Budget 2026-27: Govt likely to amend law to speed up debt recovery

The Centre may amend the RDB Act in the FY27 Budget to earmark DRTs for high-value cases, speed up recoveries and reduce pendency clogged by low-ticket litigation

A case for reformb

• Centre’s move comes amid mounting pendency at DRTs
• Currently, the RDB Act does not allow the government to earmark tribunals for cases above a particular value (₹20 lakh)
• Around 77 per cent of pending cases involve amounts between ₹20 lakh and ₹1 crore
• Top 10 DRTs account for 43.6 per cent of total pending original applications and securitisation applications

11:07 AM

What hospitals want as cancer cases become more complex

Cancer is emerging as one of India’s most urgent health challenges, not just because of rising numbers, but because cases are becoming more complex and harder to treat.

11:07 AM

How the health budget can reduce pollution-linked disease burden

Doctors say air pollution is no longer just an environmental issue, it is now one of India’s most serious public health threats, driving a surge in respiratory, cardiac, and metabolic diseases. Dr Gurmeet Singh Chabbra, Director – Pulmonology at Yatharth Super Speciality Hospital, Faridabad, says the Union Budget needs to treat pollution-related illness as a core health-system challenge. “To meaningfully reduce pollution-related illness, the Budget must focus on prevention, early detection and long-term treatment, with direct investment in the health sector,” says Dr Chabbra.

According to Dr Chabbra, the priority should be strengthening primary healthcare.

11:06 AM

What healthcare leaders say the Budget must fix first

Several experts point to the same structural gap: India’s public health spending remains below 2 per cent of GDP, far short of the 2.5 per cent by 2025 target set under the National Health Policy.

According to Prashant Krishnan, CEO of Gurugram-based TI Medical, which manufactures surgical devices, one of the most effective interventions would be expanding public-sector procurement of locally manufactured medical devices and consumables. “Public health investment remains under 2 per cent of GDP, which limits access to advanced tests and equipment, especially in Tier II and Tier III cities,” he says. “Targeted budget support for procurement can directly reduce out-of-pocket spending, while strengthening domestic manufacturing and innovation.”

11:05 AM

Budget 2026: Doctors, hospitals lay out India's healthcare spending wishlist

As Union Budget 2026 approaches, healthcare leaders spell out priorities to curb preventable disease, cut out-of-pocket costs, and strengthen India's health system at scale, India’s healthcare system faces growing pressure from chronic disease, air pollution, and workforce shortages. Ahead of Union Budget 2026, medical professionals and healthcare stakeholders have outlined what they believe the health budget must fix.

7:24 PM

The territorial jurisdiction of DRTs

Currently, while the government can define the territorial jurisdiction of DRTs, the Act does not explicitly allow it to earmark tribunals for cases above a particular value, beyond the minimum threshold of ₹20 lakh. An email sent to the finance ministry remained unanswered till it time of going to the press. 

“This amendment will allow us to channel high-value recovery cases to designated tribunals so that presiding officers can focus on large exposures and dispose of them faster,” the senior government official said.

7:23 PM

The urgency of reform is reflected in the data.

The top 10 DRTs account for 43.6 per cent of total pending original applications and securitisation applications, while representing nearly 30 per cent of the total pending suit amount. Jabalpur DRT alone has 14,539 pending cases, the highest in the country, while Kolkata DRT-1 has pending cases worth over ₹1.25 trillion, the largest by value.

6:51 PM

The government also plans to introduce a new Section 22B

The government also plans to introduce a new Section 22B, under which appeals against DRAT orders can only be filed before the Supreme Court, bringing the appellate framework in line with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

Borrowers frequently approach high courts at present, often securing stay orders that delay recovery proceedings.

“This would discourage forum shopping and frivolous appeals that hold up recovery for years,” the official said.

6:50 PM

At present, there is a lack of uniformity in recovery procedures across jurisdictions

Which leads to procedural challenges and litigation. Uniform rules would bring clarity and avoid unnecessary legal complexity,” the Official said. 

Another significant proposal is to amend Section 22A to empower the Centre to prescribe uniform recovery procedures not only for DRTs and Debts Recovery Appellate Tribunals (DRATs), but also explicitly for recovery officers, who currently fall outside the statutory definition of a tribunal. Officials said this clarification is intended to avoid conflicting interpretations with provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961, and related rules.

6:50 PM

The move comes amid mounting pendency at DRTs

The move comes amid mounting pendency at DRTs, where official data sourced by Business Standard showed that a majority of cases are relatively low value but together clog the system. Around 77 per cent of pending cases involve amounts between ₹20 lakh and ₹1 crore, while cases above ₹100 crore account for just 0.6 per cent of total cases, even though they represent over 69 per cent of the total pending suit amount.

6:47 PM

The Centre is likely to propose amendments to the Recovery of Debt

Bankruptcy Act (RDB Act), 1993, in the upcoming 2026-27 (FY27) Union Budget to redefine the jurisdiction and workload of Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRTs). 

According to a senior government official, the move would allow certain DRTs to focus on high-value cases, speeding up recoveries and unclogging tribunals burdened with low-value litigation. “Under the proposed changes, the Centre would be empowered to specify one or more DRTs to exclusively handle applications involving debts above a notified amount, which may vary across regions,” said the official.