The Supreme Court has ruled that interest-free or concessional loans given by banks to their employees will be considered "fringe benefits" or "amenities" and therefore taxable. The court argued that these benefits are unique to bank employees and are in the nature of a "perquisite," thus liable to taxation. The court upheld the income tax rule, but deemed the fixation of SBI's interest rate as the benchmark to be neither arbitrary nor unequal exercise of power.