Cyclone Amphan: Bandhan Bank services impacted in some areas of West Bengal, Odisha

Kolkata-headquartered Bandhan Bank on Thursday said its services have been impacted in some areas of West Bengal and Odisha due to Amphan and the cyclone is likely to impact business worth Rs 260 crore.

The lender expects to resume banking services in these areas shortly.

Cyclone Amphan struck five districts in southern West Bengal and northern coastal Odisha starting in the afternoon of Wednesday and lasting till the wee hours of the morning of Thursday.

As per the initial assessment, in our areas of operations, 49 banking units (micro banking outlet) in five districts were impacted, of which 45 are operational on Thursday, Bandhan Bank said in a regulatory filing.

The bank could continue operations in all but five branches in the affected districts.

"Where the outlets could not continue services, it was due to issues in accessibility. We expect these outlets to resume operations shortly," it said.

The new-age bank said the banking outlets in the areas that had received prior warning of the cyclone were prepared with necessary safety and business continuity measures which enabled continuity of operations.

"As per our estimate, the business of around 65,000 of our micro banking borrowers, amounting to an exposure of about Rs 260 crore, could be impacted due to the cyclone."

The major impact has been in the district of South 24 Parganas.

"In our experience of Fani, the cyclone that caused large-scale damage in Odisha in May 2019, the impacted portfolio took 3 to 6 months to achieve normalcy, aided by the committed workforce and customer loyalty.

"On the back of this experience, we expect the Amphan-affected portfolio to regularise by the third quarter of 2020-21," it said.

Bandhan Bank also informed that all its employees were safe during the cyclone.