IDBI Bank Ltd Management Discussions

AA - Rating upgraded to [ICRA] AA-/Stabie from ICRA A+/Positive ^AAA - Rating upgraded to IND AA-/Stabie from IND A+/Stabie # - Only Senior Tier II bonds has been rated

% - Rating upgraded to CARE AA-/ Stable from CARE A+/Positive

The Medium Term Note (MTN) Bonds rated by foreign rating agencies, viz. S&P Global Ratings (S&P) and Fitch Ratings (Fitch), were fully repaid on November 30, 2020. Hence, the Bank had terminated the rating engagements/ agreement with them on May 21, 2021, for various issues made under the MTN Bond Programme. Accordingly, rating for Foreign Currency Borrowings stands withdrawn.

The risk management strategy of your Bank essentially focusses on the fundamental tripod, viz. identification, measurement and monitoring. While identification enables the Bank for further analysis and assessment, measurement empowers the Bank to manage risk effectively. This strategic approach allows the Bank to attain improved decision-making and derive confidence therein through available risk management tools. A well-defined policy framework outlining appropriate limits and procedural aspects enables the Bank to mitigate and manage risk within its overall risk appetite. Periodic policy updates attempt to ensure further refinement in risk management practices by capturing the essence of business dynamics, banking innovations, emerging risk scenarios and regulatory changes. Your Bank constantly endeavours to improve its risk management culture by spreading risk awareness across all the verticals and making it an integral decision-making criterion. While the Risk Management Committee (RMC) of the Board is responsible for overall risk management, the day-to-day activities are conducted at various levels based on the risk governance structure.

The risk management systems and processes are continuously upgraded in alignment with the regulatory requirements. For a more robust and technologically advanced risk management system, your Bank has implemented Integrated Risk Management Architecture (IRMA) comprising software solutions, viz. Credit Risk Assessment Module (RAM), Capital Assessment Model (CAM) and Comprehensive Operational Risk Evaluator (CORE). IRMA helps to identify and measure credit and operational risks which in turn facilitates formulation of suitable risk management strategies. Further, the Bank has a well-established Financial Analytical Application for its Asset Liability Management (ALM), Fund Transfer Pricing (FTP), Profitability Management and Liquidity Risk Management.

The Bank documents its risk review process in terms of various policies and established practices to ensure transparency, accountability and consistency in evaluating and managing risks across all operations and portfolios. The Bank has a well-defined policy framework to incorporate and implement risk management process at various levels which are demonstrated through measures outlined in this section of the Annual Report.

In adherence to the Pillar 1 guidelines of the RBI under Basel III framework, your Bank computes regulatory capital requirement for credit, market and operational risks on a monthly basis. In addition, banks in India are mandated to maintain the Capital Conservation Buffer (CCB) of 2.50%. Your Bank also keeps a close watch on the movement of Capital to Risk (Weighted) Assets Ratio (CRAR) at monthly periodicity. Your Banks ‘Total Capital + CCB ratio was 22.26% as on March 31,2024 against the regulatory requirement of 11.50%. Similarly, your Banks ‘Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) + CCB ratio was 20.11% as against the regulatory requirement of 8.00%. Your Banks ‘Tier 1 + CCB ratio stood at 20.11% as on March 31,2024 as against the regulatory requirement of 9.50%. Your Banks Leverage Ratio as on March 31, 2024 was 8.53% against the minimum regulatory requirement of 3.50%. Your Bank has a Board-approved policy on Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Process (ICAAP) in line with the Pillar 2 norms of the Basel III framework. This policy enables your Bank to internally assess and quantify those risks which are not covered or not adequately covered under Pillar 1 as well as to develop appropriate strategies to manage and mitigate risks under normal and stressed conditions. Your Bank has also put in place a comprehensive stress testing framework in line with the RBI guidelines. The stress testing framework enables your Bank to assess its performance under exceptional but plausible events/ scenario and facilitates in framing appropriate proactive strategies to meet unforeseen contingencies. The stress testing framework also includes scenario analysis, multifactor sensitivity analysis and reverse stress testing. Scenario analysis covers a study on impact of further increase in Gross NPAs, crystallisation of non-fund facilities in Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) & Technically Written-Off (TWO) accounts and impact of illiquid securities on capital and profitability of the Bank. The Bank uses the mechanism of reverse stress testing to ascertain the level of stress which may adversely impact the capital and profitability of the Bank to take it to a pre-determined floor level. Your Bank has adopted a Disclosure Policy in accordance with the Pillar 3 requirements under the Basel norms. Accordingly, disclosures as at the end of each quarter are hosted on your Banks website, thereby exhibiting high degree of transparency. Your Bank has also laid down a Reputational Risk Assessment and Management Policy to proactively assess the risks posed to its reputation and the related consequences, along with the measures to contain them. Your Bank has also put in place Group Risk Assessment Policy to monitor and minimise the overall risk profile at the group level. Your Bank follows the Standardised Approach under Credit Risk for computation of capital charge. Your Bank follows Basic Indicator Approach (BIA) to compute regulatory capital charge for Operational Risk. Your Bank is in readiness to implement new standardised approach

for assessment of operational risk capital requirement as proposed by the RBI. A comprehensive set of Key Risk Indicators (KRIs) and Risk & Control Self-Assessment (RCSA) framework was rolled out across different business segments for augmenting risk culture and ensuring effective control mechanism. For Market Risk, your Bank follows Standardised Measurement Method (SMM) to compute regulatory capital requirements.

The Credit Risk Management system in your Bank includes the Risk Assessment Model (RAM) for credit rating of proposals and Capital Assessment Model (CAM) for automation of capital adequacy assessment. The Banks Credit Policy is reviewed periodically in line with changing business objectives and economic environment and forms the guiding tool for the business verticals. As per the Board-approved structure, the Credit Risk Management Committee (CRMC), inter alia, ensures implementation of Credit Policy strategies and monitors credit risk on bank-wide basis. In addition to Risk Assessment Model (RAM)/ score-based internal rating, the Bank has also developed Quantified Risk Scoring Matrix (QASM) for risk-categorisation of high-value Corporate and Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise (MSME) loans.

Your Bank has rolled out the upgraded credit risk assessment application, viz. ICON (Intelligent Credit Origination), for business users. The updated ICON application is agile, flexible and is based on cutting-edge technology. It has various new features which will help in smooth and efficient internal rating and credit decision making.

Your Bank developed a centralised Model Repository System (MRS), which was launched in January 2024. The MRS would enable the verticals to monitor their respective models on an e-platform in respect of documentation, review, validation and agreement execution.

The Market Risk Management in your Bank, in terms of functions and business positions, operates in line with the policy framework defined in the Market Risk & Derivative Policy and the Investment Policy. These policies, in general, outline the appropriate levels of risk appetite and implementation mechanisms for measurement, monitoring, reporting and escalation of risks and exceptions. With the implementation of Integrated Treasury Management System (ITMS), market risk management efficacy of your Bank has been further strengthened. All the prescribed limits and procedures are monitored closely by the Treasury Mid-office, which is independent of the Front-office and the Back-office of Treasury. Trading positions are monitored against limits at portfolio as well as dealer level. Assessment of Non-Statutory

Liquidity Ratio (NSLR) Bonds is carried out through in-house developed internal rating based model in order to create a robust Non-Statutory Liquidity Ratio (NSLR) Bond portfolio. Market risk is monitored through various metrics and tools, viz. limits on positions, gaps, Modified Duration (MD), PV01, Day Light Exposure and Net Overnight open Position (NOOP). The Bank also assesses risk with the help of Value-at-Risk (VaR) metrics and regular stress testing.

