The Request for Proposal outlines Dhanlaxmi Bank’s plan to appoint external auditors to conduct concurrent audits of key functions at its Head Office in Thrissur, Kerala, in line with RBI’s revised 2019 guidelines. The RFP details the bank’s internal audit objectives and specifies a wide audit scope covering credit sanctions, credit cards, finance and accounts, trade finance, loan processing, third-party products, and credit monitoring, each with defined man-day requirements. Firms must be ICAI-registered, RBI-graded, have relevant audit experience, adequate CA partners or qualified staff, and a presence in Kerala, along with required declarations and compliance standards. The RFP also prohibits subcontracting and mandates onsite presence of trained representatives. Remuneration will depend on man-days and scope, with proposals due by December 12, 2025, and the project commencing in January 2026. The Bank retains the right to modify or cancel the RFP and emphasizes confidentiality throughout the process.
Dhanlaxmi Bank
CORPORATE OFFICE: THRISSUR
DEPARTMENT: INTERNAL AUDIT
PUNKUNNAM, THRISSUR – 680002
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
Dhanlaxmi Bank Request for Proposal for conducting Concurrent Audit of various functions
of the Bank at Head Office, Thrissur, Kerala.
RFP No: DLB IAD/RFP/2025-26/002 | Dated 2nd December 2025
1. Introduction: Dhanlaxmi Bank Ltd is a scheduled commercial bank in private sector incorporated under the Companies Act headquartered at Thrissur in the State of Kerala of South India (hereinafter referred to as the “BANK”). Incorporated in 1927, the Bank became a Scheduled Commercial Bank in the year 1977. Bank is currently having a network of 261 branches spreading across India.
Internal audit function of the Bank plays a critical role in identifying and mitigating the risk in various areas of banking business and in ensuring efficiency of business control framework, thereby protecting and adding value to the organization. Internal Audit Department of the Bank (hereinafter referred to as IAD) is situated at Corporate Office, Thrissur headed by Head – Internal Audit. Internal audit ensures prompt reporting of internal control deficiencies and effectiveness of risk management functions to the top management and Audit Committee of Board.
2. Purpose: – Reserve Bank of India vide Circular No. RBI/2019-20/64 – DBS.CO.ARS.No.BC.01/08.91.021/2019-20 dated 18/09/2019 had issued revised guidelines for Concurrent Audit System in Commercial Banks. Bank to ensure that risk sensitive areas identified by them as per their specific business models are covered under concurrent audit. The option to consider whether concurrent audit should be done by bank’s own staff or external auditors continues to be left to the discretion of individual banks. In view of the above, the Bank propose to conduct Concurrent Audit of various functions at Thrissur, Kerala through external auditors.
3. Scope of Work: The scope of work includes but not limited to the review of various functions for Concurrent Audit:
| Sl. No. | Functions and Approximate Man-days | Scope of Review |
| 1 | Credit Sanction Department (15 Man-days every month) | Adherence/ Compliance to internal / regulatory policy guidelines of sanction of advances, adherence to policy guidelines on time lines for sanction, sanction condition, fine pricing, review/ renewal of working capital limits, status review, lending clean loan/ clean TOD/Ad hoc limits, rating of advance, recording of credit sanctions, takeover of accounts, delegation matrix, allowing deviations if any, ensuring that any deviations are as per delegation matrix etc. |
| 2 | Credit Card Division (4 Man-days every month) | Validity of agreements of outsourced activities, adherence to the policy and guidelines for fresh sanction, approval for deviations, KYC verification, maintenance of security items and registers, customer complaint management, reconciliation of GLs, vendor management, audit compliance etc. |
| 3 | Finance & Accounts Dept – HO Expenses/ Internal Office accounts (6 Man-days every month) | Audit on Expenses on random basis (above specific threshold), Verification of expense GLs, Verification of Tax dedcuted as source (TDS), TCS and GST payment made.
Review of Operations and reconcilitation of internal/Office accounts in terms of the internal policy of the Bank and compliance of RBI guidelines covered under the RBI Circular No. DBS.CO.PPD/472/11.01.005/2019-2020 dtd 17th July 2019. |
| 4 | Trade Finance – Central Processing Centre (All working days) | Review of book entries and reconciliation, Adherence to guidelines on processing of the inward transaction, Adherence to timelines in case of advance remittances for Exports, Verification of Trade finance dept. processing.
