The group has said that purview of the DRTs should be extended from handling only recovery cases to counter-claim suits filed by banks and institutions. The committee--headed by legal advisor to the Reserve Bank of India NV Deshpande -- has forwarded its final recommendations to the finance ministry in the last week of September.

The committee has said in its final report that The Recovery of Debt Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act 1993 has "belied hopes" and amendments need to be carried out to ensure that DRTs play an important role in effecting recoveries. The working group has made 43 recommendations out of which three have already been accepted by the RBI and the rest have to be acceptedby the government.

The committee has said that the central government should notify that the provisions of the Act shall apply to cases of small loans not less than Rs 2 lakhs -- down from the current level of Rs 10 lakh. But this will be done only after more DRTs are appointed as per the recommendation of the group, the report said.

The committee has also suggested that a time-bound programme of 180 days to be stipulated for disposal of claims under the DRTs.

The working group has recommended that the presiding officer (PO) of the DRTs should not have more than 30 cases on the board on any given date and there should not be more than 800 cases pending before it at any given point of time. "If the number of cases go beyond 800 cases, the government should consider appointing more tribunals to deal with such cases," the report said.The working group has also suggested that the recovery certificate can be transferred from one recovery officer to another. The group has also suggested that the DRT shouldbe empowered to notify the names of the defaulters after the decrees have been passed.

The report has said that banks and financial institutions need to be excluded from the provisions of the Sick Industrial Companies Act 1985 in respect of the proceedings pending before the DRTs. "In fact after this Amendment (to the SICA) is enacted by the parliament and brought into force, many of the complaints of the banks and the financial institutions will be automatically be taken care of," it said.

The committee has also recommended that that an amendement needs to carried out in the present Act to cover the secured debt like mortage, hypothecation, pledge and be given the same treatment as envisaged in Order 34 of the Civil Procedure Code.

"We, therefore, recommend that a specific provision be made in the recovery certificate by covering the details of the secured property. ``A similar provision may have to be incorporated under Section 25 dealing with modes of recovery of debt by specifying that recoveryofficer will have to proceed in terms of the certificate issued," the report said.

In yet another reccomendation, the working group has said that once the DRT has issued summons, it has to be the obligations of the banks/financial instutions to ensure the service of the summons on the other party.