The Bank has a well-organised liquidity risk management structure as enumerated in the Board-approved Asset Liability Management (ALM) Policy. The Asset Liability Management Committee (ALCO) of the Bank monitors and manages liquidity and interest rate risk in line with the business strategy. The Asset Liability Management (ALM) activities including liquidity analysis and management are conducted through co-ordination amongst various Asset Liability Management Committee (ALCO) support groups in the functional areas such as Balance Sheet Management, Treasury Front-office, Budget & Planning, etc. The Asset Liability Management Committee (ALCO) directives and Asset Liability Management (ALM) directions are implemented by the business groups and verticals concerned. As per the regulatory guidelines, the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) of the Bank is computed on a daily basis with effect from January 1, 2017. The average Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) of the Bank remained at 119.84% for the quarter ended March 31,2024. Your Bank implemented the Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR) from October 1, 2021 in line with the RBI directives. The Banks Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR) as on March 31,2024 was 118.87%.

Your Bank has a robust Operational Risk Management Framework (ORMF) which includes an organisational set-up comprising the Board of Directors, Risk Management Committee (RMC) of the Board, Operational Risk Management Committee (ORMC), Operational Risk Management (ORM) section in the Risk Management Department and nodal officers from various functions/ departments. The operating procedures for operational risk are guided by the Board-approved Operational Risk Management Policy which aims at identifying, monitoring, measuring and managing operational risks associated with banking activities. Your Bank has robust internal systems and procedures for mitigation of inherent risks spread across various business activities/ operations. It manages the operational risks through Key Risk Indicators (KRIs) and Risk Control SelfAssessment (RCSA) exercises and periodically updates these outcomes to the Operational Risk Management Committee (ORMC) and the Risk Management Committee (RMC) of the Board. Operational risk loss events from across the Bank are collated and presented to the Operational Risk Management Committee (ORMC) along with the root cause analysis.

Your Bank also conducts stress testing exercises on a quarterly basis in order to study the impact of stressed operational risk losses on its earnings and capital. This is aided by measurement and reporting of any breach in the Board-approved Risk Appetite limits for operational risk. At present, the Bank has adopted the Basic Indicator Approach (BIA) for computation of Operational Risk Regulatory Capital and Risk Weighted Assets. At the same time, the Bank is also ready with Operational Risk Regulatory Capital Computation under Basel III Standardised approach, which shall replace existing BIA. Your Bank has created a centralised platform for digital hosting of all internal policies, products, manuals and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) at one place in order to ensure timely updation and easy access to the employees.

Your Bank has robust Business Continuity Management (BCM) processes to mitigate business disruptions and life-threatening events. Your Bank has been awarded ISO 22301:2019 certification for its bank-wide coverage of Business Continuity Management. As a part of the Business Continuity Management (BCM), a well-defined Business Continuity Plan (BCP) has been put in place for core and support functions. This is intended to provide continuity in services to customers even in case of business disruption/ disaster. Besides, a comprehensive Disaster Management Plan (DMP) is deployed for its major establishments to safeguard human lives and minimise damage to valuable assets during disaster. Resilience of the Business Continuity Plan (BCP) and Disaster Management Plan (DMP) is tested periodically through BCP testing exercises, disaster recovery including holistic drill and mock evacuation drills. The Banks Business Continuity Management System is well-equipped with an automated incident reporting tool, viz. Integrated Disaster and Business Continuity Management System (i-DaB). In order to ensure uninterrupted delivery of critical services to customers, the Bank has developed a mobile-based application, viz. ion BCP, to enable hassle-free instant invocation and execution of the Business Continuity Plan (BCP) by the disrupted branches.

Your Bank has taken a series of steps to improve its Information Technology (IT) risk management and control. Your Bank has set up a state-of-the-art Security Operation Centre (SOC) at its Data Centre (DC) at Navi Mumbai and at Disaster Recovery (DR) site at Chennai to ensure high availability of the Banks systems. The 24x7 Security Operation Centre (SOC) is a Command Centre for countering cyber threats and ensuring compliance with the Banks Information Security Policy and Cyber Security Policy besides fulfilling the Banks objective of providing safe and secure banking to its customers. Further, through the Security Operation Centre (SOC), your Bank centrally monitors security devices like firewalls, routers, Intrusion Detection System (IDS) devices/ Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) devices, Privileged Identity Management (PIM), antivirus, phishing/ malware attempts and takes corrective actions. Your Bank regularly conducts Vulnerability Assessment & Penetration Testing (VAPT) of external applications, viz. Finacle E-Banking Application (FEBA), mobile banking, mail messaging, etc.

Your Bank has successfully implemented the RBIs recommendations pertaining to Information Security, Electronic Banking, Technology Risk Management and Cyber Frauds and the RBIs Cyber Security Framework for banks. Your Bank has put in place an appropriate organisational framework, as recommended in the guidelines, which includes an exclusive Information Security Group headed by the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) who reports to the Chief Risk Officer (CRO) of the Bank.

Your Bank has put in place distinct Information Security Policy, Cyber Security Policy and Cyber Crisis Management Plan, which articulate management intent and direction for addressing cyber security risks. Your Bank conducts and participates in various types of cyber drills, table-top exercises, phishing simulation exercises and breach readiness exercises to check and maintain the health of its information security set-up.

Information Security Awareness has been included as a mandatory session in the Induction Programme for new recruits of the Bank. The members of the Senior Management of the Bank attended IT Risk programme at Institute for Development & Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT). Apart from conducting regular information security awareness programmes for the employees, various information security precautions are also communicated to customers through mailers, SMSes, ATMs and posters, to minimise/ thwart the attempts of security breach. The Bank observes the ‘Cyber Jagrookta (Awareness) Diwas on the first Wednesday of every month in line with the GoI guidelines. Moreover, the Bank has also extended cyber security related hygiene programme for Select Vendor supported outsourced staff.

IT infrastructure and systems have been implemented within a robust information security framework including solutions on both perimeter and end-points. Your Banks Data Centre (DC), Disaster Recovery Centre (DR) as well as Near DR Centre (NDR) are certified with the latest ISO 27001:2013 information security standards. Your Banks Near DR ensures zero data loss for critical transaction systems. The Information Security Steering Committee (ISSC) of the Bank provides directions and guidance for mitigating IT risk in the information systems and provides direction on the status of observations identified through Vulnerability Assessment & Penetration Testing (VAPT)/ Application Security Testing (AppSec) process. The cyber security posture, various security incidents and the policies are placed before the IT Strategy Committee of the Board (ITSCB) for necessary directions. The policies are recommended by ITSCB to the Board for approval.