Review of Outward Remittances transaction with documents, compliance with various RBI guidelines, collection of charges, conversion of rates and reporting to treasury. Review of Exports & Export Finance transactions with documents, compliance with various FEMA and RBI directions, collection of charges, Documents verification like invoice / GR / Bill of Lading etc. Review of Imports & Buyers Credits on compliance with KYC norms /AML norms, EXIM Policy in force, prescribed time lines, completeness of documents, collection of charges etc. Review of completeness of documents pertaining to Letter of Credits and Bank Guarantees, compliance with Credit sanction conditions, collection of fees & charges etc. Certification on SWIFT Transactions and reconciliation on verification of logs on daily basis. Other general observations including timeliness in submission of regulatory returns. |
| 5 | Central Processing Centre – Loans (16 Man-days every month) | Verification of compliance to KYC Norms, accuracy of recording loans and limits in system for fresh requests, rectification procedures, completeness of data entered in case of review/ renewal of OD/CC accounts, restructured / rescheduled accounts. |
| 6 | Department handling third party/Associate products (TPP) (3 Man-days every month) | Review of compliance with IRDA guidelines while entering into agreement with the insurance agent companies, validity of agreements, correctness of the commission amount received from insurance companies for sale of policies, complaints management etc. |
| 7 | Credit Administration & Monitoring – Manual intervention IRAC Norms (10 Man-days every quarter) | Review of manual intervention (if any) for NPA identification, classification, provisioning, income recognition, timeliness and completeness of notes submitted regrading the same, compliance with Standard Operating Procedures defined, availability of logs for exceptions if any etc. |
Detailed Concurrent audit checklist will be shared subsequently. The firm can send proposal for one or more of the above functions based on prior experience / skill set.
Trained representatives of the firm are to be available at the Bank office premises at Thrissur, Kerala for conduct of Concurrent Audit. Trained representative includes qualified CA / qualified and trained audit assistant / retired Bank official of a Commercial Bank. One of the Principal Partners or Senior Partner shall visit the concerned Department at Thrissur for a prescribed number of days every month in order to oversee the work of trained representative and for discussion and finalization of the report with Department Head/ Nodal officer. The Chartered Accountant Firm cannot assign / subcontract the job, in any sense of the term and in any form whatsoever it may be, to any other person or firm or entity.
4. Evaluation Criteria: The proposals received will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
| Sl. No. | Eligibility | Supporting Documents to be submitted |
| 1 | Proposer should be a Chartered Accountancy Firm, registered with ICAI. | Certificate of Registration with ICAI |
| 2 | Firm should be Graded by RBI for Statutory Audit. | The latest copy of grade suggested by RBI in the name of the bidder firm for Statutory Audit be submitted. |
| 3 | Firm should have experience of conducting Concurrent Audit of the specific function proposed (as mentioned above) in Banks/ Financial Institutions. | Letter of engagement in the name of firm to be submitted. |
| 4 | Firm should have Minimum of 2 CA partners/ CA Qualified permanent staff as per ICAI certificate of Registration. | Partners membership number of ICAI to be enclosed |
| 5 | Firm should have Head Office/ Branch Office at Kerala | A self-declaration on the proposer’s letter head along with details of partners and permanent qualified staff located at Kerala and Head Office/ Branch Office address at Kerala. |
| 6 | The Bidder firm should not have been black listed/ debarred by any Government Financial Institutions/ Banks/ RBI/ ICAI/ IBA |
A self-declaration on the proposer’s letter head |
| 7 | Firm should not be owned or controlled by any Director or Employee of Dhanlaxmi Bank, both present and those who have retired | A self-declaration on the proposer’s letter head with location. |
Preference will be given for firms whose partners/officials assigned for Concurrent Audit has completed Certificate Course on the specific function proposed from institutes like ICAI, IIBF etc.
5. Remuneration: – Remuneration shall be fixed based on man-days and scope on mutually agreed terms for each function. Applicant may quote the expected remuneration for each function separately while submitting the proposal.
6. Timeline:- The following timeline may be adhered to
a. RFP Issuance Date: December 2, 2025
b. Proposal Submission Deadline: December 12, 2025
c. Evaluation and Selection of Vendor: December 31, 2025
d. Project Commencement Date: January 2026
e. Project Completion Date: Initial engagement up to completion of Concurrent Audit for the month of June 2026. Further engagement may be decided by the competent authorities based on performance review.
Please note that the timeline provided is tentative and subject to change based on the evaluation process.
7. Proposal Submission Details: All proposals must be submitted in writing via email to the following ID: inspection@dhanbank.co.in. Please keep the attachment file size below 5MB for a single mail.
8. Contact: – For any clarification, contact Internal Audit Department of the Bank at Contact No: 0487-7107550, 0487-7107549
9. Confidentiality: All information provided in response to this RFP will be treated as confidential and used solely for the purpose of evaluating the proposals.
10. Disclaimer: Dhanlaxmi Bank reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal without assigning any reasons whatsoever. Proposal submitted pursuant to this RFP and demonstrations, if any, shall be at the cost and expenses of the proposer. Bank shall not be liable for any cost or expenses incurred by the proposer for submitting the proposal. Bank reserve its right to modify or withdraw the RFP without assigning any reason whatsoever.
