We have audited the accompanying standalone financial statements
of Induslnd Bank Limited ('the Bank'), which comprise the Balance
Sheet as at March 31, 2025, and the Profit and Loss Account, and
the Cash Flow Statement for the year then ended, and notes to
the standalone financial statements, including a summary of
significant accounting policies and other explanatory information.
In our opinion and to the best of our information and according
to the explanations given to us, the aforesaid standalone financial
statements give the information required by Section 29 of the
Banking Regulation Act, 1949 as well as the Companies Act, 2013
(the 'Act') and circulars and guidelines issued by the Reserve
Bank of India, in the manner so required for banking companies
('RBI Guidelines') and give a true and fair view in conformity with
the accounting principles generally accepted in India, including
the Accounting Standards prescribed under section 133 of the
Act, read with Companies (Accounting Standards) Rules, 2021 as
amended to the extent applicable, of the state of affairs of the
Bank as at March 31, 2025, and its profit, and its cash flows for the
year ended on that date.
Basis for Opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with the Standards on
Auditing ('SAs') specified under section 143(10) of the Act. Our
responsibilities under those SAs are further described in the
Auditor's Responsibilities for the Audit of the standalone financial
statements section of our report. We are independent of the Bank
in accordance with the Code of Ethics issued by the Institute of
Chartered Accountants of India ('ICAI') together with the ethical
requirements that are relevant to our audit of the standalone
financial statements under the provisions of the Act and the Rules
thereunder, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities
in accordance with these requirements and the Code of Ethics. We
believe that the audit evidence obtained by us, are sufficient and
appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion on the standalone
financial statements.
Emphasis of Matters
We draw attention to schedule 18(17.1) to 18(17.6) to the standalone
financial statements, which explain that the Board commissioned
an investigation/ reviews into the alleged discrepancies, covering
the following significant matters:
a) Internal Trades Derivative Accounting under the head 'Other
Assets' amounting to ^1,959.98 crores being accumulated
notional profits since FY 2015-16 have been written off as a
prior period item in the current financial year.
b) Incorrect accounting and subsequent reversal of cumulative
interest income of ^673.82 crore and Fee Income of ^172.58
crores within the current financial year.
c) Certain incorrect Manual Entries posted in the 'Other Assets'
and 'Other Liabilities' pertaining to prior years amounting to
?595 crores has been set off during the current financial year.
The resultant findings from the investigation / review reports,
in summary, revealed an involvement of senior Bank officials,
including former Key Management Personnel (KMP), in overriding
key internal controls across the aforesaid functions/ areas, and
a concealment from the Board and the statutory auditors of the
wrongful accounting practices adopted, over such period of time,
as indicated in the respective investigation/ review reports.
Basis our evaluation of the findings in the above mentioned
reports, in particular the likely involvement of senior management
in the above matters, we have reasons to believe that suspected
offences involving fraud may have been committed and thereby
we have reported these matters to the Central Government under
Section 143 (12) of the Companies Act, 2013 read with Rule 13(1) to
(4) of the Companies (Audit and Auditors Rules), 2014.
We draw attention to schedule 18(17.9) to the standalone
financial statements, which explains that in light of the findings
and adjustments noted above, in particular the override of
management controls by KMPs, the Board of Directors initiated
an internal review of material financial statement account captions
and directed the Management and the Internal Audit Department
to perform additional procedures such as reconciliations of system
reports and listings with balances reflected in general ledger, test
checks over such items in the listing and certain digital procedures
over and above. Based on the above review, rectifications/
reclassifications including those relating to prior-period items
were made to the accompanying standalone financial statements.
We draw attention to schedule 18(17.7) and 18(17.9) to the
standalone financial statements, which state that the Bank is
currently in the process of determining the accountability of the
persons involved in the discrepancies and irregularities mentioned
in the Emphasis of Matter paragraphs with reference to schedule
18(17.1) to 18(17.6) above and assessing the resultant legal or penal
implications, if any, that may arise thereon.
Our opinion on the standalone financial statements is not modified
with respect to these matters.
Key Audit Matters
Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional
judgment, were of most significance in our audit of the standalone
financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2025. These
matters were addressed in the context of our audit of the
standalone financial statements as a whole, and in forming our
opinion thereon, and we do not provide a separate opinion on
these matters.
We have determined the matters described below to be the key audit matters to be communicated in our report.
