Sachin Bansal resigns from Ujjivan small finance bank as director

Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal has resigned from the board of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Ltd stating that an entity owned and controlled by him has applied for a universal banking licence, according to a regulatory filing. Bansal's firm, Navi Technologies, has applied to the Reserve Bank of India for a universal banking license, through its microfinance arm, Chaitanya India Fin Credit.

Bansal has picked up a majority 94% stake for Rs 739 crore in the Bengaluru-based microfinance company Chaitanya Rural Intermediation Development Services (CRIDS) in September last year and had taken over as the CEO of the company.

"Given an entity owned and controlled by me has made an application to the RBI for a universal banking license, I felt it was — in the interest of propriety and corporate governance — only appropriate that I stepped down from this role. I would like to resign as an Independent Director of the Bank with effect from January 27, 2020. Consequently, | shall also cease to be a member of various Board Committees of the Bank." the letter by Sachin Bansal to the directors of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Limited said.

Ujjivan Small Finance in the filing said, "The bank has received a letter dated January 27, 2020 from Sachin Bansal tendering his resignation as an independent director of the bank."

Chaitanya offers loans to low-income customers in rural areas on the joint-liability-group lending model, has made an application under the RBI’s On-Tap Banking License Guidelines, earlier this month. It operates via 40 branches in Karnataka, Bihar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Jharkhand.