guidelines. The stress testing framework enables your Bank to assess its performance under exceptional but plausible events and facilitates in framing appropriate proactive strategies to meet unforeseen contingencies. The stress testing framework also includes scenario analysis, multifactor sensitivity analysis and reverse stress testing. Scenario analysis covers a study on impact of further increase in gross NPAs, crystallisation on Non-Fund facilities in Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) & Technically Written-Off (TWO) accounts and impact of illiquid securities on capital and profitability of the Bank. The mechanism of reverse stress testing is applied to find the level of stress which may adversely impact the capital and profitability of the Bank to take it to a pre-determined floor level. Your Bank has adopted a Disclosure Policy in accordance with the Pillar 3 requirements under the Basel norms. Accordingly, disclosures as at the end of each quarter are hosted on your Banks website, thereby exhibiting high degree of transparency. Your Bank has laid down a Reputational Risk Assessment & Management Policy to proactively assess the risks posed to its reputation and the related consequences, along with the measures to contain them. Your Bank has also put in place Group Risk Assessment Policy to monitor and minimise the overall risk profile at the group level. Your Bank follows the Standardised Approach under Credit Risk for computation of capital charge. Your Bank follows Basic Indicator Approach (BIA) to compute regulatory capital charge for Operational Risk. Your Bank is in readiness to implement new standardised approach for assessment of operational risk capital requirement as proposed by the RBI. A comprehensive set of Key Risk Indicators (KRIs) and Risk  & Control Self-Assessment (RCSA) framework was rolled out across different business segments for augmenting risk culture and ensuring effective control mechanism. For market risk, your Bank follows the Standardised Measurement Method (SMM) to compute regulatory capital requirements.

Credit Risk

The credit risk management system in your Bank includes the RAM for credit rating of proposals and the CAM for automation of capital adequacy assessment. The Banks Credit Policy is reviewed periodically in line with changing business objectives and economic environment and forms the guiding tool for the business verticals. As per the Board-approved structure, the Credit Risk Management Committee (CRMC), inter alia, ensures implementation of credit policy strategies and monitors credit risk on a bank-wide basis. In addition to the RAM/ score-based internal rating, the Bank has developed a Quanti_ed Risk Scoring Matrix for risk-categorisation of high-value corporate and Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise (MSME) loans.

Market Risk

The market risk management in your Bank, in terms of functions and business positions, operates in line with the policy framework defined in the Market Risk & Derivative Policy and the Investment Policy. These policies, in general, outline the appropriate levels of risk appetite and implementation mechanisms for measurement, reporting and escalation of risks and exceptions. With the implementation of Integrated Treasury Management System (ITMS), the market risk management ef_cacy of your Bank, covering monitoring and reporting, has been further strengthened. All the prescribed limits and procedures are monitored closely by the Treasury Mid-office, which is independent of the Front-office and the Back-office of Treasury. The Treasury Mid-office has implemented assessment of Non-Statutory Liquidity Ratio (NSLR) Bonds through in-house developed internal rating based model in order to create a robust Non-Statutory Liquidity Ratio (NSLR) bond portfolio.

Liquidity Management

The Bank has a well-organised liquidity risk management structure as enumerated in the Board-approved Asset Liability Management (ALM) Policy. The Asset Liability Management Committee (ALCO) of the Bank monitors and manages liquidity and interest rate risk in line with the business strategy. The ALM activities including liquidity analysis and management are conducted through co-ordination amongst various ALCO support groups in the functional areas such as Balance Sheet Management, Treasury Front-office, Budget & Planning, etc. The ALCO directives and ALM directions are implemented by the concerned business groups and verticals. As per the regulatory guidelines, the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) of the Bank is computed on a daily basis with effect from January 1, 2017. The average LCR of the Bank remained at 135.66% for the quarter ended March 31, 2023. Your Bank implemented the Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR) from October 1, 2021 in line with the RBI directives. The Banks Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR) as on March 31, 2023 was 120.01%.

Operational Risk

Your Bank has a robust Operational Risk Management Framework (ORMF) which includes an organisational set-up comprising the Board of Directors, the Risk Management Committee (RMC) of the Board, the Operational Risk Management Committee (ORMC), the Operational Risk Management (ORM) section in the Risk Management Department and nodal officers from various functions/ departments. The operating procedures for operational risk are guided by the Board-approved Operational Risk Management Policy which aims at identifying, monitoring, measuring and managing operational risks associated with banking activities. Your Bank has robust internal systems and procedures for mitigation of inherent risks spread across various business activities/ operations. It manages the operational risks through Key Risk Indicators (KRIs) and Risk Control Self-Assessment (RCSA) exercises and periodically updates these outcomes to the Operational Risk Management Committee (ORMC) and the Risk Management Committee (RMC) of the Board. Operational risk loss events from across the Bank are collated and presented to the Operational Risk Management Committee (ORMC) along with the root cause analysis. Your Bank also conducts stress testing exercises on a quarterly basis in order to study the impact of stressed operational risk losses on its earnings and capital. This is aided by measurement and reporting of any breach in the Board-approved Risk Appetite limits for operational risk. At present, the Bank has adopted the Basic Indicator Approach (BIA) for computation of Operational Risk Regulatory Capital and Risk Weighted Assets. Your Bank has created a centralised platform for digital hosting of all internal policies, products, manuals and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) at one place in order to ensure timely updation and easy access to the employees.

