Ans: Queries/clarifications on CPIS may be sought from the RBI at the following address:

International Investment Position Division (IIPD)
Department of Statistics and Information Management (DSIM)
Reserve Bank of India
C-9/5 th Floor, Bandra - Kurla Complex, Bandra East
Mumbai, Maharashtra – 400 051

Email : cpis@rbi.org.in

Ans: The NBFC would have to apply to RBI with full details of the plan and exemptions could be considered on a selective basis on the merits of the case.

Central banks the world over change the design of their banknotes and introduce new security features primarily to make counterfeiting difficult and to stay ahead of counterfeiters. India also follows the same policy.

Ans: An enterprise is said to have a centre of economic interest and to be a resident unit of a country (economic territory) when the enterprise is engaged in a significant amount of production of goods and/or services in that centre or when it owns land or buildings located in that centre. The enterprise must maintain at least one production establishment in the country and must plan to operate the establishment indefinitely or over a long period of time.

Ans: No, investments made by branches of your bank located outside India should not be included in CPIS.

The security features in MG Series 2005 and MG (New) Series banknotes are as under:

i. Security Thread: The silver coloured machine-readable security thread in ₹10, ₹20 and ₹50 denomination banknotes is windowed on front side and fully embedded on reverse side. The thread fluoresces in yellow on both sides under ultraviolet light. The thread appears as a continuous line from behind when held up against light. ₹100 and above denomination banknotes have machine-readable windowed security thread with colour shift from green to blue when viewed from different angles. It fluoresces in yellow on the reverse and the text will fluoresce on the obverse under ultraviolet light.

ii. Intaglio Printing: The portrait of Mahatma Gandhi, Reserve Bank seal, Guarantee and promise clause, Ashoka Pillar emblem, RBI’s Governor's signature and the identification mark for the visually impaired persons are printed in intaglio in denominations ₹100 and above.

iii. See through register: On the left side of the note, a part of the numeral of each denomination is printed on the obverse (front) and the other part on the reverse. The accurate back to back registration makes the numeral appear as one when viewed against light.

iv. Water Mark and electrotype watermark: The banknotes contain the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi in the watermark window with a light and shade effect and multi-directional lines. An electrotype mark showing the denominational numeral in each denomination banknote also appears in the watermark widow and these can be viewed better when the banknote is held against light.

v. Colour Shifting Ink: The numeral 200, 500 & 2000 on the ₹200, ₹500 and ₹2000 banknotes are printed in a colour-shifting ink. The colour of these numerals appears green when the banknotes are held flat but would change to blue when the banknotes are held at an angle.

vi. Fluorescence: The number panels of the banknotes are printed in fluorescent ink. The banknotes also have dual coloured optical fibres. Both can be seen when the banknotes are exposed to ultra-violet lamp.

vii. Latent Image: In the banknotes of ₹20 and above in the MG-2005 Series, the vertical band next to the (right side) Mahatma Gandhi’s portrait contains a latent image, showing the denominational value as the case may be. The value can be seen only when the banknote is held horizontally and light allowed to fall on it; otherwise this feature appears only as a vertical band. In the MG (New) Series banknotes, the latent image exists in denominations ₹100 and above.

viii. Micro letterings: This feature appears at different places on the banknotes and can be seen better under a magnifying glass.

ix. Additional Features introduced since 2015

• New Numbering Pattern

The numerals in both the number panels of the banknotes are in ascending size from left to right while the first three alpha-numeric characters (prefix) will remain constant in size.

• Angular Bleed Lines and Increase in the size of Identification Marks

Angular Bleed Lines have been introduced in banknotes - 4 lines in 2 blocks in ₹100, 4 angular bleed lines with two circles in between in ₹200, 5 lines in 3 blocks in ₹500, 7 in ₹2000. In addition, the size of the identification marks in denominations ₹100 and above have been increased by 50 percent.

Information about the above security features present in the Indian banknotes denomination-wise is also available on the website www.rbi.org.in>>press releases. Alternately, information can also be accessed from /en/web/rbi/-/notifications/master-circular-detection-and-impounding-of-counterfeit-notes-11610

Ans: CICs need not meet the principal business criteria for NBFCs.

