State Bank of India (SBI) has declared Reliance Communications (RCom) and its promoter director Anil D Ambani as ‘fraud’ and is now in the process of filing a complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), reported news agency PTI.
This was stated in Parliament on Monday, according to the report.
Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha, said that the classification was made on June 13, 2025, following the Reserve Bank of India’s guidelines on fraud risk management and SBI’s internal policy.
Chaudhary informed that the bank reported the fraud classification to the RBI on June 24, 2025, and is now taking steps to lodge a formal complaint with the CBI.
On July 1, 2025, the Resolution Professional for RCom informed the Bombay Stock Exchange about SBI’s decision as part of the company’s disclosure obligations.
SBI’s exposure to Reliance Communications includes a fund-based principal outstanding of Rs 2,227.64 crore, along with interest and expenses since August 26, 2016. In addition, there is a non-fund based bank guarantee exposure of Rs 786.52 crore.
Reliance Communications is currently undergoing the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. The company’s resolution plan has already been approved by its Committee of Creditors and was filed with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai, on March 6, 2020. A final decision from the NCLT is still awaited.
Chaudhary also said that SBI has initiated personal insolvency proceedings against Anil Ambani under the same insolvency law, and the case is being heard by the NCLT in Mumbai.
This is not the first time the bank has classified the account as fraud. SBI had earlier tagged RCom and Ambani as ‘fraud’ on November 10, 2020, and had filed a complaint with the CBI on January 5, 2021. However, that complaint was returned due to a status quo order issued by the Delhi High Court on January 6, 2021.
Following a Supreme Court ruling on March 27, 2023, in the case of State Bank of India & Others Vs Rajesh Agarwal & Others, lenders are now required to give borrowers a chance to respond before labelling their accounts as fraud.
Based on that ruling, SBI had withdrawn the fraud tag on September 2, 2023. However, after restarting the process and adhering to the RBI’s updated rules from July 15, 2024, the bank has once again classified the account as ‘fraud’.
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