Business Continuity Management

Your Bank has put in place robust Business Continuity Management (BCM) processes to ensure uninterrupted business processes in critical functional areas in the event of business disruptions and life-threatening events. Your Bank has been awarded ISO 22301:2012 certification for its bank-wide coverage of Business Continuity Management. As a part of the BCM, a well-defined Business Continuity Plan (BCP) has been put in place for core and support functions. This is intended to provide continuity in services to customers even in case of business disruption/ disaster. Besides, a comprehensive Disaster Management Plan (DMP) is deployed for its major establishments to safeguard human lives and minimise damage to valuable assets during disaster. Resilience of the BCP and DMP is tested periodically through BCP testing exercises, disaster recovery including holistic drill and mock evacuation drills. The Banks Business Continuity Management System is well-equipped with an automated incident reporting tool, viz. Integrated Disaster and Business Continuity Management System (i-DaB). In order to ensure uninterrupted delivery of critical services to customers, the Bank has developed a mobile-based application, viz. ion BCP, to enable hassle-free instant invocation and execution of the BCP by the disrupted branches.

Information Technology Risk

Your Bank has taken a series of steps to strengthen its Information Technology (IT) risk management and control. Your Bank has set up a state-of-the-art Security Operation Centre (SOC) at its Data Centre (DC) at Navi Mumbai and at Disaster Recovery (DR) site at Chennai to ensure high availability. The 24x7 SOC is a Command Centre for countering cyber threats and ensuring compliance with the Banks Information Security Policy and Cyber Security Policy, besides fulfilling its objective of providing safe and secure banking to its customers. Further, through the SOC, your Bank centrally monitors security devices like firewalls, routers, Intrusion Detection System (IDS) devices/ Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) devices, Privileged Identity Management (PIM), antivirus, phishing/ malware attempts and takes corrective actions. Your Bank regularly conducts Vulnerability Assessment

& Penetration Testing (VAPT) of external applications, viz. Finacle E-Banking Application (FEBA), mobile banking, mail messaging, etc. Your Bank has successfully implemented the RBIs recommendations pertaining to Information Security, Electronic Banking, Technology Risk Management and Cyber Frauds and the RBIs Cyber Security Framework for banks. Your Bank has put in place an appropriate organisational framework, as recommended in the guidelines, which includes an exclusive Information Security Group headed by the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) who reports to the Chief Risk Officer (CRO) of the Bank.

Your Bank has put in place Cyber Security Policy and Cyber Crisis Management Plan, which articulate the management intent and direction for addressing cyber security risks. Your Bank conducts and participates in various types of cyber drills, table-top exercises, phishing simulation exercises and breach readiness exercises to check and maintain the health of its information security set-up. Apart from conducting regular information security awareness programmes for the employees, various information security precautions are also communicated to customers through mailers, SMSes, posters as well as through its ATMs to minimise/ thwart the attempts of security breach. The Bank has been observing the ‘Cyber Jagrookta (Awareness) Diwas on the first Wednesday of every month in line with the GoI guidelines.

The Banks IT infrastructure and systems have been implemented within a robust information security framework including solutions on both perimeter and end-points. Your Banks Data Centre (DC), Disaster Recovery Centre (DR) as well as Near DR Centre (NDR) are certified with the latest ISO 27001:2013 information security standards. Your Banks Near DR ensures zero data loss for critical transaction systems. The Information Security Steering Committee (ISSC) of the Bank provides directions and guidance for mitigating IT risk in the information systems and provides direction on the status of observations identified through Vulnerability Assessment & Penetration Testing (VAPT)/ Application Security Testing (AppSec) process. The cyber security posture, various security incidents and the policies are placed before the IT Strategy Committee of the Board (ITSCB) for necessary directions. The policies are recommended by the ITSCB to the Board for approval.

Several information security solutions have been implemented like Privileged Identity Access Management, Next-Generation - Firewall Solution, Mobile Device Management, Honeypot Solution, Patch Management Solution, Active Directory, Web/ Mail Gateways, Endpoint and Universal Serial Bus (USB) encryption, Data Leakage Prevention (DLP) solution, Advanced Persistent Threat (APT), Network Access Control (NAC), Web Application Firewall (WAF), etc. to protect customer data, prevent external attacks as well as strengthen internal controls.