While the primary auctions are conducted generally on specified days of the week as given in the table below, these days may differ due to holidays or other considerations. Half yearly indicative calendars are published on RBI website for Government of India’s dated securities and Sovereign Gold Bonds whereas quarterly indicative calendars are published for Treasury Bills and State Development loans. For details visit /en/web/rbi

Ans:

Foreign Subsidiary: An Indian entity is called as a Foreign Subsidiary if a non-resident investor owns more than 50% of the voting power/equity capital OR where a non-resident investor and its subsidiary(s) combined own more than 50% of the voting power/equity capital of an Indian enterprise.

Foreign Associate: An Indian entity is called as Foreign Associate if non-resident investor owns at least 10% and no more than 50% of the voting power/equity capital OR where non-resident investor and its subsidiary(s) combined own at least 10% but no more than 50% of the voting power/equity capital of an Indian enterprise.

Special Purpose Vehicle: A special purpose Vehicle (SPV) is a legal entity (usually a limited company of some type or, sometimes, a limited partnership) created to fulfil narrow, specific or temporary objectives. SPV have little or no employment, or operations, or physical presence in the jurisdiction in which they are created by their parent enterprises, which are typically located in other jurisdictions (economies). They are often used as devices to raise capital or to hold assets and liabilities and usually do not undertake significant production.

Ans: Yes, it should be included.

In addition to the security features listed above, banknotes issued after introduction of MG series-2005 have the year of printing on the reverse of the banknotes which is not present in the pre-2005 series.

Ans: A holding company not meeting the criteria for a CIC laid down in para 2 of Notification No DNBS. (PD) 219/CGM(US)-2011 dated January 5, 2011 would require to register as an NBFC. However, if such company wishes to register as CIC-ND-SI/ be exempted as CIC, it would have to apply to RBI with an action plan achievable within the specific period to reorganize its business as CIC. If it is not able to do so, it would need to comply with NBFC requirements and prudential norms.

G-Secs are credit risk free instruments in domestic currency. However, there are market risks if you sell before maturity. You may refer to ‘Government Securities Market- A primer’, published on RBI website, to understand various risks associated with government securities.

Ans: Participating preference shares are those shares which have one or more of the following rights:

(a) To receive dividend, out of surplus profit after paying the dividend to equity shareholders.

(b) To have share in surplus assets remaining after the entire capital is paid in case of winding up of the company.

On the other hand, non-participating preference shares are those shares which do not have any of the above said rights.

Ans: No, it should not be included, as it will be considered as resident to resident transaction.

An illustrative list of Intermediary Agencies is as under;

1. State Sponsored organizations for on-lending to Weaker Sections@

2. Distributors of agricultural inputs/ implements.

3. State Financial Corporations (SFCs)/ State Industrial Development Corporations (SIDCs) to the extent they provide credit to weaker sections.

4. National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC).

5. Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC)

6. Agencies involved in assisting the decentralized sector.

7. Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd. (HUDCO)

8. Housing Finance Companies approved by National Housing Bank (NHB) for refinance.

9. State sponsored organization for SCs/STs (for purchase and supply of inputs to and/or marketing of output of the beneficiaries of these organizations).

10. Micro Finance Institutions/ Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) on lending to SHGs.

@ ‘Weaker Sections’ in Priority Sector includes following:

1. Small and marginal farmers with land holdings of 5 acres and less, landless labourers, tenant farmers and share-croppers;

2. Artisans, village and cottage industries where individual credit requirements do not exceed Rs.25,000/-.

3. Small and marginal farmers, sharecroppers, agricultural and non-agricultural labourers, rural artisans and families living below the poverty lines are the beneficiaries. The family income should not exceed Rs.11,000/- per annum.

4. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

5. Beneficiaries are persons whose family income from all sources does not exceed Rs.7200/- per annum in urban or semi urban areas or Rs.6400/- per annum in rural areas. They should not own any land or the size of their holding does not exceed one acre in the case of irrigated land and 2.5 acres in the case of unirrigated land (land holding criteria do not apply to SC/ST).

