Vijaya Bank officials foils robbery bid in Raver village, shot dead

Two armed robbers shot dead the assistant branch manager of Vijaya Bank at Nimbol village in Raver taluka of Jalgaon district, around 310km from here, on Tuesday afternoon. The incident was a near re-run of the shooting that left an IT engineer dead at the office of Muthoot Finance Company in Nashik city just four days ago.

The criminals fired once at Karan Singh Negi (31), who foiled the robbery attempt and got the duo fleeing for the exit by pressing the burglar alarm. Negi was hit by the bullet in the shoulder and died on the way to hospital following excessive bleeding.

Police said the robbers came to the bank on a motorcycle wearing black helmets. They did not take off their helmets as they entered the bank brandishing revolvers around 2.20pm. One of them fired a bullet at a wall in the bank in an attempt to frighten the five bank employees, including two women.

Bank official foils robbery

 bid in 

Raver village

, killed

Jalgaon superintendent of police Panjabrao Ugle told TOI that one of the robbers tried to overpower Negi at his workstation. “However, Negi immediately bent down and pressed the burglar alarm, which caught the goons off guard. They quickly turned to the exit. When Negi stood up, one of the robbers fired at him. The bullet hit Negi in the right shoulder and he collapsed on the floor,” he said.

Negi, who hails from Himachal Pradesh, was living in a rented house in Nimbol. Police officials commended him for displaying alacrity by pressing the alarm, which prevented the criminals from robbing the bank. Bank officials said the branch manager was out for a meeting when the robbers entered. “It is extremely painful that Negi died in such a gruesome manner,” a senior bank functionary said.

On June 14, IT engineer M Saju Samuel was shot dead when he took on six armed robbers at the office of Muthoot Finance Company in Nashik city. Samuel too had pressed the burglar alarm after the robbers stormed in, which forced them to flee without taking anything.

The Vijaya Bank branch at Nimbol is around 17km from the Madhya Pradesh border. The Jalgaon police enforced nakabandi across Jalgaon district and along the roads leading to the MP border. Ugle said the two robbers spoke in both Marathi and Hindi. The police said they were yet to establish in which direction the robbers had fled. Officials and personnel from the Nimbhora police station, which is 17km away from Nimbol, rushed to the bank around 3pm.

Some villagers told the police that they had seen the two robbers spend time sitting in the compound of an empty house opposite the bank. “They left a water bottle there. They were probably waiting for the right time to enter the bank. There were no customers in the bank when they entered,” a police official said. Meanwhile, the state home department has taken a strong view of the two armed robberies at two financial institutions in North Maharashtra within a span of just five days.

Minister of state for home Deepak Kesarkar said he was upset with the Jalgaon police for the shooting at Vijaya Bank. “After the Nashik shooting incident, the police in all districts in the region should have been on high alert. I will speak to the director general of police on the issue. The police have to be on their toes,” he added.

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BoB-Dena Bank-Vijaya Bank merger takes effect from 1st April : Here's what will change for customers of these banks

Two major state-run banks will stop operations from April 1. These two banks are Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank, and they will be merged with Bank of Baroda. Bank of Baroda will acquire Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank to create India’s second largest public sector bank behind State Bank of India (SBI) effective Monday. This is the first threeway merger of banks in India. The combined bank will have a geographical reach of more than 9,500 branches, more than 13,400 ATMs with 85,000 employees serving 120 million customers. 

The combined entity will have deposits and advances of Rs 8.75 lakh crore, and Rs 6.25 lakh crore, respectively. “The complementary branch presence will add to the network in western and southern states – Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The bank will have a 22 per cent market share in Gujarat and an 8-10 per cent market share in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh,” Bank of Baroda said. 

Dena Bank, which is under RBI watch under the so-called prompt corrective action framework, will have renewed access to credit facilities immediately. 

“Both banks will have access to BoB’s international presence at 101 offices. Unique programmes of Vijaya Bank like SRTO funding, plantation financing will be available to customers of the other two banks,” BoB said. 

Banking operations and accounts held by these two banks will be transferred to Bank of Baroda post merger. This would lead to some changes for the customers of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank.

Since the banking operations of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank will be handed over to Bank of Baroda (BoB), the customers may get new passbooks, cheque books, debit and credit cards, and even new account numbers and customer IDs. This means that the customers will have to get their banking details updated with entities like the Income Tax Department, mutual funds, insurance companies, etc.

Some aspects, like the interest rate on fixed deposits or recurring deposits, and existing loans, are not likely to change. Here's a look at how the merger of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank with Bank of Baroda might affect their customers:

What could change

1. New bank account numbers and customer IDs could be assigned to the customers.
2. Customers will have to update their banking details with entities like the Income Tax Department, mutual funds, insurance companies, National Pension Scheme, etc, to incorporate the new account numbers and IFSC codes.
3. Customers might have to fill new instruction forms for SIP and loan EMIs.
4. New cheque books, passbooks, credit cards and debit cards might be issued.
5. Some branches might be closed after consolidation. Customers of such branches are likely to be transferred to a different branch of Bank of Baroda.