MANAGEMENT, CONTROLS AND SYSTEMS

HUMAN RESOURCES

Learning and Development

During FY 2022-23, your Banks apex training institute, viz. IDBI Training College, Hyderabad and 10 Zonal Training Centres, conducted training for 17,050 employees through 1,122 in-house and external customised programmes (in online and of_ine mode) in addition to online Learning Management System, viz. OJAS. Employees from various verticals were trained in multiple subjects, viz. Retail Banking, MSME, Agricultural Credit, Rural Credit delivery & monitoring, NPA Management, Structured Retail Assets (Credit/ Sales/ Operations), Retail Collections, Audit, Cyber Security, Documentation, Role-based Refresher courses, Trade Finance, Human Resources, Treasury, Train the Trainer, Risk, Finance and Accounts, Leadership/ Behavioural Training programmes, etc., including certain mandatory trainings. Your Bank also conducted blended training programmes (mix of online/ classroom training programme and e-learning modules) in the modules pertaining to Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH), Vigilance Awareness, Know Your Customer (KYC)/ Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Digital Banking, Cyber Security, Finacle, etc. As per the GoI directives, the Bank also conducted training programmes on Customer Service, career progression for women officers, Rajbhasha, KYC/ AML and Cyber Security.

Your Bank nominated 701 officers for 128 external training programmes conducted by reputed institutes in order to provide requisite exposure in their respective areas of work. Your Bank nominated 16 officers during the year for foreign training programmes/ conferences in order to provide requisite exposure in their respective areas of work. As part of the continuous learning culture, your Bank has been promoting e-learning through its Learning Management System, viz. OJAS, to provide additional channels of learning to its employees in a cost-effective manner. OJAS has more than 300 e-learning modules encompassing topics on banking, behavioural skills as well as functional modules. The Bank has linked the completion of all mandatory e-learning certification with the annual performance appraisal process wherein the overall completion status of e-learning shall be considered while deciding the final Performance Grade (PG) rating of officers. The Bank has also incorporated mandatory compliance modules for its Officers from Grade A to E to create awareness and ensure strong compliance culture in the Bank.

In addition to conducting training programmes for the employees, IDBI Training College has also conducted domestic and international training programmes for financial institutions from across the world. IDBI Training College and Zonal Training Centres (ZTCs) conducted 54 external programs with 2,139 participants from reputed organisations. Your Bank has established a mentorship programme for the new entrants who join as Grade ‘A Officers where senior level officers guide them to develop their professional and personal skills apart from making them work on priority setting, networking and career planning in life. This exercise has helped in creating better employee engagement, sense of belonging, reduction in attrition rate, thereby making the Bank as the most preferred employer in the industry.

Your Bank has undertaken collaborative learning initiatives by entering into Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with reputed institutes. IDBI Training College has signed MoU with State Bank Institute of Rural Banking (SBIRB)-Hyderabad and Banking Training Institute (BTI)-Nepal to conduct various joint training and faculty exchange programmes.

Scholarship for wards of employees

During FY 2022-23, your Bank disbursed Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Scholarship to the children of Class III & IV employees from the Scheduled Castes (SCs)/ Scheduled Tribes (STs) categories.

Manpower deployment

Your Bank has a robust manpower deployment mechanism for facilitating the organisational and statutory requirements while keeping in view employees interests as well. The placements are being done to develop competencies and skills of officers through exposure to wider and diverse operational areas. This is also facilitated through the capacity building framework which envisages optimising skills of individuals through specific intervention by way of knowledge upgradation and enhancing existing skill sets. Further, movement of the officers, including the officers holding sensitive positions, is guided by the framework provided in Officers Placement and Transfer Policy.

Employee Benefits & Well-being

Your Bank believes in providing a holistic work environment that would help employees stay committed. Towards this end, your Bank has been providing a host of employee benefits such as:

- The Bank provides medical facilities for self and dependents which include hospitalisation cover, reimbursement of domiciliary treatment, comprehensive health check-up, services of Bank Medical Officers at major centres etc.

- The Bank extends loans and advances at soft rate of interest and concessional terms of repayment.

- The Bank offers compassionate facilities to the bereaved family members of the employees of the Bank who die in harness. These include, Group Life Insurance Scheme (GLIS), compassionate appointment/ payment of ex-gratia, i-Dost Scheme which provides financial assistance through the collective contributions from all the employees and insurance cover for staff loans.

- In addition to various learning & development initiatives, your Bank has put in place a capacity building framework to upgrade and enhance the skills of the employees to fulfil specific mandatory certifications and pursue part-time and distance learning courses in the area of Banking and Finance.

- Your Bank has put in place a Scheme for Extending Financial & Legal Assistance to its Directors/ Officers/ Employees and also a Directors and Officers Liability Insurance Policy.

Industrial Relations

During the year, the industrial relations climate in your Bank has generally been cordial, with most of the issues having been resolved amicably. The Bank has been holding meetings with the Associations and Unions in its endeavour to have constructive dialogue for understanding and addressing grievances of officers/ employees. The Associations and Unions have also been responsive and proactive while addressing various issues.

Reservation Policy

Your Bank follows applicable guidelines on the matter. As on March 31, 2023, the representation of Scheduled Castes (SCs)/ Scheduled Tribes (STs)/ Other Backward Classes (OBCs)/ Economically Weaker Sections (EWSs) in the Banks total manpower was as follows:

CLASS	SC	ST	OBC	EWS
Officers	2,193	954	4,082	113
Executives	244	135	555	186
Clerical	56	21	39	0
Subordinate	116	34	94	0
Total	2,609	1,144	4,770	299

Performance Management System

Your Bank has put in place a performance appraisal system, i.e. IDBI Performance Assessment & Continuous Evaluation System (iPACE), with an objective to align the employee performance with the organisational targets, to ensure objectivity and to foster performance-oriented culture in the Bank. i-PACE includes standardised Key Result Areas (KRAs) for similar roles with uniform weightage and direct system/ dashboard linkages for most of the measurable KRAs.

