Union Bank of India expects to speed up the recovery of bad loans using a first-of-its-kind stressed asset recovery automated solution (SARAS) that will help enforce securities, track recoveries and enhance monitoring of stressed assets.

Chief general manager Ashok Chandra said automation will eliminate errors and cut the time taken to initiate recovery to a few days from months earlier.

“Over the years we had noticed that the time taken to file cases for recovery, initiate the process and then monitor the cases wasted precious man-hours and eroded the value of assets. In 2020, after the amalgamation of Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank, it was felt that a system to track all these accounts will help a great deal. We have now developed an automated model for wilful defaulters, track cases with advocates, enforce collateral securities and check valuations,” Chandra said.

The system will fetch data from court websites, registrar of companies and government agencies. The bank also plans to link it to debts recovery tribunals and NCLTs.