Several information security solutions have been implemented like Privileged Identity Access Management, Next-Generation-Firewall Solution, Mobile Device Management, Honeypot Solution, Patch Management Solution, Active Directory, Web/ Mail Gateways, Endpoint and Universal Serial Bus (USB) encryption, Data Leakage Prevention (DLP) solution, Advanced Persistent Threat (APT), Network Access Control (NAC), Web Application Firewall (WAF) etc. to protect customer data, prevent external attacks as well as strengthen internal controls.

Your Bank has a dedicated Fraud Risk Management Group (FRMG) which focusses on risk-based monitoring of suspicious transactions across various digital banking platforms & applications. In order to achieve fraud detection and real-time prevention, the Bank deploys detection rules and predictive analytical models within the high performance Enterprise-wide Fraud Risk Management Solution (EFRMS).

The risk-based suspicious transaction monitoring activity which operates on 24x7 basis, has been extended to cover all digital channel transactions encompassing Debit Cards, Credit Cards, Mobile Banking, Internet Banking, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS). During FY 2023-24, the Bank has progressively implemented decision making authorisation rules and alerting queues to scan the entire digital transaction landscape. This mechanism empowers customers of your Bank to transact and make their digital payments in a more safe and secured environment.

The Bank has integrated climate risk management into its risk management process by assessing climate related risks across its lending portfolio. This involves identifying exposures, evaluating potential impact and regularly monitoring of such portfolio. The Banks Credit Policy stipulates restrictions on environmentally detrimental industries such as those producing/ consuming ozone depleting substances while encouraging sustainable financing. The Bank also has a Board-approved policy on Green Deposits and Financing Framework. The Bank also encourages financing to Renewable Energy through its lending to various segments like Solar Energy/ Solar Panel for Residence, Compressed Bio Gas, Commercial/ Passenger Electric Vehicles, etc. The

Banks internal rating system also captures environmental risks as part of credit risk assessment of a borrower. The well-defined Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Process (ICAAP) Policy of the Bank acknowledges the climate risk to be studied as one of the material risks being faced by the Bank. The Bank is in the process of developing narrative-driven scenario analysis to assess potential risk emerging out of climatic changes to its exposure. As part of internal capital adequacy assessment, the Bank is assessing physical risk on a medium term, for its agriculture and residential real estate portfolios.

The Bank recognises risks like climate changes, cyber security threats and other emerging risks in the near term and endeavours to take proactive measures to address such risks. The climate risk not only poses threat to the Banks assets, lending and operations but also creates opportunities in sustainable projects.

Information security risks demand robust cyber security protocols and continuous monitoring to safeguard customer data and financial integrity. Constant vigil over cyber security, external certification/ validation, etc. are some of the focus areas for the Bank.

By integrating climate risk management and cybersecurity measures into its operations, the Bank not only mitigates potential impacts but also demonstrates its commitment to sustainability and safeguarding customer trust in a VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity) world.

Your Bank has always been driven to build an agile and future-ready organisational environment for its employees to excel and realise their aspirations.

While mitigating the various business challenges, your Bank has undertaken a significant re-alignment of strategy, structure, systems and technology. Efforts to realign employee experience has always been at the heart of all such strategic interventions. There has always been a focus to create a culture which is a blend of market and employee orientation.

Your Bank is committed to employee development, focussing on learning and employee engagement to enhance professional excellence. During FY 2023-24, your Bank has implemented numerous initiatives to strengthen the Learning and Employee Engagement Department and to align learning programmes with the Banks vision, mission and goals. Customised behavioural & functional programmes were meticulously designed based on zone & vertical specific learning needs, fostering holistic employee development. These programmes were conducted at the Banks Head Office, Mumbai, IDBI Training College, Hyderabad and IDBI Learning Centres (ILCs) across the country.

Your Bank recognises the significance of fostering a positive work culture where employees work as a team, continuously acquire new skills and proactively initiate actions to enhance customer experience, going for an extra mile to make a meaningful impact on customers lives. To instill this ethos, an in-house mass behavioural science program was developed, focusing on the Banks core values- Customer Connect, Take Initiatives & Make a Difference, Imbibing Work Culture and Transform with Changes with a novel concept of flourishing ‘Happiness Tree.

A total of 515 programmes have been conducted covering 14,558 employees (94% of eligible employees) up to grade ‘D in FY 2023-24.

Your Bank has initiated role-based workshops for various positions in the branches, including branch heads, asset officers, service and operation managers, relationship managers, customer service executives & teller service executives. These workshops comprehensively covered functional and behavioural sessions while emphasising on compliance, control and ethical practices. The aim is to bridge knowledge & skill gaps and to develop confidence in employees as they take on new or existing roles.

A total number of 260 role-based workshops were conducted covering 4,070 participants across zones in FY 2023-24.

Your Bank has initiated efforts to develop employees in specialised areas such as MSME and Agriculture through online capsule programmes. These programmes are conducted after business hours, reaching employees at their desks. The goal is to target the branch in place of individual employees, as the programmes are conducted through Microsoft Teams meeting in a hand-holding manner to facilitate maximum branch participation. In FY 2023-24, 234 online capsule programmes on MSME Gyanshala, Agri Gyanshala and KYC Excellence Drive have been conducted and attended by 4,193 employees.

Your Bank has proactively conducted an exclusive program on Compliance, Control and Ethics which was attended by 85 Zonal Operation Managers and Regional Operation Managers (94% of eligible employees). This initiative, under the guidance of the top management, sought to instill a culture of compliance as an integral part of daily work. Additionally, dedicated sessions on Compliance, Control and Ethics have been incorporated in functional programs.

ESG-adoption by organisations offers a competitive advantage, instill investors confidence, earns appreciation from regulators for risk management & enhanced transparency, builds customer loyalty, improves financial performance and promotes operational sustainability. To drive the adoption of ESG processes at crucial levels, your Bank in collaboration with the Institute of Directors, organised a programme on Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) for the Board members, top executives and senior management.

To spread awareness among other employees about ESG importance & implementation, an e-learning module has been assigned to them and it is completed by 93% employees in FY 2023-24.

Your Bank has conducted wellness & human rights awareness program for subordinate staff & clerical employees across zones and covered 88% of its employees.

In order to enrich skill sets, fostering adaptability to change, gaining strategic insights, facilitate succession planning and provide insights into the latest trends, your Bank conducted a management development program for senior management at ISB, Hyderabad, which was attended by 53 senior executives.

Developing future leaders has always been a priority for your Bank. To enhance their on-boarding experience, enhance their competencies, familiarising them with the Banks work culture, growth opportunities, their roles & expectations etc., institutional tie-up programmes and induction programmes for assistant managers & lateral recruits have been reviewed to maintain a competitive edge.

To broaden the exposure and expertise of employees in relevant areas, your Bank nominated eight eligible employees for foreign training/ seminars.

Your Bank arranged specialised external training programmes for 733 selected employees in collaboration with external institutes/ faculty, catering to their specific needs in various domains such as risk & compliance, information technology, credit, treasury, etc.