Recruitment and Staffing

As on March 31, 2023, your Bank had total staff strength of 17,850.The break-up of employees is as follows:

Class	Total
Officers	15,438
Executives	1,578
Clerical	395
Subordinate	439
Total	17,850

The count includes employees on contract

Your Bank has hired officers in the Grade ‘A through campus recruitment channel from prestigious institutes with a focus on recruiting personnel with the desired quality and skill sets for organisational growth. During the year, your Bank recruited 1,924 individuals in various grades as given below:

Grade	Total
Grade A (Assistant Manager)	631
Grade B (Manager)	39
Grade C (Assistant General Manager)	25
Grade D (Deputy General Manager)	14
Grade F (Chief General Manager)	2
Grade G (Executive Director)	1
Executive on Contract	1,208
# Clerical	4
Total	1,924

* The above data excludes Advisors (on contract) and Chief Customer Service Officer. # Compassionate Appointments

Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace (POSH)

With the aim of providing quick assistance and the much desired immediate support to the aggrieved women on account of occurrence of an untoward incident, an e-mail based grievance mechanism has been put in place by the Bank to enable them to lodge complaints of sexual harassment faced by them at the Banks workplace, directly to the members of internal committees.

Disclosures under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013

With the objective of creating a safe and friendly work environment and ensuring prevention of sexual harassment at workplace, the Bank, in line with the requirements of The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, has set up two Internal Committees to redress the complaints received regarding sexual harassment of women at workplace. During FY 2022-23, the Bank received 7 (seven) complaints which were attended by the respective Internal Committees. As on March 31, 2023, 5 (five) complaints were pending for conclusion.

Succession Planning

Your Bank has put in place a policy for succession planning at critical senior positions. The policy provides a holistic framework for creating leadership pipeline for senior positions to ensure business continuity when identified critical positions are vacated.

New Initiatives

- Introduction of Variable Pay

To develop a culture of high performance, your Bank implemented variable pay component, which is linked to achievement of Bank-wide targets and performance of individual employees, for all employees.

- Reimbursement of Course Fee for Officers joining through IDBI Bank Post Graduate Diploma in Banking & Finance (PGBDF) course

As a talent retention measure, your Bank has introduced a policy for reimbursement of course fee for officers joining through IDBI PGDBF Course on completion of three years of service in the Bank and subject to securing satisfactory performance ratings. The reimbursement is applicable to all those officers who have been recruited through the channel and are in the service of the Bank.

INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT

During the year, the Bank commenced operations at its Patna Zonal office premises. The Delhi Zonal office was shifted to a new refurbished premises at NBCC Office Complex. The Bank completed relocation and renovation of several branches across the Zones during the year.

As an environment-friendly measure and to conserve power, the Bank continued to replace conventional light fixtures with energy efficient light fixtures, lamps and tubes at its premises. The digitisation drive of title deed of the Banks own properties is being undertaken after perfection.

INTERNAL AUDIT

Your Bank has a dedicated Internal Audit Department, which evaluates the adherence to internal policies, procedures and regulatory guidelines as also provides objective assurance on the effectiveness of internal controls, risk management and governance processes within the Bank and suggest improvements. The audit function has adopted the Risk Based Audit approach and audit activities undertaken by various business and support verticals, the Zonal Offices, the Regional Offices, branches and non-branch segments. The Audit Department functions under the guidance and supervision of the Audit Committee of the Board (ACB).

The Banks audit function is governed by (i) Risk Based Internal Audit Policy (ii) Concurrent Audit Policy and (iii) Information Systems Audit Policy. As part of the Risk Based Internal Audit Programme, the Audit Department conducts various audits, viz. branch audit, credit audit, Information Systems Audit, Concurrent Audit, etc. A Zonal Audit Office (ZAO) structure has been created in order to ensure focussed attention on branch audit and for effective follow-up. The audit process is undertaken through a web-based application, viz. the Audit Management System, which can be accessed by respective officers of auditee units on real-time basis for monitoring of compliances. The Audit Department also manages the functions of: (i) Fraud Monitoring Group, (ii) Staff Accountability, (iii) Long Form Audit Report, and (iv) Internal Financial Controls over Financial Report.

Long Form Audit Report (LFAR)

The Audit Department has been compiling and sharing information submitted by the Banks branches with the Statutory Central Auditors (SCAs) for finalisation of the Long Form Audit Report (LFAR). An online system has been developed for input of information/ data by the Banks branches and generation of consolidated reports for use by the SCAs.