6. Beneficiaries under Scheme of Liberation and Rehabilitation of Scavengers (SLRs).

7. Advances granted to Self-Help Groups (SHGs) for reaching the rural poor.

Yes. The banks are free to determine the rates of interest without reference to BPLR and regardless of the size, in respect of following loans:

(i) a. Loans for purchase of consumer durables.

b. Loans to individuals against shares and debentures/ bonds

c. Other non-priority sector personal loans.

d. Advances/ overdrafts against domestic/ NRE/ FCNR(B) deposits with the bank, provided that the deposit/s stands/ stand either in the name(s) of the borrower himself/ borrowers themselves, or in the names of the borrower jointly with another person.

e. Finance granted to intermediary agencies (excluding those of housing) for on lending to ultimate beneficiaries and agencies providing input support.

f. Finance granted to housing finance intermediary agencies for on lending to ultimate beneficiaries

g. Discounting of Bills

h. Loans/Advances/Cash Credit/Overdrafts against commodities subject to Selective Credit Control

The Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series banknotes have a sharp colour contrast scheme to facilitate identification by the partially visually challenged. The banknotes from ₹100 denomination onwards, have angular bleed lines (4 lines in 2 blocks in ₹100, 4 angular bleed lines with two circles in between in ₹200, 5 lines in 3 blocks in ₹500, 7 in ₹ 2000) and identification mark for the benefit of the visually challenged. There is an identification mark on the front side of each note which is in raised print (intaglio) and has different shapes for different denominations for e.g. Horizontal rectangle for ₹2000, circle for ₹500, raised Identification mark H for ₹200, triangle for ₹100. Further, in these denominations numerals are prominently displayed in the central area of the notes in raised print.

Ans: No, since the Company is not fulfilling the Principal Business Criteria (asset-income pattern) of an NBFC i.e. more than 50 % of its total assets should be financial assets and the income derived from these assets should be more than 50% of the gross income, it is not required to register as an NBFC under Section 45 IA of the RBI Act, 1934. However it should register itself as an NBFC as soon as it fulfills the criteria of an NBFC and comply with the NBFC norms.

The returns on Government securities are dependent on various features of the securities. You may refer to ‘Government Securities Market- A primer’, published on RBI website, to understand the factors affecting the returns on government securities.

1. The NBFCs in the category of equipment leasing and hire purchase finance companies having Rating of less than the Investment Grade as mentioned below are no longer entitled to accept fresh public deposits :

The Loan and Investment Companies having Rating of less than `A’ are no longer entitled to accept fresh deposits.

It may be added that A- is not equivalent to A; AA- is not equivalent to AA and AAA- is not equivalent to AAA.

Ans: If the Indian entity has issued the shares to non-resident entities under the FDI scheme in India, then it is a FDI and should be reported under the Foreign Direct Investment in India (Liabilities) of the return.

Ans: Under FLA return, calculation of market value of equity capital for unlisted companies is done using the Own Funds at Book Value (OFVB) method, in accordance with IMF’s guidelines under the compilation of CDIS data for a country. It is calculated as follows:

Market value of equity capital held by Non- resident at OFBV for current year/previous year

= (Net worth of the company for current year/previous year) * (% non-resident equity holding for current year/previous year)

where, Net worth of the company

= (Paid up Equity & Participating Preference share capital of company + Reserves & Surplus - Accumulated losses)

Mobile Aided Note Identifier (MANI) is a mobile application launched by the Reserve Bank for aiding visually impaired persons to identify the denomination of Indian Banknotes. The free of cost application, once installed, does not require internet and is capable of identifying the denominations of Mahatma Gandhi Series and Mahatma Gandhi (New) series banknote by checking front or reverse side/part of the note including half folded notes at various holding angles and in a broad range of light conditions (normal light/day light/low light etc).

Note: This mobile application does not authenticate a note as being either genuine or counterfeit.

Ans: The company would have to apply for COR to RBI, giving a business plan within a prescribed time period of one year in which it would achieve CIC-ND-SI status. In case the company is unable to do so, the exemptions would not apply and the company would have to comply with NBFC capital adequacy and exposure norms.

The processes and systems followed for production of Indian banknotes are at par with the best practices adopted globally. In line with the same, banknote quality is maintained well within the various tolerance parameters for dimension, placement of design, print features etc. A press release in this regard can be accessed at the following link: /en/web/rbi/-/press-releases/rbi-clarifies-on-quality-control-measures-in-currency-note-printing-41364

For dated G-Sec, T-Bills and SDLs – The following limits apply if you purchase these securities through the non-competitive segment of primary auctions:

For Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs) – An individual may not subscribe to more than 4 kg of SGBs per fiscal year. The annual ceiling will include bonds subscribed under different tranches during initial issuance by Government and those purchased from the Secondary Market.

Ans: If the Indian reporting entity is listed, then their closing share price as on reference period, i.e., end-March of previous and current year is used for valuation of non-resident equity investment.

