Corporate Social Responsibility Activities in the Commercial Banks in India

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) means doing a business in a manner which meets or exceeds the ethical, permissible, commercial expectations that a society has from the business. CSR pillars are sustainable banking, environment protection, social commitment, human resource development and stakeholder's engagement. The term is often used interchangeably for other terms like corporate citizenship and is also linked to the concept of Triple Bottom Line Reporting (TBL). Stressing the need for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), RBI pointed out that these initiatives by the banks are vital for sustainable development. It has directed that every bank should set apart one per cent of its net profits for CSR activity. This paper is an effort to understand the strategies and structuring of CSR. It also presents the challenges associated with it and the benefits of the CSR along with sustainable development measures being undertaken by the banking sector. Result of the study depicts that both public and private sector banks have a contribution towards CSR which is less than 2% of Profit after Tax. Only one bank ICICI out of selected banks is investing an amount more than 1% of PAT on CSR activities.