THE PUBLIC FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS (OBLIGATION AS TO FIDELITY AND 
SECRECY) ACT, 1983 
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ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS 
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SECTIONS 

1.  Short title. 
2.  Definitions. 
3.  Obligation as to fidelity and secrecy. 
4.  Declaration of fidelity and secrecy. 
5.  [Repealed.]. 
6.  [Repealed.]. 

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THE PUBLIC FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS (OBLIGATION AS TO FIDELITY AND 
SECRECY) ACT, 1983 

ACT NO. 48 OF 1983 

[30th December, 1983.] 

An Act to provide for the obligation of public financial institutions as to fidelity and secrecy. 

BE it enacted by Parliament in the Thirty-fourth Year of the Republic of India as follows:— 

1. Short title.—This Act may be called the Public Financial Institutions (Obligation as to Fidelity and 

Secrecy) Act, 1983. 

2. Definitions.—(1) In this Act, “public financial institution” means— 

(a)  the  Industrial  Credit  and  Investment  Corporation  of  India  Limited,  a  company  formed  and 

registered under the Indian Companies Act, 1913(7 of 1913); 

(b) the Industrial Reconstruction Corporation of India Limited, a company formed and registered 

under the Companies Act, 1956(1 of 1956); or 

(c)  any  other  institution,  being  a  company  as  defined  in  section  617  of  the  Companies  Act, 
1956(1 of 1956) or a company to which the provisions of section 619 of that Act apply, which the 
Central Government may, having regard to the nature of the business carried on by such institution, 
by notification in the Official Gazette, specify to be a public financial institution for the purposes of 
this Act. 

(2) Every notification issued under clause (c) of sub-section (1) shall, as soon as may be, after it is 

issued, be laid before each House of Parliament. 

3.  Obligation  as  to  fidelity  and  secrecy.—(1)  A  public  financial  institution  shall  not,  except  as 
otherwise  provided  in  sub-section  (2)  or  in  any  other  law  for  the  time  being  in  force,  divulge  any 
information  relating  to,  or  to  the  affairs  of,  its  constituents  except  in  circumstances  in  which  it  is,  in 
accordance with the law or practice and usage, customary among bankers, necessary or appropriate for 
the public financial institution to divulge such information. 

(2) A public financial institution may, for the purpose of efficient discharge of its functions, collect 

from, or furnish to,— 

(a) the Central Government; or 

(b) the State Bank of India constituted under section 3 of the State Bank of India Act, 1955(23 of 
1955),  any  subsidiary  bank  within  the  meaning  of  the  State  Bank  of  India  (Subsidiary  Banks)  Act, 
1959(38  of  1959),  any  corresponding  new  bank  constituted  under  section  3  of  the  Banking 
Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970(5 of 1970) or under section 3 of the 
Banking  Companies  (Acquisition  and Transfer  of  Undertakings)  Act,  1980  (40 of  1980),  any  other 
scheduled bank within the meaning of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934(2 of 1934); or 

(c) any other public financial institution, 

such credit information or other information as it may consider useful for the purpose, in such manner and 
at such time as it may think fit. 

Explanation.—For the purposes of this sub-section, the expression “credit information” shall have the 
same meaning as in clause (c) of section 45A of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (2 of 1934) subject 
to the modification that the banking company referred to therein shall mean a bank referred to in clause 
(b) of this sub-section or a public financial institution. 

1[(3) Nothing contained in this section shall apply to the credit information disclosed under the Credit 

Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005 (30 of 2005).] 

1. Ins. by Act 30 of 2005, s. 34 and the Schedule (w.e.f. 14-12-2006). 

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4.  Declaration  of  fidelity  and  secrecy.—Every  director,  member  of  any  committee,  auditor  or 

officer or any other employee of a public financial institution to which this Act applies, shall,— 

(a) before entering upon his duties; or 

(b)  where  he  has  entered  upon  his  duties  as  such  before  the  date  on  which  this  Act  became 
applicable to such institution, within thirty days from the date on which this Act became applicable to 
such institution, 

make a declaration of fidelity and secrecy in the form set out in the Schedule to this Act. 

5. [Amendment of Act 15 of 1948.] Rep. by the Repealing and Amending Act, 1988 (19 of 1988), s. 2 and the 

First Schedule (w.e.f. 31-3-1988). 

6. [Amendment of Act 63 of 1951.] Rep. by s. 2 and the First Schedule, ibid. (w.e.f. 31-3-1988). 

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THE SCHEDULE 

(See section 4) 

DECLARATION OF FIDELITY AND SECRECY 

I,  _____________________________________________,  do  hereby  declare  that  I  will  faithfully, 
truly and to the best of my skill and ability, execute and perform the duties required of me as director, 
member  of  any  Committee,  auditor,  officer  or  other  employee  (as  the  case  may  be)  of  the 
________________________*  and  which  properly  relate  to  the  office  or  position  held  by  me  in,  or  in 
relation to, the 

* 

I further declare that I will not communicate or allow to be communicated to any person not legally 
entitled thereto any information relating to the affairs of the _____________________________ * or to 
the affairs of any person having any dealing with the _______________________ *nor will I allow any 
such person to inspect, or have access to, any books or documents belonging to, or in the possession of, 
the __________________ *and relating to the business of the ____________________*or the business of 
any person having any dealing with the ___________ 

Signed before me. 

Signature. 

*Here insert the name of the public financial institution concerned. 

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