New Delhi, Aug. 10 -- The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed the Bankers' Books Evidence Bill, 2026, clearing the way for electronic and digital records maintained by banks to be recognized as admissible evidence in legal proceedings and seeking to replace a 135-year-old law built around paper-based banking.

The bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha on 3 August and passed on 5 August, seeks to repeal and replace the Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1891, which was enacted when banking records were predominantly maintained in physical form.

"The Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1891, was designed for a paper-based banking system and no longer reflects today's digital reality. With India's rapid digitalization, banking and financial transactions have becom...