What will remain unchanged

1. The interest rates for personal loans, home loans, auto loan, education loan, etc are not likely to change.
2. The interest paid to customers on fixed deposits or recurring deposits is expected to remain unchanged.

The Supreme Court of India has dismissed the petitions by several bank associations to stay the merger of Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank, clearing the way for the amalgamation. Ahead of the merger, the government has decided to infuse Rs 5,042 crore into the Bank of Baroda by way of preferential allotment of equity shares of the bank during FY2018-19, as government's investment.

According to the Scheme of Amalgamation, shareholders of Vijaya Bank will get 402 equity shares of BoB for every 1,000 shares held. In the case of Dena Bank, its shareholders will get 110 shares for every 1,000 shares of BoB.

After the entity formed by the merger of BoB, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank will be second the third biggest in the Indian banking sector, by virtue of assets and businesses.

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Bank of Baroda’s ‘one-sided’ contract riles Dena Bank, Vijaya Bank staff

With the merger of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank with Bank of Baroda (BoB) coming into effect from April 1, the BoB management is reportedly forcing staff of the other two banks to sign an allegedly “one-sided” and “discriminatory” contract before March 16. Even as final negotiations regarding the wages are on, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank employees have received a letter from BoB, asking them to sign the offer of employment or to opt for the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS).

While the letter asked employees of both the banks to exercise either of the options before March 16, it did not specify the terms and conditions of employment. This would be decided later by the Board of Bank of Baroda, according to the letter. “You are hereby offered to hold office and service in Bank of Baroda, from the effective date i.e., April 1, 2019, on the terms and conditions as may be decided by the Board of Directors of Bank of Baroda,” said the offer letter, a copy of which is accessed by this publication.

The staff of both Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank called this “discriminatory”. “We were told that our interests will be protected, but the BoB is using indirect methods to force VRS on us. We cannot be forced into signing the consent letter without knowing the terms and conditions. As per the initial negotiation, our wages and promotional terms and conditions will not be at par with (that of) Bank of Baroda (staff), which is discriminatory,” a Vijaya Bank employee said told this paper. 

The employees are also bothered by the transfer policy. “There are many branches of Dena Bank and Bank of Baroda, which are overlapping. While the amalgamation process is still on, the staff fears mass transfer of Dena Bank employees. So, this is like blackmailing us into either working on unsaid terms and conditions or taking VRS,” said a Dena Bank employee.

Meanwhile, the banks’ union has already termed the whole process illegal. “The whole process of amalgamation is illegal, unethical and done in a hasty manner. There was no need for opting for Alternative Mechanism. And while the petition is already in the Supreme Court, they are forcing this contract on employees, just to show that employees are agreeing to the merger,” S Nagarajan, general secretary, All India Bank Officers’ Association said.

The All India Vijaya Bank Officers’ Union has said that the manner in which the merger is done is highly questionable. “This is totally pressure tactics and a highly questionable move. While those who are about to retire may opt for VRS, many young employees will go ahead and sign it to save their future jobs,” said K Srinivasarao, general secretary, All India Vijaya Bank Officers’ Union. The queries sent to Bank of Baroda by this correspondent remained unanswered.

A case in point

When merger of SBI came into effect, 4,000 employees at SBI and associates opted for VRS Till date, there is a difference in pay, perks and promotion policy that associate banks’ employees feel they are getting a step-motherly treatment, even in HR policy In July last year, 70,000 officers of the associate banks were asked to “return the compensation for extra work” during demonetisation

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Vijaya Bank Q3 net profit surges 80%

State-owned Vijaya Bank on Wednesday reported a 80.2 per cent jump in its net profit to Rs 143.38 crore for the December 2018 quarter.

The public sector lender had posted a net profit of Rs 79.56 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

The bank’s total income also rose to Rs 4,106.42 crore during the period, compared with Rs 3,450.81 crore a year ago, Vijaya Bank said in a regulatory filing.

The bank’s gross non-performing assets (NPAs) declined marginally to 6.14 per cent, against 6.17 per cent in the same quarter of last fiscal.

However, net NPAs rose to 4.08 per cent during October-December 2018, compared with 3.99 per cent in the year-ago period.

During the quarter, the provision for bad loans nearly doubled to Rs 582.22 crore from Rs 333.26 crore a year ago.

This is the second last quarterly result of the bank ahead of its amalgamation with Bank of Baroda beginning April 1,2019.

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Merger Of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank With Bank of Baroda Challenged In Court

The proposed amalgamation of Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank has seen a legal challenge with the Delhi High Court agreeing to hear a petition challenging the move, days after it was approved by the union cabinet.

