No. Housing Finance Companies, Merchant Banking Companies, Stock Exchanges, Companies engaged in the business of stock-broking/sub-broking, Venture Capital Fund Companies, Nidhi Companies, Insurance companies and Chit Fund Companies are NBFCs but they have been exempted from the requirement of registration under Section 45-IA of the RBI Act, 1934 subject to certain conditions.

Housing Finance Companies are regulated by National Housing Bank, Merchant Banker/Venture Capital Fund Company/stock-exchanges/stock brokers/sub-brokers are regulated by Securities and Exchange Board of India, and Insurance companies are regulated by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority. Similarly, Chit Fund Companies are regulated by the respective State Governments and Nidhi Companies are regulated by Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India. Companies that do financial business but are regulated by other regulators are given specific exemption by the Reserve Bank from its regulatory requirements for avoiding duality of regulation.

It may also be mentioned that Mortgage Guarantee Companies have been notified as Non-Banking Financial Companies under Section 45 I(f)(iii) of the RBI Act, 1934. Core Investment Companies with asset size of less than ₹ 100 crore, and those with asset size of ₹ 100 crore and above but not accessing public funds are exempted from registration with the RBI.

Answer: Once an FDI always an FDI.

Banks should pay interest at the originally contracted rate on the deposit amount for the holiday/ Sunday/ non-business working day intervening between the date of expiry of the specified term of the deposit and the date of payment of the proceeds of the deposits on the succeeding working day.

Ans: If the Indian entity does not have any outstanding investment in respect of inward and outward FDI as on end-March of reporting year, they need not submit the FLA return.

Indian banks cannot subscribe to RDBs issued overseas in primary market but can be arrangers/ underwriters/ market makers/ traders subject to compliance with prudential norms.

Ans: These would include real estate or other fixed assets which are required for effective functioning of a company, but should not include other financial investments/loans in non group companies.

An NRI can be an Indian national or a foreign national of Indian origin. If the depositor is an NRI holding a foreign passport, he is to be treated as foreign national despite the fact he is of Indian origin. It is for the depositor to disclose to the company that he is a foreign citizen and for the company to keep on its record an evidence that it had received deposit from a foreign citizen to claim the exemption from the Non-Banking Financial Companies (Reserve Bank) Directions, 1998 on Acceptance of Public Deposits.

Auto debit mandates will continue to get executed till there is balance available in your account. However, after March 15, 2024, credit or deposit in your accounts will not be allowed. Therefore, to avoid inconvenience, it is suggested that you make alternative arrangements for setting up EMI payments through another bank before March 15, 2024.