Internal Financial Control over Financial Reporting (IFCO-FR)

The Audit Department also co-ordinates and supervises the identification and testing of the Risk Control Matrix by an external consultant appointed for the purpose to verify that (i) adequate internal financial control systems are in place; and (ii) the operating effectiveness of such controls is good as well as to ensure timely and effective closure of all open issues. An on-going exercise is undertaken to sensitise the concerned business functions to ensure that adequate measures are taken for the controls in an effort to close all the open issues.

Information Systems (IS) Audit

The Banks IS Audit function encompasses audit of Application Systems, IT Infrastructure, External Vendors, Policy & Process Reviews, Concurrent Audit of Data Centre and Branch Audits.

Based on the RBIs guidelines on ‘Independent Assurance of the Audit Function and with a view to providing assurance to the management and regulators, quality assurance review of the Internal Audit, including IS Audit function, has been carried out by the Bank. The review process is aimed at validating the approach and practices adopted by the Bank to assess effectiveness and efficiency of the Internal Audit function. Emphasis has been laid on covering cyber security aspects in the scope of IS audit in view of the increasing cyber incidents.

Offsite Monitoring System

The Offsite Monitoring System (OMS) is a tool, which helps to detect errors/ omissions and compromised controls (if any) and to generate alerts for better monitoring of exceptions arising out of routine day-to-day operations in Finacle. The OMS rules identify exceptions that may expose the Bank to regulatory, financial and operational risks. Under Project UTKARSH, a comprehensive revamping of the OMS was carried out and was launched during the year.

Concurrent Audit

The Concurrent Audit (CA) system is a part of the Banks Early-Warning System to detect irregularities/ lapses, which helps in checking violations of the internal and regulatory guidelines in controlling risks and in preventing fraudulent transactions. The CA system is essentially a control process which is integral to the establishment of sound internal accounting systems and effective controls. As per the relevant RBI guidelines, the CA is carried out in the branches/ other non-branch units like the Treasury, the Central Processing Unit (CPU) and the Retail Asset Centers (RACs) identified based on risk perception and volume of business handled. Further, identified functional divisions at the Banks Head Office in Mumbai and all Trade Finance Centers are also subjected to the CA. As per the Board-approved CA Policy of the Bank, the CA is required to cover 70% of deposits and 70% of advances of the Bank. Accordingly, for FY 2022-23, the Bank has covered 919 auditee units under Concurrent Audit by engaging the services of empaneled external firms of Chartered Accountants. The Concurrent Auditors performance is closely monitored by the Zonal Audit Offices and the Head Office of the Bank on a continuous basis for qualitative reports and timely submission.

Credit Audit

Your Bank has a system of credit audit for detailed review of selected accounts on an annual basis. Borrower accounts for credit audit are identified from the new proposals sanctioned during the review period on the basis of defined criteria, viz. (i) all new, takeover & enhancement proposals and proposals for renewal/ renewal-cum enhancement of limits, with sanction limits equal to or above a cut-off depending upon the size of activity (ii) randomly selected (10%) proposals from the rest of the portfolio and (iii) Below Investment Grade (if migrated from Investment Grade during the review period).

Investigative Audits or Special Investigative Audits (IAs/ SIAs)

Investigative Audits or Special Investigative Audits (IAs/ SIAs) were carried out by the Audit Department at certain branches/ offices based on various triggers. Significant observations emerging out of these SIAs are being presented to an Executive Director-level Committee for IA/ SIA and advisories/ directions issued and corrective steps taken thereon are being reported to the Audit Committee of Board (ACB) periodically. Investigations carried out by the Audit Department play a vital role in bringing about systemic improvements, improvements in policies, product guidelines, processes and procedures, helping in strengthening the controls and drawing attention to better overall monitoring of the branches. An early trigger provided by IAs/ SIAs have helped the Zones to initiate timely recovery/ legal actions and to arrest slippage of accounts into NPAs.

Lapses/ gaps emerging out of the IAs/ SIAs are shared with branches as well as with the controlling units in order to avoid reoccurrence of such lapses with a focus on strengthening the compliance culture not only at branch level but also at supervisory level.

Fraud Monitoring

The Bank has put in place a fraud monitoring mechanism through a dedicated Fraud Monitoring Group (FMG) within the Internal Audit Department. The FMG reviews ef_cacy of the remedial actions taken to prevent occurrence of frauds and also issues necessary advisories/ circulars from time-to-time aimed towards strengthening of internal control and putting in place need-based remedial measures. A detailed Fraud Risk Management (FRM) Policy is in place for early detection, prevention, reporting, monitoring and follow-up of frauds. The FMG reviews the FRM policy on regular basis for facilitating timely reporting of frauds.

The Bank has issued various internal circulars on prompt reporting of frauds and timelines for reporting of fraud incidents, reiterating the importance of timely reporting of frauds to the RBI.

Your Bank also has a dedicated Fraud Risk Management Group (FRMG) which focusses on risk-based monitoring of suspicious transactions across various systems & applications through deployment of fraud prevention/ detection rules in its Enterprise-wide Fraud Risk Management Solution (EFRMS). During the year, the EFRMS system was extended to also cover acquiring transactions at ATMs and Internet Payment Gateway (IPG). The 24x7 basis risk-based suspicious transaction monitoring activity has been extended to all digital channels transactions covering Debit Cards, Credit Cards, Mobile Banking, Internet Banking, Uni_ed Payments Interface (UPI) and Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS). The implementation of EFRMS across the digital channels helps in ensuring safe and secured transactions for the Banks customers and safeguards the interests of all involved stakeholders.

