Bank of Baroda suspends officials in 'bob World' manipulation investigation

Days after the Reserve Bank of India barred state-owned Bank of Baroda from onboarding fresh customers on its mobile application, the Mumbai-based lender has suspended some officials related to alleged manipulation of 'bob World'.

According to officials, certain officials, including assistant general managers, being suspended due to alleged manipulation of the 'bob World' app.

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Sources indicate that these officials are suspected of tampering with customer accounts to artificially boost the number of registrations on the bank's mobile app, 'bob World.' Despite reaching out to the bank for comment, there has been no response to date.

The RBI's directive, issued on October 10, ordered Bank of Baroda to immediately halt the onboarding of new customers on the 'bob World' mobile application, citing significant supervisory concerns. The action was taken in response to observed issues related to the customer onboarding process.

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Notably, in December 2020, the RBI had imposed restrictions on HDFC Bank, preventing it from issuing new credit cards and launching fresh digital initiatives due to recurrent technological disruptions at the bank, which is a market leader in the credit card segment.

Subsequently, similar bans were imposed on new card issuances by Mastercard and American Express for failing to comply with data localization rules. Following remedial actions by HDFC Bank, the regulator partially lifted the card issuance ban in August 2021, though restrictions on launching new technology initiatives remained in place until they were completely lifted in 2022.