New Delhi, July 22, 2025:
The State Bank of India (SBI) has officially classified Reliance Communications (RCom) and its promoter-director Anil D Ambani as ‘fraud’ accounts, following due process under RBI guidelines. This update was shared in a written reply by Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
The fraud classification was made on June 13, 2025, in line with RBI’s Master Directions on Fraud Risk Management and the bank’s own Board-approved policies. Subsequently, on June 24, 2025, SBI reported the matter to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and is currently in the process of lodging a formal complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Additionally, on July 1, 2025, the Resolution Professional of RCom disclosed the fraud classification to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) as per compliance norms.
💰 SBI’s Credit Exposure to RCom:
Fund-based Principal Outstanding: ₹2,227.64 crore (plus accrued interest & expenses since August 26, 2016)
Non-Fund Based (Bank Guarantee): ₹786.52 crore
RCom is currently undergoing the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016. While the Committee of Creditors (CoC) approved the resolution plan, it is still pending final approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai, since March 6, 2020.
🧑⚖️ Legal Action Against Anil Ambani
SBI has also initiated a Personal Insolvency Resolution Process against Anil D Ambani, which is presently being heard by NCLT Mumbai.
Previously, the bank had declared both the account and Ambani as ‘fraud’ on November 10, 2020, and filed a complaint with the CBI on January 5, 2021. However, the complaint was returned due to a Delhi High Court ‘status quo’ order dated January 6, 2021.
Following a Supreme Court judgment dated March 27, 2023, in the SBI vs Rajesh Agarwal case, lenders must now provide borrowers an opportunity to respond before fraud classification. SBI subsequently reversed the fraud tag on September 2, 2023, but re-applied it on June 13, 2025, following all due process under the revised RBI circular dated July 15, 2024.
