Andhra Bank furnishes information as per The Right To Information Act, 2005 about 

1.  WHAT IS RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT 

1.1.  The Government of India has enacted "Right to Information Act 2005" to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens to secure access to information under the control of Public Authorities in order to promote transparency and accountability in the working of any public authority. The Act came into force on 15.06.2005 in part and on 12.10.2005 in full force. 

2.   WHAT IS RIGHT TO INFORMATION 

2.1.  The right to information includes an access to the information which is held by or under the control of any public authority and includes the right to inspect the work, document, records, taking notes, extracts or certified copies of documents / records and certified samples of the materials and obtaining information which is also stored in electronic form. 

3.  WHO CAN ASK FOR INFORMATION 

3.1.  Any citizen can request for information by making an application in writing or through electronic means in English / Hindi / official language of the areas, in which the application is being made together with the prescribed fees. 

4.   WHO WILL GIVE INFORMATION 

4.1.  Any public authority would designate Assistant Central Public Information Officer (ACPIO) at various levels, who will receive the requests for information from the public and necessary number of Central Public Information Officers (CPIO) in all administrative units/ office who will arrange for providing necessary information to the public as permitted under the law. The public authorities are also required to designate authority (ies) senior in rank to CPIO, as Appellate Authorities, who will entertain and dispose off appeals against the decision of the CPIO as required under the Act. Any person who does not receive the decision from CPIO wither by way of information or rejection within the time frame, may within 30 days from the expiry of period prescribed for furnishing the information or 30 days from the date of receipt of the decisions, prefer an appeal to the Appellate Authority.

 5.   THE INFORMATION, WHICH IS EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE

5.1.  The Act provides under Sections 8 and 9, certain categories of information that are exempt from disclosure to the citizens. The public may also refer to the relative sections of the Act before submitting a request for information.

6.   PROCEDURE FOR REQUEST OF INFORMATION:

6.1.  Any request by any person seeking information shall be made orally or in writing in any Official Language to the Central Public Information Officer (PIO) specifying the particulars of information sought by him either in English or Hindi or in Official language of the local area along with the prescribed fee. The oral request shall be reduced to writing.

6.2.  The person requesting for information need not give any reasons.

6.3.  The Branch Managers who are designated as Assistant Central Public Information Officer  (ACPIO) shall accept the request from any person and forward it to Ist & IInd level Officials at Zonal Offices and Head Office who are designated as Central Public Information Officers (CPIOs) and Senior Central Public Information Officers (SCPIOs) for their decision.

7.   PAYMENT OF PRESCRIBED FEE:

7.1.  Application Fee : Any person interested in seeking information may submit his request in writing along with Rs.10/-  in cash against proper receipt or demand  draft or Bankers Cheque payable  to the  Accounts  Officer  of  the  Public  Authority as per  the  Rule 3 of  RTI (Regulation of fee and  costs) Rules 2005. Subsequently by extraordinary gazette notification dated 17.05.2006 Indian Postal Order is  also  accepted.

7.2.  Payment  towards cost of information provided for:

7.2.1. If the information sought for is furnishable by the CPIO, the person concerned has to pay the actual cost of the printing of the information.  The calculation details of the cost may have to be provided to the applicant in writing.

7.2.2. It is to be noted that the Applicant can seek review of the decision on fee charged by the CPIO by applying to the Appellate Authority i.e. General Managers at Corporate Head Office.

For providing information under Sub section 1 of Section 7, the fee shall be charged by way of  cash against proper receipt or by demand draft or Bankers Cheque payable to the Accounts Officer of the Public Authority at the following rates.

a) Rs.2 per each page (A$ or A3 size paper) created or copied

b) Actual charge or cost price of a copy in larger size paper

c) Actual cost or price for samples or models and

d) for inspection of records no fee for the 1st hour and a fee of Rs.5 for each 15 minutes(or fraction there of ) thereafter

e) for information provided to disketter or floppy Rs.50 per diskette or floppy

7.3. Exemption for payment of Application Fee and cost of expenditure incurred in providing the information, in certain cases.

7.3.1. Applicants who are below poverty line are exempted from paying Application Fee and cost of expenditure incurred in providing the information.

7.3.2.The information has to be provided free of cost, if the PIO fails to comply with the prescribed time limit as set out in Para 8.

8.   RESPONSE TIME TO PROVIDE THE INFORMATION:

9.  GROUNDS FOR REJECTION:

9.1.  Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer as the case may be, may reject a request for information where such a request for providing access would involve an infringement of copyright subsisting in a person other than the state.

9.2.  PARTIAL DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION:

9.3.  Access may be provided to that part of the record, which does not contain any information, which is exempt from disclosure, and which can reasonably be severed from any part that contains exempted information. [S.10]

10. THE STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICERS IN ANDHRA BANK

10.1. Assistant Central Public Information Officer (ACPIO):

Branch Managers / Branch Heads of all branches have been designated as Assistant Central Public Information Officer (ACPIOs) who will receive the request for information from public and forward to the CPIO for necessary action.

