A senior official from Bank of Baroda revealed on Thursday that the forensic audit regarding recent corruption allegations against key employees involved in the bank’s mobile app, Bobworld, is still underway. Joydeep Dutta Roy, the Executive Director of the bank, informed reporters at the national banking summit organized by IBA and Ficci that the bank is actively working on the forensic audit, while the central bank is conducting additional due diligence on the Bobworld app.
On October 10, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed a ban on Bank of Baroda, preventing the onboarding of new customers on its mobile app due to identified supervisory concerns. The RBI stated, “The Reserve Bank has directed Bank of Baroda to suspend, with immediate effect, any further onboarding of their customers onto the Bobworld mobile application.”
In response to the RBI’s actions, the state-owned bank terminated the services of its chief digital officer, Akhil Handa, as announced by the bank’s Managing Director and CEO, Debadatta Chand, on November 5. Chand stated, “We have taken action on a large set of people in the field. As far as the former chief digital officer Akhil Handa is concerned, it is a cessation of service induced by the bank, and that is a termination.”
Regarding the digital currency Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), Roy reported that it already has 2.5 lakh users, and the goal is to onboard 10 lakh users by the end of the current fiscal year. He expressed optimism, citing the recent allowance to onboard individuals not already banking with them and an increase in daily transactions from a few to over 2,000.
The situation is still evolving, and the bank continues to address the concerns raised by the RBI through the ongoing forensic audit.
