RBL’s Ahuja Gets Only A One-Year Extension

The Reserve Bank of India has approved only a one-year extension for Vishwavir Ahuja, managing director and chief executive officer at RBL Bank Ltd.

In January, the board of RBL Bank had approved a three-year extension for Ahuja from June 2021 to June 2024.

In a notice to exchanges on Friday, RBL Bank said the “approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been received for the re-appointment of Vishwavir Ahuja as the Managing Director & CEO of the bank, for further period of one year, with effect from June 30, 2021.”

The appointment is subject to shareholder approvals.

While the RBI recently capped the tenure of private bank chiefs at 15 years, Ahuja is yet to hit that limit. He joined the bank in 2010 and has completed 11 years. An extension of three years, as approved by the board, would have also been within the 15-year limit set by the RBI.

RBL Bank’s asset quality has seen ups and downs over the last couple of years but it’s reported bad loans are not alarming.

For the fourth quarter, the private lender’s net profit fell 34% over a year earlier to Rs 75 crore. Gross non-performing asset ratio improved marginally to 4.34% as on March 31 compared with 4.57% as of December.