A press release issued on Tuesday by the bank in Mumbai said that it has already constituted a committee with representatives from RBI, banking industry and the Indian Banks' Association (IBA).

"The Credit Information Bureau is not expected to have any representation from the non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) to start with," the release said, adding that the committee will study issues such as the format in which the relevant information has to be collected and identifying potential sources of information which are reliable and consistent.

However, the committee is yet to decide on how should the CIB be structured and who should be allowedto participate in it. "The role of private sector participation will also be examined by the committee. However, private sector participation in the Credit Information Bureau would require legislative ammendments," banking sources said.

The RBI has already issued instructions to banks to report wilful defaults involving loans above Rs 25 lakhs from April 1, 1999 onwards on a quarterly basis--in keeping with the Central Vigilance Commissioner directives.