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Key Audit Matters
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How Was the Key Audit Matter Addressed in our Audit
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Detection of Management Override of Controls identified in the investigation/ reviews carried out based on the decision by the Bank
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The investigations/ reviews initiated by the Bank during the year
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Our audit procedures included, but were not limited to
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identified override of key internal controls by senior management
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the following:
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including Key management personnel and other material prior
period errors. These events raised significant concerns regarding
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• Reviewed Board and Audit Committee minutes to understand
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the financial reporting and governance of the Bank. Although
the Bank has initiated corrective actions for the identified
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management and governance responses to identified control
breaches.
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discrepancies, there remains a risk of unidentified matters due to
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• Assessed the appropriateness of the scope and coverage of
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potential management override of controls.
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the investigations/ reviews initiated by the Bank in derivative
transactions, micro finance loans and related accounts and
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In view of above, we considered the risk that the management may
override system based/ manual internal controls/ procedures as a
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Other Assets and Other Liabilities.
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Key Audit Matter for the financial year 2024-25.
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• Evaluated the scope of audit, independence, and competence
of the external forensic experts engaged by the management
to perform select procedures.
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• Obtained a copy of the investigation/ review reports and
verified whether the discrepancies noted therein have been
rectified in the standalone financial statements as per the
applicable Accounting Standards.
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• Basis perusal of the aforesaid reports, we had discussion with
the external forensic expert and the Bank's Head - Internal
Audit for matters requiring clarification in the investigation
report and internal review reports respectively.
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• Reassessed audit risks on account of the findings in the external
forensic investigation report and internal review reports.
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• Performed enhanced / additional audit procedures including
sending out incremental balance confirmations, performing
additional test of details in response to the reassessed risks.
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• Performed journal entry testing using specific risk-based
criteria, with specific focus on manual entries or involving high-
risk accounts to identify material misstatements.
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• Performed an independent reassessment of the valuation
of derivatives in respect of additional samples to ensure
compliance with the relevant RBI regulations.
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• Perused the confirmations obtained by the Bank from the heads
of the various functions/areas within the Bank on verification of
certain aspects with respect to the financial reporting to mitigate
the risk arising from potential management override of controls.
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• Evaluated the adequacy of disclosures made in the standalone
financial statements.
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• The aforesaid audit procedures were inter-alia explained as
part of our presentation to those charged with the governance.
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Identification, Classification, Provisioning and Write off of Advances
Total Loans and Advances (Net of Provision) as at 31 March 2025 - ^3,45,01,86,256 (Amount in 000') Provision for NPA as at 31 March 2025
- ^7,75,92,569 (Amount in 000') (Refer Schedule 9, Schedule 17(6) and Schedule 18 (4.1), (14.5) to the standalone financial statements)
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The Reserve Bank of India's ('RBI') guidelines on Income
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Our audit procedures included, but were not limited to
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recognition and asset classification and provisioning pertaining
to advances ('IRAC norms') prescribe the prudential guidelines for
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the following:
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identification and classification of Non Performing Assets (NPA)
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• Obtained an understanding of, evaluated and tested the
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and the minimum provision required for such assets from time
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design and operating effectiveness of key controls (including
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to time and other relevant circulars, notifications and directives
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application controls) around identification of NPA based on the
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issued by the RBI which were collectively considered by the Bank
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extant IRAC norms on a test check basis;
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till March 31,2025 to classify its advances into performing and non
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• Perused the 'Policy on NPA Management and Recovery' for
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performing advances and make appropriate provisions thereon.
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the financial year 2024-25 approved by the Board of Directors
in its meeting held on January 10, 2024 and based thereon
classification of the advances as on March 31, 2025;
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Key Audit Matters
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How Was the Key Audit Matter Addressed in our Audit
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The Bank, as per its governing framework, made the performing
and NPA provisions based on Management's assessment of the
degree of impairment of the advances subject to and guided by
minimum provisioning levels prescribed under the relevant RBI
guidelines. Additionally, the Bank makes provisions on exposures
that are not classified as NPA including advances to certain
sectors considered as 'stressed sectors' by the Bank and identified
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• Verified loans on sample basis to form our own assessment as
to whether impact of days past due have been recognised in a
timely manner by the Bank as per RBI Guidelines;
• Made inquiries of management regarding any effects considered
on the NPA identification and/ or provisioning, resulting from
observations raised by the RBI during their annual inspection of
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advances or group advances.
