Question : Debt Recovery Tribunals

(a) Whether the Government has set up Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRTs) to expedite debt recovery;
(b) If so, the details thereof and the work undertaken by them till date;
(c) Whether the said DRTs have proved to be inadequate and ill equipped for grounding of defaulters and recovery of debts;
(d) if so, the details thereof and the response of the Government thereto; and
(e) The steps taken/being taken to set up more tribunals and strengthen them and fix legal loopholes to check delay in resolution and recovery of debts?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE


(a) & (b) The Government has set up 39 Debts Recovery Tribunals (DRTs) in different parts of the country. The number of cases (Original Applications) disposed by DRTs in past four years is as following:
Financial Year No. of Cases Disposed (OA)
2013-14 13699
2014-15 14219
2015-16 16525
2016-17 (till 31st October, 2016) 11997



(c) to (e) To strengthen the DRTs, this Department has, inter-alia, taken the following steps:
i. The Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions (RDDB & FI) Act, 1993 and Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act (SARFAESI Act), 2002 were amended by the Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws & Miscellaneous Provisions (Amendment) Act, 2016 for expeditious adjudication and speedier resolution of defaulted loans.
ii. Six new DRTs have been established at Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Ernakulam, Hyderabad and Siliguri during 2016-17 bringing the total number of DRTs to 39.
iii. IT infrastructure has been upgraded in DRTs.