State Bank of India has decided to mark Reliance Communications’ loan account as “fraud” in a case that stretches back to August 2016. India’s largest state-run lender made this clear in a letter dated 23 June 2025. The letter reached the company on 30 June.
Reliance Communications confirmed this move in an official filing under market rules. “This is to inform you that Company has received letter dated June 23, 2025 (received on June 30, 2025) from SBI (marked to the Company and its erstwhile director - Shri Anil Dhirajlal Ambani), inter alia, stating that SBI has decided to report the loan account of the Company as ‘fraud’ and to report the name of Shri Anil Dhirajlal Ambani (erstwhile director of the Company) to the RBI, as per the extant RBI guidelines,” Reliance Communications said.
Repeated warnings sent
This did not happen overnight. SBI issued show cause notices in December 2023, March 2024 and again in September 2024. The bank says it looked at the replies. It found the company failed to explain why it broke the terms of the loan. The bank also says the company did not satisfy its questions about irregularities in how the account was run.
After that, SBI’s fraud identification committee took the final call. It concluded there was enough to tag the loan as fraudulent. The next step is to send the names of Reliance Communications and Anil Ambani to the Reserve Bank of India.
Link to Anil Ambani group
Reliance Communications is part of the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group. Anil Ambani is the brother of Mukesh Ambani, head of Reliance Industries, the oil-to-telecom giant. For now, both State Bank of India and Anil Ambani have not replied to requests for comment from Reuters.
Company says insolvency protects it
Reliance Communications has been under a corporate insolvency resolution process since 2019. In its statement, the company reminded investors that any loans linked to the period before insolvency must be handled within the resolution plan.
“The credit facilities or loans referred to in the SBI letter, dated June 23, 2025, pertain to the period prior to the CIRP. These are required to be necessarily resolved as a part of a resolution plan or in liquidation, under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC),” the company said.
It added, “By virtue of protection available under Section 32A of IBC, upon the approval of the resolution plan by the NCLT, the company is to have immunity against any liability for any purported offences committed prior to the commencement of the CIRP.”
The plan has creditor approval but is still awaiting a final nod from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Until then, the company says it is protected from any new suits or cases. It also said legal advice is being sought on what to do next.
Canara Bank’s earlier attempt
This is not the first time a bank has tried to label Reliance Communications’ loan as fraud. Canara Bank did so in November 2024. But in February 2025, the Bombay High Court stayed Canara Bank’s action. The court said the bank had not given the borrower a proper hearing, as required by Reserve Bank of India rules.
Reliance Communications made this latest disclosure in a regulatory exchange filing on July 1st, 2025.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Reliance Communications confirmed this move in an official filing under market rules. “This is to inform you that Company has received letter dated June 23, 2025 (received on June 30, 2025) from SBI (marked to the Company and its erstwhile director - Shri Anil Dhirajlal Ambani), inter alia, stating that SBI has decided to report the loan account of the Company as ‘fraud’ and to report the name of Shri Anil Dhirajlal Ambani (erstwhile director of the Company) to the RBI, as per the extant RBI guidelines,” Reliance Communications said.
Repeated warnings sent
This did not happen overnight. SBI issued show cause notices in December 2023, March 2024 and again in September 2024. The bank says it looked at the replies. It found the company failed to explain why it broke the terms of the loan. The bank also says the company did not satisfy its questions about irregularities in how the account was run.
After that, SBI’s fraud identification committee took the final call. It concluded there was enough to tag the loan as fraudulent. The next step is to send the names of Reliance Communications and Anil Ambani to the Reserve Bank of India.
Link to Anil Ambani group
Reliance Communications is part of the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group. Anil Ambani is the brother of Mukesh Ambani, head of Reliance Industries, the oil-to-telecom giant. For now, both State Bank of India and Anil Ambani have not replied to requests for comment from Reuters.
Company says insolvency protects it
Reliance Communications has been under a corporate insolvency resolution process since 2019. In its statement, the company reminded investors that any loans linked to the period before insolvency must be handled within the resolution plan.
“The credit facilities or loans referred to in the SBI letter, dated June 23, 2025, pertain to the period prior to the CIRP. These are required to be necessarily resolved as a part of a resolution plan or in liquidation, under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC),” the company said.
It added, “By virtue of protection available under Section 32A of IBC, upon the approval of the resolution plan by the NCLT, the company is to have immunity against any liability for any purported offences committed prior to the commencement of the CIRP.”
The plan has creditor approval but is still awaiting a final nod from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Until then, the company says it is protected from any new suits or cases. It also said legal advice is being sought on what to do next.
Canara Bank’s earlier attempt
This is not the first time a bank has tried to label Reliance Communications’ loan as fraud. Canara Bank did so in November 2024. But in February 2025, the Bombay High Court stayed Canara Bank’s action. The court said the bank had not given the borrower a proper hearing, as required by Reserve Bank of India rules.
Reliance Communications made this latest disclosure in a regulatory exchange filing on July 1st, 2025.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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