Your Bank has worked on a new approach of location convenience program, by developing customised program based on the collective concerns of nearby branch clusters. These programmes are conducted in the evenings at branch locations by the facilitators ensuring minimal disruptions to daily operations.

Your Bank remains dedicated to fostering the well-rounded growth of its employees. In alignment with the requirements of different verticals, 63 exclusive programmes were organised covering 1,604 participants, leveraging both internal and external expertise. This includes major initiatives for treasury, credit, audit, retail, operations and other essential areas.

Mandatory learning programmes as per the regulatory guidelines have been developed into e-learning modules to provide convenience and easy access to employees. This approach has yielded good results with a higher completion percentage by all the employees. Compliance & Customer Service which have been the major focus areas, have been completed by 98% of eligible employees upto grade ‘F.

In order to facilitate convenient access to the latest developments, Bank guidelines, products & processes to the employees, your Bank has undertaken efforts to update e-learning modules. These modules are accessible online, including on mobile phones.

Your Bank conducted 30 offline/ virtual learning programmes for other banks in various areas, leveraging internal and external expertise. This initiative strengthens connect with other institutes and helps exploring future collaborations for mutual benefit.

To inculcate a habit of continuous learning, your Bank has launched various employee engagement activities such as ‘Learning Wednesday - a dedicated day for updating knowledge and learning new skills in a team by the employees at branches, regions, zones & verticals, ‘IDBI Knowledge Cup - a Bank-level quiz competition wherein teams of 76 regions participated in the first round, winner teams reached the second round and the final round was conducted among zone winners, ‘Rapid Fire on Compliance - which was conducted on the last day of all functional programmes in ILCs and IDBI TC. This collaborative learning approach is yielding positive outcomes.

For knowledge updation on the Banks products, processes & guidelines and enhancing awareness of current economic conditions, the world economy, regulators guidelines etc., your Bank has developed internal e-publications and uploaded on Intranet - ‘QBank which is a Question Bank for knowledge updation and was visited by 15,182 employees during the year and ‘GK+ which is prepared for awareness about the economy, regulator guidelines and the world around us.

Your Bank has a robust manpower deployment mechanism for facilitating the organisational and the statutory requirements while keeping in view employees interest as well. The placements are done to develop competencies and skills of the officers through exposure to wider and diverse operational areas. This is also facilitated through the capacity building framework which envisages optimising skills of individuals through specific intervention by way of knowledge upgradation and enhancing existing skill sets. Further, movement of officers, including officers holding sensitive positions, is guided by the framework provided in Officers Rotation and Transfer Policy.

Your Bank has curated an employee experience that helps them perform better, have a sharper focus at their jobs and feel a sense of belonging, accomplishment and fulfilment in their work. Your Bank has designed all employee policies and processes with a human-centric approach.

Your Bank provides medical facilities for its employees and their dependents, which include hospitalisation cover, reimbursement of domiciliary treatment, comprehensive health check-ups, services of Bank Medical Officers at major centres, etc. In order to take care of its employees emotional well-being, your Bank has introduced an Employee wellbeing and Assistant Programme, viz. i-Care, wherein the employees can seek support from trained professional counsellors.

Your Bank extends loans and advances at soft rate of interest and concessional terms of repayment which enables its employees to fulfil their dreams of owning their dream home/ car. There is also a provision for carry forward of repayment of home loans beyond the age of retirement.

During FY 2023-24, your Bank disbursed Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Scholarship to the children of Class III & IV employees from the Scheduled Castes (SCs)/ Scheduled Tribes (STs) category.

To ensure that bereaved family members of employees who die in harness do not face financial difficulties and to tide over such circumstances, your Bank has put in place schemes to provide compassionate appointment to dependent family members/ payment of ex-gratia amount for financial support. Life insurance cover is provided to all employees and all outstanding staff loans, including clean overdraft facility, are covered under insurance schemes.

Your Bank has put in place a scheme for extending financial and legal assistance to its Directors/ Officers/ Employees and also, a Directors & Officers Liability Insurance Policy (D & O Policy).

The industrial relations climate in your Bank was generally cordial, during the year, with most of the issues having been resolved amicably. The Bank has been holding meetings

with the Associations and Unions in its endeavour to have constructive dialogue for understanding and addressing grievances of its employees. The Associations and Unions have also been responsive and proactive while addressing various issues.

Your Bank continued its efforts in promoting diversity and inclusion in the workforce. The ratio of women employees improved over the previous year. Your Bank continued to recruit Persons with Disabilities and applicable guidelines on reservation were followed. As on March 31, 2024, the representation of Scheduled Castes (SCs)/ Scheduled Tribes (STs)/ Other Backward Classes (OBCs)/ Economically Weaker Sections (EWSs) in the Banks total manpower was as follows:

Your Bank has put in place a policy for succession planning at critical senior positions of Executive Directors and Chief General Managers. The policy provides a holistic framework for creating leadership pipeline for the senior positions to ensure business continuity when identified critical positions are vacated.

With the aim of providing quick assistance and the much desired immediate support to the aggrieved women on account of occurrence of an untoward incident, an e-mail based grievance mechanism has been put in place by the Bank to enable them to lodge complaints of sexual harassment faced by them at the Banks workplace with the members of internal committees directly.

With the objective of creating a safe and friendly work environment and ensuring prevention of sexual harassment at workplace, the Bank, in line with the requirements of The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, has set up two Internal Committees to redress the complaints received regarding sexual harassment of women at workplace. During FY 2023-24, the Bank received 9 (nine) complaints which were attended to by the respective Internal Committees. As on March 31, 2024, 3 (three) complaints were pending for conclusion.

Your Bank has put in place a performance appraisal system, viz. IDBI Performance Assessment & Continuous Evaluation System (iPACE), with the objective of aligning an employees performance with the organisational targets, ensuring objectivity and fostering performance & compliance oriented culture. iPACE includes standardised Key Result Areas (KRAs) for similar roles with uniform weightage and direct system/ dashboard linkages for most of the measurable KRAs.

In sync with its growth trajectory, the Bank has been building up a young workforce with a multi-pronged talent acquisition strategy that involves on-boarding young talent through Campus Connect programme, collaborations with educational institutes to provide trained officers and direct recruitment. The focus is on on-boarding talent with the desired quality and skill sets for organisational growth. During the year, your Bank recruited 2,809 individuals in various grades as given below:

* - The above data excludes Advisors (on contract) and Chief Customer Service Officer.

# - Compassionate Appointments

As on March 31,2024, your Bank had total staff strength of 19,013 as given below:

* - The count includes employees on contract

Opportunities in varied aspects of banking, viz. Retail, Corporate, Trade Finance, Treasury, Government Business, etc. as well as sales, operations and support functions provide ample scope to employees to have a well-rounded professional growth as complete bankers. Younger employees place more emphasis on learning as competitive landscapes are continually changing. Your Bank focusses on re-skilling/ future skilling and in an endeavour to encourage continuous learning, your Bank has been sponsoring course fees/ distance learning/ certifications in relevant areas.

Your Bank has introduced the concept of Chief Ethics Officer/ Zonal Ethics Officers to ensure promulgation of an ethical and compliant culture throughout the Bank.

