RBI points out errors in AIRs filed by agency banks for FY'05

Mumbai, May 8 (UNI) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today pointed out that there were several errors in the agency information returns, filed by agency banks for FY'05, and that they had also been filed belatedly.

In a communication to the agency banks which included the State Bank of India (SBI) and its associate banks, 17 nationalised banks, the Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited and a few private sector banks, the RBI stated that these errors were brought to its notice by the Commissioner of Income Tax (Systems), in his meeting with the RBI recently.

Enumerating the common errors found in the returns, the RBI said that these were related to entering incomprehensible or incomplete names of transacting parties, incomprehensible or incomplete addresses of transacting parties in all address fields, incomplete postal address, names of buildings split into separate fields, name of two cities in same address fields, and wrong PIN codes, incorrect district and state codes and incorrect transaction codes. Some returns also included incomprehensible and incomplete names of filers, the release said.

''The Annual Information Returns (AIRs) constitute an important source of information to the Income Tax Department and, as such, it is imperative that the data furnished to them is complete and accurate in all respects,'' the apex bank informed the agency banks, while simultaneously advising them ''to re-check the accuracy of the data'' furnished by them and to ensure that all the columns are correctly filled in.

The apex bank also called upon the agency banks to submit a 'Supplementary Information Report', if need be, to the Income Tax Department.

The RBI has also stated that AIRs for FY'06 should be filed before August 31 of this year and that in this connection, the Commissioner of Income Tax has desired that for FY'06, the Reserve Bank should obtain the information from the agency banks, consolidate and file AIRs to the IT Department.

The RBI has, therefore, asked the agency banks to furnish the relevant information in Form No 61 A for the period April one, 2005 to March 31, 2006, in respect of investors of savings bonds where aggregate of the amount received from a person was Rs five lakh and more, latest by May 31, 2006, to its Public Debt Office of jurisdiction to enable it to file the same.

This should be in e-form with M/s NSDL or at a TIN Facilitation Centre, the release said.

The apex bank has also called upon the agency banks to ensure that the necessary information for FY'06 is invariably furnished before May 31 to its Public Debt Offices.

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