Mumbai, Sept 30 (KNN)  RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan today said that the central bank is in the process of modifying the definition of "wilful defaulters" so that company directors are under its ambit.

"The (Calcutta High) Court had some questions about whether all directors could be declared wilful defaulters and we have looked at that.

"We are in the process of modifying the definition so that the directors, if seen, as culpable in actively participating or being grossly negligent of wilful default," Rajan said while interacting with media.

On the norms for non-cooperative defaulters, Rajan said the guidelines have been formulated to tackle those borrowers who resist repaying at every corner and hold up the entire repayment process.

He said in such cases, the recourse to legal remedy, allowable by the laws from a prudential perspective, imposes a cost to the system because banks cannot get their money using the existing laws such as the Sarfesi Act.

"Therefore, in those situations where there is a deliberate attempt to delay the process of recovery after due process is being followed, can we find a way of declaring these borrowers as non-cooperatives?," Rajan asked.

On the increasing Non-Performing Assets levels in the system, Rajan said the central bank is following the issue very closely and banks have been asked to take timely action to deal with the matter.

While talking about the regulatory changes, the Governor said the final guidelines on small banks and payments banks will be issued by end-November, while the final norms with regard to the changes in the regulatory framework for NBFCs will be introduced by end-October.

The central bank said it will recommence registering new NBFCs after regulatory changes. (KNN/SD)