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the Bank's operations for the financial year 2023-24;
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• For the selected non-performing advances, we assessed
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Since the Bank has significant credit risk exposure to a large
number of borrowers across various sectors, products, industries
and geographies and there is a high degree of complexity,
uncertainty and judgment involved in recoverability of advances,
nature of transactions and estimation of provisions thereon
and identification of accounts to be written off and given its
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Management's forecast and inputs of recoverable cash flows,
impact of auditor's (of borrowers) comments on the standalone
financial statements, valuation of underlying security and
collaterals, as obtained by the Bank for estimation of recove rable
amounts on default and other sources of repayment;
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significance to the overall audit of the standalone financial
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• Obtained the Board approved note for advances written off
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statements, we have ascertained the Identification, Classification,
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during the year and perused the write off policy duly approved
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Provisioning and Write off of Advances is a Key Audit Matter.
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by the Board;
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• Obtained understanding of Credit monitoring process
including the governing framework and policy guidelines on
'Loan Frauds & Red Flagged Accounts';
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• Held specific discussions with the Credit and Risk departments
to ascertain how various Early Warning Signal (EWS) and
potential defaults have been identified and assessed in
identification of NPA; and
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• Performed credit assessments of samples for both corporate
and retail loans including larger exposures assessed by Bank
showing signs of deterioration, or in areas of emerging risk
(assessed against external market conditions). Reviewed
the Bank's risk grading of the loan, and assessment of loan
recoverability and the impact on the credit provision using
the information on the Borrowers loan file, discussed the case
with the concerned officials and senior management to verify
the assessment and provisioning made by the Bank.
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Provisions for advances:
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• Understood the Bank's processes and perused the policies
for determining provisions on advances in compliance with
IRAC norms including provisioning for advances covered
under Resolution Framework, stressed sectors, date of
commencement of commercial operations (DCCO), etc.;
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• Verified provision for fraud accounts as at March 31, 2025 as
per the RBI circular;
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• Re-performed, on sample basis for both corporate and retail
loans, the Days Past Due for loan accounts including their
classification and provisioning, to determine the accuracy of
the same (Collective for standard portfolio and case specific
for non-performing portfolio);
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• Reviewed the rectifications made by the Bank in the asset
classification and provisioning as on March 31, 2025 basis our
audit observations inter-alia regarding tagging of agri and non-
agri loans, provisioning and income recognition. These audit
observations were also presented to those charged with the
governance as part of the auditors' presentation; and
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• Assessed the appropriateness, accuracy and adequacy of the
related presentation and disclosures in accordance with the
applicable accounting standards and requirements of RBI with
respect to NPAs.
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Key Audit Matters
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How Was the Key Audit Matter Addressed in our Audit
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Information Technology (IT) Systems and Controls
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The Bank has a complex IT architecture to support Its day - to -
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Our Audit procedures with respect to this matter included:
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day business operations. The volume of transactions processed
and recorded Is huge. Moreover, a transaction may be required
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• IT audit specialists are an integral part of our engagement
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to be recorded across multiple applications depending upon the
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team. Our approach of testing IT General Controls (ITGC) and
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process and each application has different rules and a different set
of user access and authority matrix.
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IT Application Controls (ITAC) is risk based and business centric;
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All these applications are not fully customized to take care of
all user's requirements. These applications are interlinked using
different technologies so that data transfer takes place on real
time basis or at a particular time during the day; in batches or at
a transaction level and in an automated manner or manually. The
Core Banking Solution (CBS) itself has many interfaces. All these
data streams directly affect the financial accounting and reporting
process of the Bank.
The Bank has a process for identifying the applications where the
controls are embedded. The Bank's IT control framework includes
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• As part of our IT controls testing, we have tested ITGC as well
as ITAC. The focus of testing of ITGCs was based on the various
parameters such as Completeness, Validity, Identification /
Authentication Authorization, Integrity and accountability.
On the other hand, focus of testing automated controls from
applications was whether the controls prevent or detect
unauthorized transactions and support financial objectives
including completeness, accuracy, authorization, and validity
of transactions;
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automated, semi-automated and manual controls designed to
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• We gathered an understanding of IT applications landscape
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address identified risks.
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implemented at the Bank and changes made therein during
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IT controls are stated in Entity Level Controls (ELC), IT General
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the year. It was followed by process understanding, mapping
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Controls (ITGC) and IT Application Controls (ITAC). Further, the Bank
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of applications to the same and understanding financial risks
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has identified critical software impacting the financial accounting
and its reporting from the existence and completeness of Audit Trail
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posed by people, process and technology;
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(edit log).