Your Bank has completed relocation and major renovation of branches and various Zones. Your Bank completed centralisation of Professional Tax Payment for fourteen states. Your Bank has completed automation of various areas, viz. Paperless Visitor Pass System, Online Portal for application of Staff Education Loan, Allotment of Dormitory, Staff-related payment, in order to improve the turnaround time and efficiency in process flow.

Your Bank has a dedicated Internal Audit Department, which evaluates the adherence to internal policies, procedures and regulatory guidelines as also provides objective assurance on the effectiveness of internal controls, risk management and governance processes within the Bank and suggests improvements. The audit function has adopted the Risk Based Audit approach and audit activities cover the entire spectrum of the Banks business and support verticals spread across the Zonal Offices, the Regional Offices, the branches and the non-branch segments. The Risk Based Internal Audit framework is reviewed and revised periodically to align it with the changing business environment and also promote a strict compliance culture. The Audit Department functions under the overall guidance and supervision of the Audit Committee of the Board (ACB).

The Audit function is governed by (i) Risk Based Internal Audit Policy; (ii) Concurrent Audit Policy; and (iii) Information Systems Audit Policy. As part of the Risk Based Internal Audit Programme, the Audit Department conducts various types of audits, viz. Branch Audit, Management Audit of Zones and Regions, Credit Audit, Information Systems Audit, Concurrent Audit, etc. In addition to the normal audits, the

Audit Department also undertakes Surprise Audit, Dynamic Audit, Snap Audit, Thematic Audit, etc. to ensure robustness of the internal control mechanism. A Zonal Audit Office (ZAO) structure has been created in order to ensure focussed attention on branch audits and for effective follow-up. The audit process is undertaken through a web-based application, the Audit Management System, which can be accessed by respective officers of auditee units on real-time basis for monitoring of compliances. In addition, the Audit Department also manages the functions of: (i) Fraud Monitoring under Fraud Risk Management Policy; (ii) Staff Accountability under Staff Accountability Policy; (iii) Long Form Audit Report; and (iv) Internal Financial Controls over Financial Report.

The Audit function has deployed suitably qualified and skilled manpower, which proactively recommends improvements in processes and service quality to mitigate operational, financial and regulatory risks, etc. wherever deemed fit and provides timely feedback to the management for corrective actions.

The Audit Department has been compiling and sharing information submitted by the bank branches with the Banks Statutory Central Auditors (SCAs) for finalisation of the Long Form Audit Report (LFAR). An online system has been developed for inputting of LFAR observations and submission of its compliance/ data by the Banks branches and generation of consolidated reports for use by the SCAs. The Audit Department undertakes the follow up with the concerned departments/ verticals to ensure timely compliance for the observations made in the LFAR by the SCAs. Enhancements are carried out in the LFAR module to make it more user-friendly. Pursuant to the Boards directives, an Internal Committee was formed for suggesting changes in existing processes and systems to reduce number of LFAR observations. Based on the recommendations of the Committee, processes have been reviewed for reducing number of the LFAR observations. Inter-vertical meetings, including meetings with Zones, were held to ensure maximum compliance to the LFAR observations.

The Audit Department also co-ordinates and supervises the identification and testing of the Risk Control Matrix by an external consultant appointed for the purpose to verify that (i) adequate internal financial control systems are in place; and (ii) there is operating effectiveness of such controls as also to ensure timely and effective closure of all open issues. A continual exercise is undertaken to sensitise the concerned business functions to ensure that adequate measures are taken for the controls in an effort to close all the open issues.

The Risk Control Matrices (RCMs) are periodically reviewed and updated based on change in processes and suggestions of the SCAs to enhance the coverage. The Consultant has been advised to visit few branches, Retail Asset Centres and Trade Finance Centres located in different locations across the country every quarter to validate the RCMs.

The Banks Information Systems (IS) Audit function plays a pivotal role in ensuring the integrity, confidentiality and availability of the Banks IT Assets by encompassing a comprehensive range of audits, including Application Systems, IT Infrastructure, External Vendors, Policy & Process Reviews and Branch Audits. Adhering to the RBIs guidelines on ‘Independent Assurance of the Audit function, the Banks IS Audit provides assurance to both the management and the regulators. Through periodic quality assurance reviews, the effectiveness and efficiency of the Banks Internal Audit function is validated, reinforcing commitment to robust governance practices. The Bank updated its comprehensive IS Audit Policy to address evolving threats and regulatory requirements.

Internal and external training programmes are regularly conducted to update IS Auditors about the emerging technologies, Information Security best practices and the RBIs Master Directions/ Advisories/ Circulars. The Bank has introduced theme-based audits and emphasis is laid on covering cyber security aspects in IS Audit scope in view of the increasing cyber incidents. A significant improvement has been exhibited in overall compliance with IS Audit observations, attributed to diligent monitoring of pending observations and regular engagement with senior management officials. For better compliance monitoring, the Audit Management Systems have also been revamped.

The Bank is continuously improving its governance practices relating to IS Audit. Through IS Audit and regular audits, reviews, assessments and feedback mechanisms, the Bank identifies areas for improvement and implements measures to strengthen the governance framework.

Offsite Monitoring System (OMS) is a tool to detect errors/ omissions arising out of day-to-day operations in Finacle in which rule-based engine generates alerts based on pre-defined periodicity. These alerts are flagged to the business units for timely corrective actions. Keeping in view rapid digitalisation and to align the system with present banking scenario, existing Rules and Turn Around Time (TAT) for attending to OMS alerts were reviewed and new rules were added to detect deviations from laid down systems and procedures. These changes are intended to make OMS a more robust system to identify errors/ omissions and mitigate associated risk.

The Concurrent Audit (CA) system is a part of the Banks Early-Warning System to detect irregularities/ lapses, which helps in checking violations of the internal and regulatory guidelines in controlling risks and in preventing fraudulent transactions. The CA system is essentially a control process which is integral to the establishment of sound internal accounting systems and effective controls. As per the relevant RBI guidelines, the CA is carried out in the branches/ other non-branch units like Treasury, the Central Processing Unit (CPU) and the Retail Asset Centres (RACs) identified based on risk perception and volume of business handled. Further, identified functional divisions at the Banks Head Office and all Trade Finance Centres are also subjected to the CA. As per the Board-approved CA Policy of the Bank, the CA is required to cover 70% of deposits and 70% of advances of the Bank. Accordingly, for FY 2023-24, the Bank covered around 1,080 auditee units under Concurrent Audit with coverage of 74.91% of deposits and 81.25% of advances (including Retail & Corporate Branches, RACs, Trade Finance Centres, Currency Chests, Credit Solution Centres, Non-branch Segments, etc.) by engaging the services of empanelled external firms of Chartered Accountants. The Concurrent Auditors performance is closely monitored by the Zonal Audit Offices and the Head Office on a continuous basis for qualitative reports and timely submission. Further, ad-hoc audit is also conducted by the Zonal Audit Offices concerned on a quarterly basis for the Rural (Financial Inclusion)/ Rural branches rated as high-risk or above and at units where Concurrent Auditor could not be appointed due to non-availability of CA in these locations to mitigate the risk.