10.2. Central Public Information Officers (CPIO):

All the Deputy General Managers posted as Principal Officers or Second line Officers in the Zonal Offices are designated as Central Public Information Officers (CPIO). On receipt of the request from the public, the CPIO shall consider the same and furnish the information or reject the request within the time specified.

10.3. Appellate Authorities:

All the General Managers posted at Corporate Head Office are designated, as Senior Central Public Information Officers (SCPIOs) who are Appellate Authorities under the Act and they will hear the first appeal filed by citizens against the decision of the Central Public Information Officer.

11. HOW TO LOCATE A PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER IN   ANDHRA BANK

11.1. The public can submit their request / application for information to the Branch Head / Branch Manager of a nearest branch, designated as Assistant Central Public Information Officers (ACPIO) by the Bank.

11.2. A member of the public may submit a request to the nearest CAPIO  (Nearest branch can be identified through Branch Network in case an appeal is to be made.  The CAPIO will, on request, furnish the particulars of the specific appellate authority with whom an appeal would be made in respect of any particular order of the CPIO.

RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT 2005

Section 4(1) (b) (i)

The particulars of its organization, functions and duties

Andhra bank  has been constituted as corresponding new bank under Banking Companies (Acquisition & Transfer of Undertakings) Act 1980. The bank's Board is constituted in accordance with the Banking Companies (Acquisition & Transfer of Undertakings) Act 1980 and Nationalised Banks (Management and Miscellaneous Provisions) Scheme 1980. The Board is headed by the Chairman and Managing Director who is appointed by Central Government in consultation with Reserve Bank of India. The Chairman & Managing Director is appointed in exercise of powers conferred  by clause (a) of sub-section 3 of Section 9 of Banking Companies (Acquisition & Transfer of Undertakings) Act 1980 read with sub clause (1) of clause 3, clause 5, clause 6, clause 7 and sub-clause (1) of clause 8 of Nationalised Banks (Management and Miscellaneous Provisions) Scheme 1980.  A whole time Director (Executive Director) of the bank appointed by Central Government in consultation with Reserve Bank Of India is also member of the Board. The Executive Director  of the bank is appointed  in exercise of powers conferred  by clause (a) of sub-section 3, of Section 9 of the Banking Companies (Acquisition & Transfer of Undertakings)Act 1980  read with sub-clause (1) of  clause 3 and sub-clause (1) of clause 8 of Nationalised Banks (Management and Miscellaneous Provisions) Scheme 1980. 

The public is requested to refer to Banking Companies (Acquisition & Transfer of Undertakings) Act 1980 and Nationalised Banks (Management and Miscellaneous Provisions) Scheme 1980. 

The names and particulars of the Chairman & Managing Director and the Executive Director of the bank

Sri R S Reddy is the Chairman and Managing Director of the bank.

Contact Nos. (040) 23240380, (040) 23240480,

Sri Anil Girotra is the Executive Director of the Bank.

Names of other Directors:

Names & Particulars of the executives (General Managers) at Head Office, Hyderabad:

Executives (General Managers) at other places:

There are Twenty Two Zonal Offices to supervise and control the functioning of the branches across the country.   

The broad functions of the Bank is accepting of deposits from the Public and lending to the public as per the norms prescribed by the RBI/ Government of India from time to time and rendering of services to customers such collection of Cheques, issue of Demand Drafts Traveler's Cheques etc.,     

Section 4 (1) (b) (ii)

The powers and duties of its officers and employees:

Delegation of Lending Powers:

The Bank has a well laid down system of delegation of lending powers to be exercised by Branch Managers depending upon their scale, first and second level officials at Controlling offices and by executives at Head Office with operative guidelines governing the exercise of delegated powers.  Branch Managers heading the branches inter alia include officials of JM-I cadre to SM-V cadre, and Ist & IInd level officials at Zonal Offices comprise of General Manager / Dy. General Manager/Asst. General Manager Cadre and at Head Office General Manager (Cr.) & above executives.

Financial Powers for Revenue and Capital Expenditure:

To ensure smooth and proper functioning of the branches and other offices, bank has put in place the delegation of financial powers for revenue and capital expenditures, which will be within the framework of approved budgets.  After completion of financial year, the expenditure incurred by the bank during the previous year is being reviewed by the Board. 

Duties of the Officers and employees of the Bank:

The rights and duties of Officer employees are governed by:

1. Andhra Bank  (Officers) Service Regulations (ABOSR) 1982.

2. Andhra Bank (Officer) employees' (Conduct) Regulations, 1981

As far as award staff employees are concerned, the service conditions are governed by the industry level settlement (Bipartite settlements) entered into by Indian Banks Association with the recognized employee organizations.

Public is requested to refer to the above Regulations and Bipartite settlement for details.

 Section 4 (1)(b) (iii)

The procedure followed in the decision making process, including channels of supervision and accountability:

There is well-defined system in the Bank regarding the decision making process.  Financial decisions are taken at various levels from Asst. Manager to AGM of Branch depending upon their positions and beyond that through committee approach. Branches will source the applications and forward them to the respective credit processing cells, for their consideration.  Further, there is a well-defined organizational structure and a clear system of accountability which also takes into account the RBI / CVC guidelines.  Each officer will have to consider loan proposals and take a decision in terms of the scheme delegation of powers.  All loans sanctioned will have to be reported to the higher authority for control purpose.  The system of exercising proper delegation of powers and submission of control returns are monitored by the controllers.

