Chennai, Jun 5 (IANS): After a Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) inquiry team, an eight-member team from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has started inspection at the Mangalore-based Corporation Bank, which faces complaints of irregularities in loan sanctions and appointments.

"Normally, the RBI inspection is in August and the team is headed by a deputy general manager. This time the inspection has been advanced and the inspection team is headed by a general manager," sources in the bank told IANS.

Officials say the RBI inspection ahead of normal schedule is prompted by the CVC inspection.

According to officials, the RBI inspection team has started checking the loan accounts and the tender issued for appointment of information technology (IT) consultant which the CVC team too had inquired about.

A two-member CVC team camped at Corporation Bank's headquarters May 9-14 to probe the complaints of irregularities in sanction of loans and in the process for issuance of tender for selecting an IT consultant.

The inquiry was held under Sections 8 and 11 of the CVC Act. Section 11 confers on the inquiry team the power of a civil court in respect of summoning and enforcing attendance of a person, production of documents and receiving evidence on affidavits, among others.

According to the sources, the CVC team is finalising its report and is expected to submit it next week. It was earlier expected the report would be submitted to the CVC by this week.

Officials told IANS that the bank had violated the tendering norms in the matter of selecting the IT consultant.

"As per norms, the consultant for preparing the tender documents is not eligible to bid for the project. However, in this case the consultancy not only laid the ground for the bids but also participated in the tender," an official told IANS.

Asked for his response, the bank's general manager (IT) B.R.Bhat declined to respond.

"I am not in a position to comment as there is an investigation on in the matter," Bhat told IANS.