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• In ITGC testing, on sample basis, we reviewed control areas
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We have identified IT systems and controls Framework as a Key Audit
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such as User Management, Change Management, Systems
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Matter as the Bank's business is highly dependent on technology,
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Security, cyber security, interface testing, deployment of new
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high level of automation, significant number of systems being
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applications, Incident Management, Physical & Environmental
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used, the IT environment is complex, and the design and operating
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Security, Backup and Restoration, Business Continuity and
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effectiveness of IT controls have a direct impact on its financial
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Disaster Recovery, Service Level Agreement, end of day
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reporting process. Review of these systems and controls allows
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operations, various submission made to the regulators under
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us to provide assurance on the integrity and completeness of
data processed through various IT applications which are used for
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risk based supervision;
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financial accounting & reporting.
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• For ITAC, we carried out on sample basis, compliance tests of
system functionality in order to assess the accuracy of system
functionality. We also carried out procedures such as validations
and limit checks on data entered into applications, approvals,
process dependencies and restriction on time period in which
transactions may be recorded;
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• We verified audit trail (edit log) on test check basis for
applications which are used for financial accounting and
reporting. Further we reviewed the existence and efficacy of
the audit trail implemented by the management; and
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• We tested the control environment using various techniques
such as inquiry, walkthroughs in live environment, review
of documentation / record / reports, observation and re¬
performance. We also tested few controls using negative
testing technique and verified compensating controls and
performed alternate procedures, where necessary.
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Information Other than the Standalone Financial
Statements and Auditors' Report Thereon
The Bank's Management and Board of Directors are responsible
for the other information. The other information comprises the
Pillar 3 Disclosures under the New Capital Adequacy Framework
(Basel III disclosures), which we obtained prior to the date of this
auditors' report, and Director's Report including Annexures to
Director's Report which is part of the Annual report (collectively
called as 'Other Information') but does not include the standalone
financial statements and our auditors' report thereon. The Annual
Report is expected to be made available to us after the date of this
auditors' report.
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Our opinion on the standalone financial statements does not cover
the other information and we do not express any form of assurance
conclusion thereon.
In connection with our audit of the standalone financial statements,
our responsibility is to read the other information identified above
when it becomes available and, in doing so, consider whether the
other information is materially inconsistent with the standalone
financial statements, or our knowledge obtained in the audit, or
otherwise appears to be materially misstated.
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When we read the Annual Report, if we conclude that there Is a
material misstatement therein, we are required to communicate
the matter to those charged with governance and take appropriate
action as applicable under the relevant laws and regulations.
Responsibilities of Management and Those
Charged with Governance for the Standalone
Financial Statements
The Bank's Management and Board of Directors are responsible
for the matters stated in section 134(5} of the Act with respect to
the preparation and presentation of these standalone financial
statements that give a true and fair view of the financial position,
financial performance, and cash flows ofthe Bank in accordance with
the accounting principles generally accepted in India, including the
Accounting Standards specified under section 133 of the Act, read
with Companies (Accounting Standards} Rules, 2021 as amended
to the extent applicable, and RBI Guidelines. This responsibility
also includes maintenance of adequate accounting records in
accordance with the provisions of the Act, Banking Regulation Act,
1949 and RBI Guidelines for safeguarding of the assets of the Bank
and for preventing and detecting frauds and other irregularities;
selection and application of appropriate accounting policies;
making judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
and design, implementation and maintenance of adequate internal
financial controls, that were operating effectively for ensuring the
accuracy and completeness of the accounting records, relevant
to the preparation and presentation of the standalone financial
statements that give a true and fair view and are free from material
misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the standalone financial statements, the Management
and Board of Directors are responsible for assessing the Bank's
ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable,
matters related to going concern and using the going concern
basis of accounting unless the Board of Directors either intends
to liquidate the Bank or to cease operations, or has no realistic
alternative but to do so.
Those Board of Directors are also responsible for overseeing the
Bank's financial reporting process.
Auditors' Responsibilities for the Audit of the
Standalone Financial Statements
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether
the standalone financial statements as a whole are free from
material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to
issue an auditors' report that includes our opinion. Reasonable
assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that
an audit conducted in accordance with SAs will always detect a
material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from
fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the
aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the
economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these standalone
financial statements. As part of an audit in accordance with SAs,
we exercise professional judgment and maintain professional
skepticism throughout the audit. We also:
• Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the
standalone financial statements, whether d ue to fraud or error,
design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks,
and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate
to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a
material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for
one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery,
intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of
internal control.
• Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the
audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate
in the circumstances. Under section 143(3}(i} of the Act, we are
also responsible for expressing our opinion on whether the
Bank has internal financial controls with reference to standalone
financial statements in place and the operating effectiveness
of such controls.
• Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the
reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures
made by management in the standalone financial statements.
• Conclude on the appropriateness of management's use of the
going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit
evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists
related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt
on the Bank's ability to continue as a going concern. If we
conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to
draw attention in our auditors' report to the related disclosures
in the standalone financial statements or, if such disclosures are
inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based
on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditors'
report. However, future events or conditions may cause the
Bank to cease to continue as a going concern.
• Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the
standalone financial statements, including the disclosures, and
whether the standalone financial statements represent the
underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves
fair presentation.
We communicate with those charged with governance regarding,
among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit
and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies
in internal control that we identify during our audit.
We also provide those charged with governance with a statement
that we have complied with relevant ethical requirements regarding
independence, and to communicate with them all relationships
and other matters that may reasonably be thought to bear on our
independence, and where applicable, related safeguards.
From the matters communicated with those charged with
governance, we determine those matters that were of most
significance in the audit of the standalone financial statements
for the year ended March 31, 2025 and are therefore, the key audit
matters. We describe these matters in our auditors' report unless
law or regulation precludes public disclosure about the matter
or when, in extremely rare circumstances, we determine that a
matter should not be communicated in our report because the
adverse consequences of doing so would reasonably be expected
to outweigh the public interest benefits of such communication.
Other Matters
The audit of standalone financial statements for the year ended
March 31, 2024 was conducted by one of the predecessor joint
statutory auditors and one of the current joint statutory auditors
of the Bank, who expressed an unmodified opinion on those
standalone financial statements vide their report dated April 25,
2024. Our opinion on the standalone financial statements is not
modified in respect of this matter.
Report on Other Legal and Regulatory
Requirements
1. The Balance Sheet and the Profit and Loss Account have been
drawn up in accordance with the provisions of Section 29 of
the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and Section 133 of the Act
and relevant rules issued thereunder.
2. As required by sub-section (3) of section 30 of the Banking
Regulation Act, 1949, we report that:
a. We have sought and obtained all the information and
explanations which, to the best of our knowledge and
belief, were necessary for the purpose of our audit and
have found them to be satisfactory;
b. The transactions of the Bank, which have come to our
notice, have been within the powers of the Bank; and
c. Since the key operations of the Bank are automated
with the key applications integrated to the core banking
systems, the audit is carried out centrally as all the
necessary records and data required for the purposes
of our audit are available therein. However, during the
course of our audit we have visited 75 branches to
examine the records maintained at such branches for
the purpose of our Audit.
3. As required by Section 143(3) of the Act, we report that:
a. We have sought and obtained all the information and
explanations which to the best of our knowledge and
belief were necessary for the purposes of our audit;
b. In our opinion, proper books of account as required by
law have been kept by the Bank so far as it appears from
our examination of those books, except for the matters
stated in the paragraph 3(i)(vi) below on reporting
under Rule 11(g);
c. The Standalone Balance Sheet, the Standalone Profit
and Loss Account and the Standalone Cash Flow
Statement dealt with by this Report are in agreement
with the books of account;
d. In our opinion, the aforesaid standalone financial
statements comply with the Accounting Standards
specified under Section 133 of the Act read with
Companies Accounting Standard Rules, 2021 as
amended, to the extent they are not inconsistent with
the guidelines prescribed by RBI;
e. The matters described in the Adverse Opinion
paragraph in Annexure A, in our opinion, may have an
adverse effect on the functioning of the Bank;
f. On the basis of the written representations received
from the directors as on March 31,2025 taken on record
by the Board of Directors, none of the directors are
disqualified as on March 31,2025 from being appointed
as a director in terms of Section 164(2) of the Act;
g. The reservation relating to the maintenance of accounts
and other matters connected therewith are as stated
in paragraph 3(b) above on reporting under Section
143(3)(b) and paragraph 3(i)(vi) below on reporting
under Rule 11(g);
h. With respect to the adequacy of the internal financial
controls with reference to standalone financial
statements of the Bank and the operating effectiveness
of such controls, refer to our separate Report in
'Annexure A';
i. With respect to the other matters to be included in
the Auditor's Report in accordance with Rule 11 of
the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014, in
our opinion and to the best of our information and
according to the explanations given to us:
(i) The Bank has disclosed the impact of pending
litigations on its financial position in its standalone
financial statements - Refer schedule 12, 17(17) and
18(15.3) to the standalone financial statements;
(ii) The Bank has made provision, as required under
the applicable law or accounting standards, for
material foreseeable losses, if any, on long-term
contracts including derivative contracts - Refer
schedule 17(5), 17(17), 18(3), 18(4.1) and 18(15.3) to
the standalone financial statements;
(iii) There has been no delay in transferring amounts,
required to be transferred, to the Investor
Education and Protection Fund by the Bank
during the financial year ended March 31, 2025 -
Refer schedule 18(15.5);
(iv) (a) The Management has represented that, to the
best of it's knowledge and belief, other than
as disclosed in the schedule 18(15.15)(1) to the
standalone financial statements, no funds have
been advanced or loaned or invested (either
from borrowed funds or share premium or
any other sources or kind of funds) by the
Bank to or in any other persons or entities,
including foreign entities ('Intermediaries'),
with the understanding, whether recorded
in writing or otherwise, that the Intermediary
shall, directly or indirectly lend or invest in
other persons or entities identified in any
manner whatsoever by or on behalf of the
Bank ('Ultimate Beneficiaries') or provide any
guarantee, security or the like on behalf of the
Ultimate Beneficiaries;
(b) The Management has represented, that, to the
best of it's knowledge and belief, other than
as disclosed in the schedule 18(15.15)(2) to
the standalone financial statements, no funds
have been received by the Bank from any
persons or entities, including foreign entities
('Funding Parties'), with the understanding,
whether recorded in writing or otherwise,
that the Bank shall, directly or indirectly, lend
or invest in other persons or entities identified
in any manner whatsoever by or on behalf of
the Funding Party ('Ultimate Beneficiaries') or
provide any guarantee, security or the like on
behalf of the Ultimate Beneficiaries; and
(c) Based on the audit procedures performed
that have been considered reasonable
and appropriate in the circumstances, and
according to the information and explanations
provided to us by the Management in this
regard, nothing has come to our notice that has
caused us to believe that the representations
under sub-clause (a) and (b) of Rule 11(e) as
provided under (a) and (b) above, contain any
material mis-statement.
(v) The dividend declared and paid during the year
by the Bank is in compliance with Section 123 of
the Act; and
(vi) Based on our examination which included test
checks, the Bank has used certain accounting
softwares for maintaining its books of account
(including two accounting softwares managed
and maintained by a third-party software service
provider) which have a feature of recording
the audit trail (edit log) facility, except that as
explained in schedule 18(18) to the standalone
financial statements, no audit trail feature
was enabled at the database level in respect
of two accounting softwares to log any direct
data changes.
Further, where enabled and except for certain
softwares as explained in the aforesaid Note,
the audit trail feature has been operated
for all relevant transactions recorded in the
accounting softwares. Also, in the absence of
sufficient appropriate audit evidence and as
fully explained in the aforesaid Note, during the
course of our audit and considering SOC report,
we did not come across any instance of audit
trail feature being tampered with in respect of
such accounting softwares. Additionally, the
audit trail of prior year has been preserved by
the Bank as per the statutory requirements for
record retention to the extent it was enabled
and recorded in previous year except for certain
softwares as explained in the aforesaid Note.
4. In our opinion and to the best of our information and
according to the explanations given to us, the provisions
of Section 197 of the Act are not applicable to the Bank by
virtue of Section 35B(2A) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
Accordingly, the reporting under Section 197(16) of the Act
regarding payment/ provision for managerial remuneration
in accordance with the requisite approvals mandated by the
provisions of Section 197 read with Schedule V to the Act, is
not applicable.
For M S K A & Associates For Chokshi & Chokshi LLP
Chartered Accountants Chartered Accountants
ICAI Firm's Registration No: 105047W ICAI Firm's Registration No: 101872W / W100045
Tushar Kurani Vineet Saxena
Partner Partner
Membership No.: 118580 Membership No.: 100770
UDIN: 25118580BMOHWY3796 UDIN: 25100770BMIQSA9949
Place: Mumbai
Date: May 21, 2025
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