Private sector banks led a widespread decline in data reporting quality in the March 2026 quarter, as the latest round of Supervisory Data Quality Index (SDQI) saw a significant decline in their scores compared to the previous quarter.The SDQI, a quarterly metric compiled by the Reserve Bank of India, tracks the quality of regulatory data submitted by banks across four parameters – accuracy, completeness, timeliness and consistency – and is updated every quarter to reflect changes in reporting standards and systems.In the March 2026 update, private sector banks recorded the biggest sequential decline among all sectors, with their overall score falling to 89.3 from 90.6 in December 2025. The decline was widespread, with accuracy falling from 87.2 to 85.4, completeness falling from 97.6 to 95.5, and timeliness weakening from 90.1 to 88.9. Consistency improved only marginally, increasing from 87.4 to 87.5.The decline comes as the overall system saw a slight decline in reporting quality in the latest quarter. Among all scheduled commercial banks, the overall SDQI score declined to 90.7 from 90.9, while the number of banks flagged for potential concern increased from two to three.Other segments also reflected the changing nature of the quarterly index. Public sector banks’ score declined to 90.7 from 91.0, as gains in timeliness and consistency were offset by weaker accuracy and completeness. Small finance banks, which had topped the rankings last quarter, recorded a sharp decline from 91.9 to 90.4, including the loss of their earlier perfect score on completeness.Foreign banks improved their overall score from 90.7 to 91.4 due to gains in completeness, timeliness and consistency, although accuracy declined slightly.At the parameter level, the quarterly movements in the index showed a mixed trend. Completeness and consistency have improved across the system, while accuracy and timeliness have weakened, indicating that although banks are submitting more complete datasets, concerns remain about accuracy and delays in submission.