Staff Accountability

The Bank has put in place a detailed Staff Accountability Policy which aims at safeguarding the larger interests of the Bank by identifying the areas where the rules and procedures laid out by the Bank are not being followed, resulting in a loss to the Bank. This exercise helps the Bank to take necessary corrective steps by way of improvement in systems & procedures, strengthening any knowledge gaps by way of training and mentoring, or by any other action to create an environment which could be conducive for better compliance of the guidelines and processes.

VIGILANCE MECHANISM

Your Bank has a Vigilance Department (VgD), headed by a Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO), at its Head Office in Mumbai. Your Bank has also set up vigilance teams at all its Zonal Offices (ZOs) in order to achieve better control and ensure monitoring of vigilance activities at the Zonal level.

The CVO performs/ oversees all functions relating to the vigilance matters in the Bank, including (i) processing of vigilance cases, investigating or initiating investigations into complaints with vigilance overtones & verifiable allegations (ii) processing of investigation reports for further consideration of the Disciplinary Authority (DA) (iii) referring the matters, wherever necessary, to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) for its consideration/ advice (iv) taking steps to prevent commission of malpractices/ misconducts (v) co-ordinating & liaising with various law enforcement agencies, among other activities.

The vigilance function comprises both ‘Preventive Vigilance and ‘Punitive Vigilance elements. Preventive vigilance is a continuous process which strives to review the existing guidelines to ensure that set systems and procedures are being followed, to reduce use of discretion, and ensures sensitisation of/ creating awareness amongst the employees as well as other stakeholders of the Bank on vigilance matters.

Some of the preventive vigilance measures adopted by your Bank include undertaking of Onsite Monitoring/ Surprise Vigilance Visits (SVVs) and inspections on suo moto basis (on receiving source information of any suspected wrong-doing by staff/ outside elements) of various branches to detect malpractices, if any, and gauge adherence of established systems and procedures. Apart from this, the Vigilance Department also undertakes scrutiny of One Time Settlement (OTS)/ First Time Non-Performing Assets (FTNPAs) cases, scrutiny of Annual Return of Assets & Liabilities (ARAL) of the officers of the Bank, Audit Reports of the Bank, issuing advisories to curb irregularities found for systemic improvements wherever necessary and imparting training to employees on vigilance matters, etc.

As a part of efforts to combat corruption and also to enhance and spread public awareness on vigilance matters in line with the directives of the CVC, your Bank observed Vigilance Awareness Week (VAW) 2022 from October 31, 2022, to November 6, 2022, with the theme, (Corruption Free India for a Developed Nation). On the occasion, your Bank organised a talk by an eminent speaker and released a special e-journal for the benefit of all its employees. The Bank also conducted various competitions like online as well as of_ine quiz, essay writing, coin-a-caption contest, memory games, crossword competition, etc. for its employees and their children on a pan-India basis.

Your Banks employees took the Integrity Pledge through online mode. The Bank also sent SMSes with a link for taking integrity pledge to its customers to support the _ght against corruption. Seminars and workshops were organised at various locations for the benefit of your Banks field functionaries. For the awareness among general public/ citizens, the VAW 2022 banners, posters were displayed at prominent locations at your Banks Zonal Offices (ZOs), Regional Offices (ROs), branches and also at other places with public interface. Your Bank also organised Gram Sabhas at various locations.

In accordance with the CVC directives, information regarding VAW-2022 was disseminated through your Banks website as well as its page/ handle on social media platforms.

REGULATORY COMPLIANCE

Your Bank ensures compliance of various statutory and regulatory guidelines laid down by the Government of India (GoI), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and other regulatory/ statutory bodies through a structured system of internal controls and tiered reviews. The Compliance Department of the Bank operates out of its Head Office in Mumbai and is headed by a senior official in the rank of an Executive Director who has been designated as Chief Compliance Officer (CCO). The Department co-ordinates dissemination and internalisation of all the statutory and regulatory guidelines. Your Bank has put in place an extensive Board-approved Compliance Policy as per the RBI guidelines and reviews it annually. The role and responsibility with regard to the compliance function is clearly defined for every tier in the Bank. The Board is apprised at monthly intervals about important communications/ guidelines received from the RBI and other regulators/ agencies. Your Bank has strengthened the internal compliance culture at granular level by implementing advanced technology application, viz. Cermo+, which has trackers in place for enabling timely submission of compliance related information to the RBI and proper data management.

RIGHT TO INFORMATION (RTI) ACT

Your Bank has designated Central Public Information Officers (CPIOs) for responding promptly to requests for information pertaining to various functional areas. In addition, all the branch heads have been designated as Central Assistant Public Information Officers (CAPIOs) to receive and forward applications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act to the CPIOs. Your Bank has designated a senior officer in the rank of Chief General Manager as First Appellate Authority (FAA) for dealing with appeals of aggrieved applicants. A Transparency Officer, in the rank of Executive Director, has been designated for effective implementation of provisions of Section 4 of the RTI Act. A separate link for the RTI Act has been provided on the Banks website (www.idbibank.in). Your Bank has also aligned with the Government of Indias RTI online portal, whereby citizens can seek the information and raise appeals under the RTI Act through the portal (https://rtionline.gov.in).