Your Bank has a system of Credit Audit for detailed review of selected accounts to ensure improvement in quality of credit portfolio. Credit Audit covers important aspects like adequacy of appraisal, compliance with internal and regulatory guidelines, adequacy of documentation and security creation, examining conduct of account, etc. Borrower accounts for credit audit are identified on the basis of defined criteria: (i) all new, takeover & enhancement proposals and proposals for renewal/ renewal-cum enhancement of limits, with sanction limits equal to or above a cut-off depending upon the size of activity; (ii) randomly selected (10%) proposals from the rest of the portfolio; and (iii) Below Investment Grade (if migrated from Investment Grade during the review period). As per the revised selection criteria, coverage of accounts subjected to credit audit increased by 32% on an annualised basis in FY 2023-24 in comparision to FY 2022-23.

Special Investigative Audits/ Investigative Audits (SIAs/ IAs) were carried out by the Audit Department at various branches/ Retail Asset Centers (RACs) based on various triggers. Investigations carried out by the Audit Department play a vital role in bringing about systemic improvements, improvements in policies, product guidelines, processes and procedures, helping in strengthening the controls and drawing attention to better overall monitoring of the branches. An early trigger provided by SIAs/ IAs have helped the Zones to initiate timely recovery/ legal actions and to arrest slippage of accounts into Non-Performing Assets (NPAs). Significant observations emerging out of these SIAs are being presented to an Executive Director (ED) level Committee for SIA/ IA for necessary directions. Corrective steps taken thereon are being reported to the Audit Committee of the Board (ACB). Lapses/ gaps emerging out of SIAs/ IAs are shared with branches as well as with the controlling units in order to avoid reoccurrence of such lapses with a focus on strengthening the compliance culture not only at branch level but also at supervisory level.

The Bank has put in place a fraud monitoring mechanism through a dedicated Fraud Monitoring Group (FMG) within the Internal Audit Department. The FMG reviews efficacy of the remedial actions taken to prevent reoccurrence of frauds and also issues necessary advisories/ circulars from time-to-time aimed towards strengthening of internal control and putting in place need-based remedial measures. The Fraud Risk Management (FRM) Policy in place contains guidelines for early detection, prevention, reporting, monitoring and follow-up of frauds. The FMG reviews the FRM Policy on annual basis for facilitating timely reporting of frauds.

The Bank has issued various internal circulars on prompt reporting of frauds and timelines for reporting of fraud incidents, reiterating the importance of timely reporting of frauds to the RBI.

Your Bank has a dedicated team for examining staff accountability issues under the Board-approved Staff Accountability (SA) Policy. The SA policy, which is reviewed annually, aims at safeguarding the larger interests of the Bank by identifying the areas where the rules and procedures designed to protect the interests of the Bank are not being followed by the staff, resulting in a loss to the Bank. This exercise helps the Bank to take necessary corrective steps by way of improvement in systems and procedures, strengthening any knowledge gaps by way of training and mentoring or by any other action to create an environment which could be conducive for better compliance of the guidelines and processes.

Your Bank has a Vigilance Department (VgD), headed by a Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO), at its Head Office in Mumbai. Your Bank has also set up vigilance teams at all its Zonal Offices (ZOs) in order to achieve better control and to ensure monitoring of vigilance activities at the zonal level.

The CVO performs/ oversees all functions relating to the vigilance matters in the Bank, with a wide scope/ coverage, including (i) collecting intelligence about corrupt practices committed or likely to be committed by the employees of the Bank; (ii) processing of vigilance cases, investigating or initiating investigations into complaints with vigilance overtones & verifiable allegations; (iii) processing of Investigation Reports for further consideration of the Disciplinary Authority;

(iv) referring the matters, wherever necessary, to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) for its consideration/ advice;

(v) taking measures to prevent commission of malpractices/ misconducts; (vi) co-ordinating & liasioning with various law enforcement agencies, among other activities.

Your Banks Intranet has a dedicated webpage of the Vigilance Department, which provides an overview of its functions, format of Standard Notice of the CVC which is stipulated to be displayed at the Banks branches/ offices, important circulars/ guidelines issued from time-to-time by the CVC, Chief Technical Examiners Organisation (CTEO) of CVC, as also by your Bank and Dos and Donts of Preventive Vigilance. The efforts made by the Vigilance Department have helped in enhancing the level of vigilance awareness amongst your Banks officers.

The vigilance function comprises elements of both ‘Preventive Vigilance and ‘Punitive Vigilance. Preventive Vigilance is a continuous process, which strives to review the existing guidelines to ensure that set systems and procedures are being followed, to reduce use of discretion and to ensure sensitisation of/ to create awareness amongst the employees as well as the stakeholders of the Bank on vigilance matters.

Some of the preventive vigilance measures adopted by your Bank include undertaking of Onsite Monitoring/ Surprise Vigilance Visits (SVVs) and inspections on suo moto basis (on receiving source information, of any suspected wrong-doing by staff/ outside elements) of various branches to detect malpractices, if any, and gauge adherence of laid down systems and procedures. Apart from this, scrutiny of cases of One Time Settlement (OTS)/ First Time Non-Performing Assets (FTNPAs), Annual Return of Assets & Liabilities (ARAL) of the officers of the Bank, Audit Reports of the Bank and issuance of advisories to curb irregularities found for systemic improvements, wherever necessary as also imparting training to employees on vigilance matters, etc. is undertaken by the Vigilance Department.

As a part of efforts to combat corruption and also to enhance and to spread public awareness on vigilance matters in line with the directives of the CVC, your Bank observed Vigilance Awareness Week (VAW) 2023 from October 30, 2023 to November 5, 2023, with the theme as ‘WHK 44 fcRfa 4ft, <lf JffcT <HhRVi ?%(Say no to Corruption; Commit

to the Nation). On the occasion, your Bank released a special e-journal for the benefit of all its employees. The Bank also conducted various competitions on online and offline mode like quiz, essay writing, cartoon and caricature, coin-a-caption, memory games, crossword competition, etc. for staff members and their children on a pan-India basis. Further, during the VAW 2023, a senior official from Department of Financial Services (DFS), Gol, addressed the employees at the Head Office of your Bank and also felicitated the employees for being vigilant/ alert in their assigned tasks, which led to prevention of unwarranted incidents and protected your Bank from financial/ reputational risk. Your Bank has developed a Vigilance Complaints Management Module (VCMM) for effective monitoring and quicker disposal of complaints relating to the vigilance matters.

As a part of VAW 2023, your Banks employees took the integrity pledge through online mode. A link for taking integrity pledge was also sent to the Banks customers along with their account statements to support the fight against corruption. Seminars and workshops were organised at various locations for the benefit of your Banks field functionaries. For the awareness among general public/ citizens, the VAW 2023 banners, posters were displayed at prominent locations at your Banks Zonal Offices (ZOs), Regional Offices (ROs), branches and also at other offices with public interface. Your Bank also organised Gram Sabhas at various locations.

In accordance with directives of the CVC, information regarding VAW 2023 was disseminated through your Banks website as well as its page/ handle on social media platforms.