The petition filed by the All India Bank Officers’ Confederation and the All India Vijaya Bank Officers’ Association has questioned the decision-making process behind the merger, calling it a “blatant circumvention and disregard for statutory procedures”. The petitioners argued that the step was taken under the direction of the government, accusing it of abuse of power as the majority shareholder.

While the law says that the scheme for amalgamation must be drawn by the government in consultations with the RBI, in this particular case it was sent to the board of the banks, the petitioners said. They claimed the decision taken by the boards of state-run banks is invalid due to the absence of directors on behalf of the employees, which is mandatory under the law.

The petitioners alleged there was lack of effective consultation with the RBI even as the government “repeatedly attempted to inaccurately describe” the events leading up to the decision of amalgamation. The decision to amalgamate, according to petitioners, was not a voluntary or an autonomous decision.

The union cabinet on Jan. 2, 2019 gave its approval for the merger. Addressing the media, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said the merger will result in more lending powers to the merged entity, giving it a globally competitive identity.

The petitioners, however, questioned the economic reasoning behind the merger, calling it an irrational exercise by not considering the interests of various stakeholders such as the shareholders, employees and customers.

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What will happen to Employees, Bank Branches after merger of BoB,Dena and Vijaya Bank

The announcement of the merger of Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank, and Dena Bank has sent the fear of job loss to all the employees of the three banks. The shareholders were also confused. Recently, the banks have finalised their share-swap ratio. However, the employees have been protesting against the move. Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday clarified about the rationalisation of staff and branches after the merger of the banks. In a written reply in the Upper House, Shukla stated that the government had approved a framework for proposals to amalgamate PSBs through an Alternative Mechanism (AM) with a view to facilitate consolidation among public sector banks to create strong and competitive banks.

After obtaining RBI inputs, the government has notified the scheme of amalgamation for Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank. Shukla said that not even a single employee of any of the three banks will lose job.

"The scheme of amalgamation protects employee interests by providing that every serving employee of the amalgamating banks shall be an employee of the amalgamated bank and shall continue to work in accordance with Board-approved terms and conditions of service, and that the Board of the amalgamated bank shall ensure that the interests of all employees of the amalgamating banks are protected," said the minister.

Explaining the banks' turnaround plans, the minister said that out of the three aforesaid banks, turnaround plans were approved by the Board of Dena Bank in the second quarter of financial year 2017-18. 

The Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Acts of 1970 and 1980 empowers the Central Government, in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), to make a scheme, inter alia, for the amalgamation of any nationalised bank with any other nationalised bank or any other banking institution. 

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No one will lose job after Bank of Baroda merger: Arun Jaitley

Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said in Lok Sabha that there would be no loss of jobs due to merger of public sector banks. Earlier this week, the Cabinet approved merger of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank with Bank of Baroda. Jaitley said that there would be no job losses due to merger of the banks and that the move would create a bigger entity like the State Bank of India (SBI).

The cost of lending could also become cheaper, he added. During the Question Hour, the minister said that out of the 21 public sector banks, 11 are under PAC (Prompt Corrective Action) framework. PAC is initiated against banks that have high levels of non-performing assets (NPAs).

Replying to a supplementary question, Jaitley said the curve of non-performing assets would go down and that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code has helped in bringing back around Rs 3 lakh crore into the system.

Jaitley said that the State Bank of India (SBI) and other public sector banks have been making operational profits. They incurred losses due to provisioning for non-performing assets, he added.

With regard to recapitalisation of Public Sector Banks (PSBs), the minister said that Rs 51,533 crore has been infused into them in the current financial year till December 31.

“In the budget estimates of FY 2018-19, Rs 65,000 crore has been allocated for recapitalisation of PSBs and an amount of Rs 51,533 crore has been infused in PSBs till December 31, 2018,” he said.

The minister also said that in recent past, Rs 90,000 crore was allocated in the Union Budget and infused in various PSBs by the government during financial year 2017-18.

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Cabinet approves amalgamation of Dena Bank, Vijaya Bank with BoB

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the first-ever three-way merger in the history of Indian banking with the amalgamation of state-owned Vijaya Bank, Dena Bank and Bank of Baroda (BoB). 

"There will be no impact on the service conditions of the employees and there will be no retrenchment following the merger," Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said. 

BoB also finalised the share swap ratio for merger of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank with itself. 

As per the scheme of amalgamation, shareholders of Vijaya Bank will get 402 equity shares of BoB for every 1,000 shares held.

In case of Dena Bank, its shareholders will get 110 shares for every 1,000 shares of BoB.

The government in September last year had announced merger of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank, with larger peer BoB. The merged bank will become the country's second largest public sector bank (after SBI) and will "help create a strong globally competitive bank", the government said in a statement.

The merger will come into force on April 1, the statement added.

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