PROGRESSIVE USE OF HINDI

During the period under review, your Bank made concerted efforts to increase usage of Official Language - Hindi and implementing the various provisions of Official Language Act and Rules of the GoI. All the Verticals, Departments, Zonal Offices and branches of your Bank made special efforts on regular basis to achieve the targets prescribed in the Annual Programme and other directives issued by Department of Official Language, Ministry of Home Affairs, GoI. The Bank has taken several initiatives for the progressive use of Hindi in customer communications.

During the year, necessary efforts were taken to provide in-depth information about the Banks products and schemes in Hindi on the Banks website. The Banks various mobile applications, viz. Abhay, PayApt, and GO Mobile+, are enabled with the facility of Hindi. Various types of posters, banners and other publicity material were displayed in Hindi as well as in regional languages for the benefit of customers. Hindi and regional languages were used in advertising campaigns for various Government social security schemes.

Your Bank uploaded template letters, forms, dictionaries, notings and other relevant reference materials in bilingual form on its Intranet to facilitate working in Hindi. Various incentive schemes were implemented and many competitions were organised to encourage staff members to use Hindi in their day-to-day official work. In order to progressively increase the usage of Hindi in different departments/ verticals of Head Office as well as other offices, Rajbhasha workshops were organised in all the regions of your Bank to familiarise the employees with the various requirements of Official Language implementation and use of Hindi Unicode. The Bank also organised Rajbhasha fortnight in September 2022.

CUSTOMER SERVICE AND COMPLAINTS MANAGEMENT

Your Bank, adhering to the spirit of its vision of being the most preferred and trusted bank for all its stakeholders, has adopted a customer-centric approach focussing on delighting customers with excellent service.

In order to be responsive to changing customer needs and preferences, your Bank periodically reviews its policies to ensure that the policies are in sync with the latest developments as also empower the customers to resolve their grievances as per a defined system. Complaints received from all channels are handled in consonance with these policies which also include a time-based in-built escalation matrix with an internal alert mechanism wherein if the complaint is not resolved within the pre-defined Turn-Around Time (TAT), the same is escalated to the next level of authority in order to ensure a better complaint resolution management. Your Bank has designated Grievance Redressal Officers (GROs) at each of its 14 Zonal Offices and a Principal Nodal Officer (PNO) at the Head Office in Mumbai. Further, in line with the Internal Ombudsman Scheme 2018, the Bank has appointed an Internal Ombudsman (IO). Your Bank has in place a Standardised Public Grievance Redressal System (SPGRS) module of the Customer Value Management (CVM) which facilitates recording, monitoring and timely resolution of complaints received. The complaints received from various customer touch-points and regulators are recorded in the system and a communication is sent to the customer through an SMS acknowledging the complaint along with a link to track the same. The customer also has the flexibility of tracking the status of the registered complaint through the Banks website/ nearest branch/ Contact Centre. Your Bank has established two senior level customer service committees, i.e. Standing Committee on Customer Service (SCCS) and Customer Service Committee of the Board (CSCB), which are convened on a quarterly basis. These Committees are entrusted with the task of assessment of quality of customer service rendered by the various touch-points of the Bank. The Committees also evaluate complaints & feedback received from customers as well as provide necessary directions to increase efficiency of resolution and also changes in process for service improvement.

Your Bank has two dedicated Customer Contact Centres, located at CBD Belapur, Navi Mumbai and Hyderabad, to address customer queries on a 24x7 basis and swiftly redress customer grievances/ queries.

Your Bank also conducts mystery shopping activities across branches in order to evaluate quality of customer service rendered to its customers. Meetings of the Branch Level Customer Service Committee (BLCSC) are conducted on 15^th of every month in order to encourage structured communication between the customers and the branch, thereby enhancing the service levels at branch.

Your Bank took various initiatives in the area of customer service during the year. To enhance customer experience, the Customer Care Department of your Bank has upgraded the technology at Call Centre and added several new services on the Banks phone banking Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system wherein customers are able to perform account & debit card related activities like blocking of net banking, request for replacement of debit card & TDS certificate on registered email id, etc.

CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS

During FY 2022-23, the objective of your Banks advertising was to create salience for the brand as well as its flagship products and services and to enhance the positive image of the Bank. The advertising and publicity initiatives undertaken by your Bank during the year focussed on campaigns highlighting the brand and the flagship retail products like Home Loan, Auto Loan, Gold Loan, Personal Loan and Fixed Deposits as well as its robust digital banking offerings such as the Banks revamped mobile banking app GO Mobile+ and Video Account Opening (VAO) facility. The campaigns focussed on highlighting the distinguishing features of the brand and products were carried out primarily vide digital platforms and mediums like Transient OOH (Out of Home) display, etc. complemented with measured bursts on high impact platforms like television.