Your Bank ensures compliance of various statutory and regulatory guidelines laid down by the GoI, the RBI, the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and other regulatory/ statutory bodies through a structured system of internal controls and tiered reviews. The Compliance Department located at your Banks Head Office, which is headed by a senior official in the rank of an Executive Director designated as Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), coordinates dissemination and internalisation of all the statutory and regulatory guidelines. Your Bank has put in place an extensive

Board-approved Compliance Policy as per the RBI guidelines and reviews it annually. The role and responsibility with regard to the compliance function is clearly defined for every tier in your Bank. The Board is apprised at monthly intervals about important communications/ guidelines received from the RBI and other regulators/ agencies. Your Bank has strengthened the internal compliance culture at a granular level by implementing advanced technology application, viz. Cermo+ NXT, for compliance testing/ validation and trackers for proper data management for ensuring timely submission of compliance to the RBI.

Your Bank has designated Central Public Information Officers (CPIOs) for responding promptly to requests for information pertaining to various functional areas. In addition, all branch heads have been designated as Central Assistant Public Information Officers (CAPIOs) to receive and forward applications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act to the CPIOs. Your Bank has designated a senior officer in the rank of Chief General Manager as First Appellate Authority (FAA) for dealing with appeals of aggrieved applicants. A Transparency Officer, in the rank of Executive Director, has been designated for effective implementation of provisions of Section 4 of the RTI Act. A separate link for the RTI Act has been provided on the Banks website (www.idbibank.in). Your Bank has also aligned with the Government of Indias RTI online portal, whereby citizens can seek the information and raise appeals under RTI Act through the portal (https://rtionline.gov.in).

During the period under review, your Bank made concerted efforts to increase usage of Official Language - Hindi and implementing the various provisions of Official Language Act and Rules of the GoI. All the verticals, departments, Zonal Offices and branches of your Bank made special efforts on regular basis to achieve the targets prescribed in the Annual Programme and other directives issued by Department of Official Language, Ministry of Home Affairs, GoI. The Bank has taken several initiatives for the progressive use of Hindi in customer communications. During the year, necessary efforts were taken to provide in-depth information about the Banks products and schemes in Hindi on the Banks website. The Banks mobile application, GO Mobile+, is enabled with the facility of Hindi. Various types of posters, banners and other publicity material were displayed in Hindi as well as in regional languages for the benefit of customers. Hindi and regional languages were used in advertising campaigns for various Government social security schemes. Your Bank uploaded template letters, forms, dictionaries, notings and other relevant reference materials in bilingual form on its Intranet to facilitate working in Hindi. Various incentive schemes were implemented and many competitions were organised

to encourage staff members to use Hindi in their day-to-day official work. In order to progressively increase the usage of Hindi in different departments/ verticals of Head Office as well as other offices, Rajbhasha workshops were organised in all the regions of your Bank to familiarise the employees with the various requirements of Official Language implementation and use of Hindi Unicode. The Bank also organised Rajbhasha fortnight in September 2023.

Your Bank, in adherence to the spirit of its vision of being the most preferred and trusted bank for all its stakeholders, has adopted a customer-centric approach that focusses on customers delight with excellent service.

The Customer Care Centre (CCC) of your Bank is committed to timely resolution of complaints while upholding quality customer experience. Your Bank has two dedicated Customer Contact Centres, located at CBD Belapur, Navi Mumbai and Hyderabad, to address customer queries on a 24x7 basis and swiftly redress customer grievances received through multiple channels.

In order to be responsive to changing customer needs and preferences, your Bank annually reviews its policies to ensure that the policies are in sync with the latest developments as also to empower the customers to resolve their grievances as per a defined system. The Bank handles complaints received from all channels in line with these policies, which also include a time-based in-built escalation matrix with an internal alert mechanism wherein if the complaint is not resolved within the pre-defned turnaround time (TAT), the same is escalated to the next level of authority for better complaint resolution management. Your Bank has designated Grievance Redressal Officers (GROs) at each of its Zonal Offices and a Principal Nodal Officer (PNO) at the Head Office. Further, in line with the Internal Ombudsman Scheme 2018 and Master Direction - Reserve Bank of India (Internal Ombudsman for Regulated Entities) Directions, 2023, the complaints, which the Bank proposes to reject/ provide partial resolution, are referred to the Internal Ombudsman (IO) of the Bank prior to responding to the customer. Your Bank has in place a Standardised Public Grievance Redressal System (SPGRS) which facilitates recording, monitoring and timely resolution of complaints received. The complaints received from various customer touch-points and regulators are recorded in the system and a communication is sent to the customer through an SMS acknowledging the complaint along with a link to track the same. Your Bank has established two senior level customer service committees, i.e. Standing Committee on Customer Service (SCCS) and Customer Service Committee of the Board (CSCB), both of which are convened on a quarterly basis. These Committees are entrusted with the task of assessment of quality of customer service rendered by the various touchpoints of the Bank.

Your Bank has taken various initiatives in the area of customer service in the last financial year. In addition, your Bank has been leveraging various digital platforms with a view to increasing automation in improving process efficiencies while reducing costs.

During FY 2023-24, the objective of your Banks advertising was to create salience for the brand as well as its flagship products and services to enhance its positive image. The campaigns undertaken during the year, focussed on highlighting the distinguishing features of the products and were carried out primarily vide digital platforms and mediums like Transient OOH (Out of Home) display, Cinema Screen branding, etc. complemented with measured bursts on high impact platforms like television and OTT (Over-The-Top). Several initiatives were undertaken by your Bank in the Public Relations (PR) domain aimed at maintaining positive tonality of news and enhancing your Banks profile in the media, while simultaneously striving to reinforce stakeholder perception. Your Bank found numerous positive mentions of its initiatives in print, electronic and digital media. The Bank communicated through its official brand pages/ handles on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X and YouTube and continued to undertake engagement activities in innovative ways. The Bank also undertook various customer educational series across social media on topics like cyber security, fraud awareness, etc.

Your Bank strengthened its digital infrastructure and equipped itself with latest analytical tools & Application Programming Interface (API) technology, capable of analysing and summarising customer data, further enhancing customer experience, streamlining operations and driving innovation to meet the evolving needs of the digital world.

Your Bank successfully completed the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) Switch Migration project. The existing UPI system was migrated to a new and improved version enabling seamless and secure transactions across different banks and platforms, bringing it at par with other banks in terms of features and volume handling capabilities.

Your Bank also upgraded the Virtual Private Network (VPN) solution for the Bank to Zero Trust Solution Architecture. The current solution upgrades the Banks capabilities and user experience to provide a seamless experience like an extension of its network for remote workforce.

Your Bank has strengthened the Monitoring Capabilities on Core Banking Solution (CBS) by upgrading to AppDynamics, a leading Application Performance Management (APM) solution. This leverages cloud infrastructure for monitoring CBS and improves the Banks capabilities in detection of performance deterioration and helps attain better up-time on CBS.

