CLAIM
A message is being widely circulated on social media that nine banks will be permanently closed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) following an order from the Supreme Court.
The message being circulated reads “ Nine banks will be closed permanently by Reserve bank of India. If anybody having transaction in it please kindly withdraw it. The name of the bank’s are Corporation Bank, UCO Bank, IDBI, Bank of Maharashtra, Andhra Bank, Indian Overseas Bank of the India, 9 banks going to be close if u guys have any account in this bank so please immediately safe ur cash and forward this msg to all. Order by Supreme Court (Sic).”
The Quint received multiple queries from its readers.
We found that the same claim was also viral in 2017.
WHAT IS THE TRUTH?
The viral message is false. We checked the website of RBI as well as the Supreme Court and found there was no notification regarding the closure of nine banks. Moreover, officials connected to RBI have issued clarifications about the message in circulation.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
The Quint contacted Yogesh Dayal, Chief General Manager of RBI. He informed us that he had issued a clarification about the same hoax message in circulation.
The Reserve Bank of India had also tweeted from its official handle, clarifying that the message was fake.
Rajeev Kumar, Finance Secretary cum Secretary Department of Financial Services, has also tweeted about the message, calling it a ‘mischievous’ rumour.
Therefore, it is clear that this is fake news and the RBI has not announced a closure of nine banks.
However, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 30 August announced four major mergers of 10 public sector banks (PSBs), a move aimed at making state-owned lenders global sized banks. With this announcement, India will now have 12 PSBs.
United Bank of India and Oriental Bank of Commerce will be merged with Punjab National Bank. Syndicate Bank will be merged with Canara Bank, while Allahabad Bank will be amalgamated with Indian Bank. Similarly, Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank will be consolidated with Union Bank of India.
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