As in the advertising arena, several initiatives were undertaken by your Bank in the Public Relations (PR) domain also. The overlying accent of the PR initiatives was aimed at maintaining positive tonality of news and enhancing your Banks profile in the media, while simultaneously striving to reinforce stakeholder perception. Your Bank found numerous positive mentions of its initiatives in print, electronic and digital media. The Bank communicated through its official brand pages/ handles on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube and continued to undertake engagement activities in innovative ways for propagating the brand and products of the Bank on various social media platforms.

Your Banks internal communication agenda was focussed on enabling effective exchange of important ideas, including, but not limited to, developments in the field of banking. It ensured permeation across various departments and branches of the Bank to foster a sense of belonging amongst the employees and cultivate a healthy relationship of trust, to work towards a collective goal. Various initiatives were undertaken to motivate and engage with the employees. These, inter alia, included engagement activities like hosting of messages from the Top Management on the home page of the Banks Intranet and e-mailers to employees on special occasions, viz. Foundation Day/ New Year/ Diwali, etc. Further, during the year, your Banks top management addressed and interacted with employees of the Bank through pan-India town hall format meetings under the ‘Aarohan – The Ascent programme which encapsulated the Banks transformation journey and served to rejuvenate staff across the Banks various Zones and offices.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR)

Your Banks CSR objective is to make material, visible and lasting difference to the lives of under-privileged sections of the society by identifying gaps and extending need-based contribution for their betterment. Your Bank seeks to achieve multidimensional impact through direct interventions as well as acting as a catalyst for socio-economic progress of the beneficiaries.

In terms of the guidelines outlined in the Companies Act, 2013, the average net profit of your Bank for the preceding three years works out to a loss (for CSR purpose). Hence, there was no requirement for your Bank to incur any spends under CSR during the year under review. However, as a pro-active and socially responsible entity, during the year ended March 31, 2023, your Bank spent 1.44 crore towards select CSR interventions in areas such as education, healthcare, etc.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

During the year under review, your Bank continued its steady progress towards technological innovation, upgrading and continuously improving its software and hardware. It inaugurated numerous branches equipped with the latest networking technology, laptops and desktops, and ensured continuity in IT-related procurement through e-tendering based bidding procedures.

Your Bank has strengthened its IT infrastructure with the second phase of Software Defined Wide Area Network

(SD-WAN) implementation, complete planning of co-location of DR services, and the implementation of new age security technologies.

Your Bank has also implemented an enterprise solution for IT Operations Management and is in the advanced stage of implementation of Integrated Collection and Recovery Module, upgrading of hardware and storage capacities in CBS including Oracle RAC, E-audit system implementation, and the implementation of Application Delivery Controllers (ADCs) for Data Centre (DC) & Disaster Recovery (DR) sites.

Your Bank has moved the entire UPI workload to private cloud, implemented a state-of-the-art Application Programming Interface Management (APIM) solution to facilitate digital transformation, and increased its market capabilities.

On the data refinement and enrichment fronts, your Bank has successfully implemented Automated Data Flow (ADF) application, optimised the combined MIS dashboard, and enhanced its journey towards being a data-driven decision-making organisation, backed by a strong and state-of-the-art Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) set-up. As part of the EDW, your Bank has made around 800 reports and dashboards available to various departments across the Bank. The Bank has also increased its reach towards Customer Relationship (CRM) module along with Customer 360? view for field functionaries, which can be accessed both on desktop and mobile. Under data governance, your Bank has significantly improved the Data Quality Index (DQI) score published by CIBIL Transunion.

CENTRALISED OPERATIONS

Your Bank has a dedicated Centralised Operations vertical which comprises various departments, viz. Central Processing Unit (CPU), Regional Processing Units (RPUs), Retail Asset Operations (RAO), Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Cell, Depository Account Operations, Domestic Payment & Remittance Services (DPRS), Cash Management Services (CMS) & Government Business Group (GBG) Operations, Capital Market Operations, Internet & Mobile Banking Operations, Card Issuance & Management section, Data Clean-up & Compliance Team and GST Operations.

The centralisation of various activities helps the Bank in improving efficiency by reducing the turnaround time (TAT) for processing of service requests from customers, ensuring uninterrupted support services to various business units of the Bank and rationalising the operating costs. It also helps in electronic record-keeping of all transactions, thereby facilitating proper tracking of responsibility and accountability and mitigating the risk of errors and frauds.

Branch Operations Support and Policy

Your Bank is at the forefront in disseminating knowledge to the staff on their day-to-day operations by equipping them with latest information on banking operations, services, etc. This ensures that your Bank is able to provide service to all its stakeholders with updated knowledge on products, operations and services.

YourBankisincompliancewithCleanNotePolicyoftheRBIand has deployed Note Sorting/ Note Authentication Machines in its branches. The Bank has 25 Currency Chests (CCs) across the country. These CCs process cash from all linked branches and provide clean notes for dispensing through ATMs and branches.

Your Bank has further strengthened various initiatives undertaken for improving customer convenience through digital mediums.