Parliamentary Committee on Public enterprises (COPE) has identified recently some shortcomings that exist within the system and a delay in collecting Rs. 322 million of non-performing loans from 10 customers.

Facts were revealed that the total nonperforming loan balance that was due from 10 customers as at 31 December 2014 was Rs. 322,142,856/-.

The total amount of money that have been written off in 2014 was Rs. 54,690,892/- and the relevant interest for that amount that has been written off was Rs. 67,615,763/-.

COPE also found that the bank has no properly introduced control system and a methodology regarding lending and collecting the loans and lending was based only on personal guarantees, COPE Chairman Sunil Handunneththi said.

The secretary to the Public Enterprises Department was directed to conduct a Ministerial level investigation regarding the collection of loans and to submit a comprehensive report to the committee within a month including the preventive measures that could be taken in the future.

According to the given report the Ministerial secretary has studied about the methodology of collecting the loans at present and advice has been given to the BOC on the development of the loan collecting methodology.

Renewal of loans of the debtors who did not pay loans repeatedly, institutions not paying proper attention about the lending methodology. and weaknesses in management decisions were among the other irregularities highlighted in COPE report, he added,