For enhanced security, your Bank has implemented controls on session time-out in Core Banking Solution (CBS). This strengthens the Banks deterrence and position in terms of prevention of frauds by hijacked user sessions or misuse of desktops unlocked by users. Your Bank has made biometric authentication compulsory for all users. This improves the Banks deterrence against user password sharing or malicious attacks which track key-logs to identify user passwords for malicious use.

Your Bank has successfully implemented the RBIs Centralised Information Management System (CIMS) project in the Bank under which 62 RBI returns are automated and successfully submitted through Automated Data Flow (ADF) application under Straight Through Processing (STP). On the data refinement and enrichment fronts, Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) validation through Application Programming Interface (API) is implemented in the core system. The Bank has also put in place processes and system logics, improving the data quality of submissions made by the Bank to Credit Information Companies (CICs) aggregators.

Your Bank has put in place IT Policy to ensure, inter alia, information security. Access to collected information of the customers is granted only to the authorised officials or agencies authorised by the Bank. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, the Bank has put in place suitable systems and procedures to safeguard and secure the information collected. Your Bank has also formulated Data Governance policy to establish Data Privacy, Accessibility, Ownership, and Security. The Bank has also put in place Privacy Policy to safeguard the information shared by the customers/ prospective customers. Your Bank conducts proper AppSec and Vulnerability test on a regular basis. The Privacy Policy falls under the purview of the Banks Information Technology Department (ITD) and the Information Security Group (ISG). The ISG takes care of data privacy aspects by conducting regular audit and putting in place proper control mechanism in coordination with ITD. Under the Banks Information Security Policy, data/ security breach incidents are reported as incident report and the Banks policies stipulate that the breach of the security/ privacy policy is investigated in accordance with the Banks extant policies. Your Bank conducts regular Information Systems (IS) Audit on a regular basis which entails audit of each application/ server/ process with data privacy also being checked.

The Bank has a dedicated centralised operations vertical comprising of various departments like Central Processing Unit (CPU), Regional Processing Unit (RPU), Retail Asset Operations (RAO), Anti-Money Laundering Cell (AML), Depository Accounts Operations, Domestic Payments and Remittance services, Cash Management services (CMS), Government Business Group (GBG), Capital Market Operations, Internet & Mobile Banking operations, Card Issuance & Management section, Data Clean up and Compliance Team (DCCT) & GST Operations.

The centralised operations has taken various initiatives and process automation as part of customer delight measures, viz. same day account Opening (SB, CA, TD etc.), real-time processing of miscellaneous requests such as mobile number change, address, email ID updation, KYC updation etc., updation of Form 15 H/G on real time basis, sharing CKYC number with customers immediately after generation, updation of repayment mode for servicing EMI electronically for retail loan customers, returning of property documents within stipulated TAT, etc.

During FY 2023-24, through process automation, the centralised operations, facilitating the Bank to stay true to its commitment of adding value to customers relationship. Further the centralised operations helped the Bank in improving operational efficiency by reducing the TAT for processing of service request from customers, ensuring uninterrupted support services to various business units and thereby reducing operational costs.

Your Bank is at the forefront in equipping its staff by keeping them updated regarding banking operations, services, etc., in order to ensure that your Bank is able to provide efficient banking services to all its stakeholders. Accordingly, an exclusive training programme Aarohan was conducted during FY 2023-24 covering all staff of the Bank.

Your Bank has put in place robust policies in compliance with the guidelines of various regulators, viz. the RBI, the SEBI etc., including a ‘Policy on Unauthorised Electronic Banking Transactions (UEBT) and a Customer Compensation Policy. Both these policies are made available on the Banks website (www.idbibank.in) for ready reference of the Banks customers.

In order to facilitate the customers to search and claim the unclaimed deposits with the Bank, your Bank has actively registered itself in the Unclaimed Deposits - Gateway to Access information (UDGAM) portal of the RBI and uploaded the details of the unclaimed deposits lying with the Bank. Further, your Bank has actively participated in the RBIs 100 Days 100 Pays campaign for identifying and settling unclaimed deposits to the customers and has settled the claims in more than 9,800 cases in FY 2023-24. Simultaneously, your Bank is proactively making efforts to identify and reach out to the customers to settle the unclaimed deposits upfront to avoid transfer of funds to Depositor Education & Awareness Fund (DEA Fund).

Your Bank has 25 Currency Chests (CCs) across the country. These CCs process cash from all linked branches and provide clean notes for dispensing through ATMs and branches. During FY 2023-24, your Bank has conducted 580 Coin Melas and Soil Note Exchange Melas across the country through its CCs where coins worth around Rs.12 crore were distributed to the public through its branches. Further, the Bank has deployed Note Sorting/ Note Authentication Machines in its branches to detect and impound fake currency notes. Your Bank has actively handled the activity of withdrawal of Rs.2,000/- banknote from circulation by the RBI, in which around Rs.10,270 crore in denomination of Rs.2,000/- was collected and remitted to the RBI within the stipulated timelines.

Your Bank has taken many technological initiatives, systemic checks and process improvisations towards achieving fraud risk mitigation & control, effective operational controls and efficient customer service. These initiatives include alerting the customers about non-operations in the accounts to prevent accounts slipping to inoperative status and subsequent freeze of the account, sending transactional alerts, sending six months advance information to the customer in respect of the Re-KYC due accounts for submission of the latest KYC documents, simplification of the Re-KYC process and submission of the related document/ confirmation of present address through SMS, etc.

Your Banks CSR objective is to make material, visible and lasting difference to the lives of underprivileged sections of the society by identifying gaps and extending need-based support for their betterment. Your Bank seeks to achieve multidimensional impact through direct interventions as well as acting as a catalyst for socio-economic progress of the beneficiaries.

Your Bank stepped up its efforts under CSR during the year under review, directly as well as in association with various organisations, in order to make an even greater impact on targeted strata of society. Your Banks CSR projects were targeted at uplifting the vulnerable and marginalised sections of the society such as children, youth, women and tribals by focussing on areas such as rural development, skill development, education, healthcare, entrepreneurship development, eradication of poverty, among other areas. The details of your Banks CSR activities have been elaborated in Corporate Governance Report and Business Responsibility & Sustainability Report sections of the Annual Report.

In the recent years, India has witnessed a significant evolution in its approach to ESG disclosures, fuelled by regulatory developments, changing stakeholder expectations and growing recognition of impact of ESG factors on business operations. Taking cognisance of the growing importance of ESG, the Bank formulated its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Policy in FY 2022-23. The ESG Policy has been designed in consonance with the applicable national laws/ regulations and is aimed at positioning the Bank as an ESG-compliant entity through its activities. In compliance with the extant regulatory norms, the Bank also published its Business Responsibility & Sustainability Report (BRSR) for FY 2022-23 as a part of its Annual Report 2022-23 which highlights its performance against the nine principles enshrined in the National Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct (NGRBC) developed by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, GoI. The Bank also brought out an ESG Databook for FY 2022-23 with the intent to disseminate granular data on various social and environmental aspects to a wider group of stakeholders in a transparent and easily comprehensible manner. During the year, the Bank also participated in the S&P Globals Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) 2023. In order to improve its ESG performance and for imbibing ESG-centric culture across various functional areas, the Bank has drawn up action plans across the ESG dimensions.