Section 4(1) (b) (iv)

The norms set by it for the discharge of its functions:

The Head Office decide the rates to be offered by the Bank for the deposits, for different tenures which are displayed in the Bank's website and also at the branches.  Regarding the advances, again the Head Office takes a decision on introduction of various loan products and details of which are available in the website as well as at the branches.  Head Office also decides about the rates of interest for various advances which again are available on our website and also at the office / branches of the Bank.

Whether to sanction a loan or not, is the absolute discretion of the concerned sanctioning authority of the Bank and such discretion is exercised, after taking into consideration the relevant facts and circumstances of each case.

Section 4 (1) (b)(v)

The rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, held by the Bank or under its control or used by its employees for discharging its functions:

There are quite a number of documents like manuals, codified circulars, scheme of delegations of powers, proceedings of the Board etc., and also the periodical circulars, used by the employee for discharging various functions.

Section 4 (1) (b) (vi)

A statement of the categories of documents that are held by the Bank or under its control:

These are mainly registers of various Committee Meetings, Documents executed by customers / borrowers / guarantors, Contracts with Third Parties / etc.  These are all private information and of commercial value and cannot be shared with public.

Section 4 (1) (b) (vii)

The particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representation by, the members of the public in relation to the formulation of its policy or implementation thereof.

As per the present arrangement, the shareholders can raise issues concerning policies in Annual General Meetings, which can relate to policy of the bank.

Further the Bank's Quarterly / Half yearly / Annual results are published in leading newspapers as well as putting the same on Bank's web site for information of public as well as the shareholders which would give an idea of the policies of the bank and implementation thereof.

Section 4 (1) (b) (viii)

A statement of Boards, councils, committees and other bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice, and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees and other bodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessible for public.

The Board of the Bank has constituted various committees as detailed under:-

Management Committee of Board  (MC)

Audit Committee of Board  (ACB)

Shareholders / Investors Grievances Committee (SIGC)

Special Committee for Monitoring Large Value of Frauds

Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC)

Risk Management Committee of Board (RMC)

Customer Service Committee of Board ( CSC )

Share Transfer Committee  -- Members   (STC)

Public are not entitled to participate in the above committee meetings and minutes are not accessible to public. Public may refer to Annual Report for more details.

Section 4 (1) (b) (ix)

A directory of its officers and employees: 

  As the number of employees is quite large and they are frequently liable to transfer from place to place, it is not possible to publish the list of officers. Therefore any person interested in seeking information about any officer or employee can approach the designated Central Public Information Officers of the bank in that behalf for obtaining the details of any particular employee on payment of prescribed fees the, Bank would furnish the same.  The general public may approach the public information officer for details of any particular employee.  

Section 4 (1) (b) (x)

The monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations

The Officers and employees are paid salaries and allowances as per the settlements arrived between the IBA and Bank's Unions which is put on IBA's website.Any person interested for details may approach the nearest Branch Manager / Head, who is designated as the Assistant Central Public Information Officers for relevant information.

Section 4 (1) (b) (xi)

The budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made

There are no plans and budgets for expenditure and disbursements and the provision is not applicable to banks.  There are targets furnished to the various functionaries at zonal level for mobilizing deposits and advances.

Section 4 (1) (b) (xii)

The manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the amounts allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such programmes

There are no subsidy programmes or plans for lending activities of the Bank as a whole except for targets for priority sector lending.  There are different schemes for advances of the Bank and the terms and conditions are already available in the Bank's website.

Section 4 (1) (b) (xiii)

Particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorizations granted by it

There are no programmes in the bank for grant of concessions; permits, authorizations and the business activity of the bank have no relationship with any public activity or public interest.

Section 4 (1) (b) (xiv)

Details in respect of the information, available to or held by it, reduced in an electronic form

All the general information regarding deposits, advances and other services offered by the Bank are available in the bank's website.

Section 4 (1) (b) (xv)

The particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining information, including the working hours of a library or reading room, if maintained for public use.

The public can approach the CAPIOS for information regarding bank's various Products which are also available in the website.

Section 4 (1)(b) (xvi)

The names, designations and other particulars of the Central Public Information Officers. 

The Bank's Board has designated the following officers in three different cadres as Central Public Information Officers as contemplated in the Section 5 of the Right To Information Act 2005.

1. SENIOR CENTRAL PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICERS/APPELLATE AUTHORITIES

2. CENTRAL PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICERS

3. All the branch managers irrespective of their cadre are designated as Assistant Central Public Information Officers at branch headed by him/her.For branches information, please visit "Branch Locator" in the home page of our bank's website www.andhrabank.in

Section 4(1) (b) (xvii)

Such other information as may be prescribed, and thereafter update these publications every year

As contemplated under Section 4 (I) (b) of Right to Information Act, 2005 the bank has compiled the information and placed it in the bank's web site for use of public on 11.10.2005.  As and when there are changes in the subjects covered in the foregoing chapters, the same would be updated yearly.

Note: