Section 28 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949: Power to Publish Information
Section 28 permits the Reserve Bank of India and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, acting separately or together, to publish specified information when they consider publication to be in the public interest.
Text of Section 28
28. Power to publish information. The Reserve Bank or the National Bank, or both, if they consider it in the public interest so to do, may publish:
(a) any information obtained by them under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, in such consolidated form as they think fit; and
(b) in such manner as they may consider proper, any credit information disclosed under the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005.
Meaning and scope of Section 28
The section is an enabling provision. It gives the specified banking regulators a statutory power to make certain information public when publication serves the public interest. The power is not expressed as an automatic duty to publish every item of information received under the Act.
Who may publish information under Section 28?
Reserve Bank
Under Section 5(l) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, the expression Reserve Bank means the Reserve Bank of India constituted under Section 3 of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.
National Bank
Under Section 5(ha) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, the expression National Bank means the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) established under Section 3 of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Act, 1981.
What information can be published?
Section 28 covers two categories. First, information obtained under the Banking Regulation Act may be published in a consolidated form considered appropriate by the regulator. Second, credit information disclosed under the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005 may be published in a manner considered proper.
The reference to a consolidated form is significant because clause (a) expressly permits publication of information in an aggregated or consolidated presentation rather than requiring disclosure of each underlying item in its original form.
Relationship with the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005
Clause (b) was introduced to expressly cover credit information disclosed under the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005. This links Section 28 with the statutory framework governing credit information companies and the regulated sharing of credit information.
Legislative history
The present Section 28 was substituted by Act 61 of 1981, Section 61 and the Second Schedule, with effect from 12 July 1982. The provision was later amended by Act 30 of 2005, Section 34 and the Schedule, with effect from 14 December 2006, to include the present reference to credit information disclosed under the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005.
Practical effect of Section 28
In practical terms, Section 28 supports regulatory transparency by allowing RBI and NABARD to publish information of broader public relevance while leaving the form and manner of publication to the statutory authorities, subject to the public-interest condition contained in the section.
Official statutory source
For the authoritative text and the latest consolidated version of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, refer to the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 on India Code. The Department of Financial Services also publishes the Act and banking-law materials on its official website.
Note: This page explains the statutory provision for general legal information. For a matter involving disclosure, confidentiality, banking supervision or credit information, the complete Act and other applicable laws should be read together.