Ans: CICs that (a) have an asset size of less than Rs.100 crore irrespective of whether they are accessing public funds or not and (b) have an asset size of Rs. 100 crore and above and are not accessing public funds have been exempt from registration with the Bank under Section 45IA of the RBI Act, 1934 in terms of notification No. DNBS.PD.221/CGM(US) 2011 dated January 5, 2011. Thus, they are not required to register with the Bank at all. As this is an exemption given under Section 45NC of the RBI Act, 1934, they are not required to approach the Bank at all.

(i) A ‘soiled note’ means a note which has become dirty due to normal wear and tear and also includes a two piece note pasted together wherein both the pieces presented belong to the same note and form the entire note with no essential feature missing.

(ii) “Mutilated banknote” is a banknote, of which a portion is missing or which is composed of more than two pieces.

(iii) “Imperfect banknote” means any banknote, which is wholly or partially, obliterated, shrunk, washed, altered or indecipherable but does not include a mutilated banknote.

There are two ways to buy Government securities through Retail Direct platform:

1. By placing a bid in the primary auctions of dated G-Sec, T-Bills and SDLs (Non-competitive segment only, i.e., by only entering the desired amount of securities, without entering a price). For Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs), you may place a bid during the subscription windows announced by RBI on its website. For step-by-step details on bidding in auctions, you may refer to the User Manual on the Retail Direct Portal.

2. By placing a buy quote in the secondary market portal.

Ans: A related party is a person or entity that is related to the entity that is preparing its financial statements (referred to as the ‘reporting entity’).

A person or a close member of that person’s family is related to a reporting entity if that person:

(i) has control or joint control over the reporting entity.

(ii) has significant influence over the reporting entity; or

(iii) is a member of the key management personnel of the reporting entity or of a parent of the reporting entity.

In the definition of a related party, an associate includes subsidiaries of the associate and a joint venture includes subsidiaries of the joint venture. Therefore, for example, an associate’s subsidiary and the investor that has significant influence over the associate are related to each other.

Ans: No, this exemption is specifically given to CICs only. NBFCs other than CICs are not covered by this or any other aspect of the CIC Directions and would have to register with the Bank and comply with all applicable Directions of the Bank as issued from time to time.

Yes. Such banknotes can be exchanged for value.

Ans: Any domestic liabilities or assets (even if it is in foreign currency) should not be reported in the FLA return.

Ans: Net assets have been defined in Notification No. DNBS.(PD) 219/CGM(US)-2011 dated January 05, 2011 (para3(1)e) specifically for the purpose of defining a CIC. As such they will only include the items specifically mentioned therein, irrespective of whether any of these qualify as operating assets or not.

All banks are authorized to accept and exchange soiled banknotes for full value. They shall extend the facility of exchange of soiled/mutilated notes to non-customers also.

All branches of commercial banks are authorised to adjudicate mutilated banknotes (which are legal tender) and pay value for these, in terms of the Reserve Bank of India (Note Refund) Amendment Rules, 2018.

Small Finance Banks and Payment Banks may exchange mutilated and imperfect/defective notes at their option.

1. After logging into the Primary Market Retail Direct platform, select the ‘Primary Market’ option beside the Dashboard, at the top of the page.

2. Select a security to bid from the ‘Auction Watch’ and enter the bid amount in the ‘Bid Entry’ window.

3. Individuals can fund their bid either at the time of bidding or at a later time, but before the closure of bidding/subscription window. Bids which are not funded as on the date of submission of bids to RBI will be cancelled.

4. For making payment for the bids, retail clients can use services like UPI (Transfer or Block) and Net Banking to transfer funds to a designated current account using Payment Gateways linked to the Online Portal.

5. Based on the allotment advice received as a part of the auction result, the allotments will be made to the individual investors.

6. In case of full allotment, each bidder will be allocated the entire Face Value for which bids were submitted. In case of partial allotment, a pro-rata allotment will be made to the bidder based on the partial allocation percentage determined in the auction.

For further details on the biding process, you may refer to the User Manual in the Help section of the Retail Direct Portal.

Ans: If the reporting Indian company invests in equity and/or participating preference shares of overseas company, under the Overseas Direct Investment Scheme in India, i.e. investment in Joint venture or wholly owned subsidiaries abroad, then it is considered as direct investment abroad of the Indian company.

NOTE: Registration guidelines and section-wise FAQs for further guidance to be file the FLA return are available in the FAQs section of the FLAIR portal (https://flair.rbi.org.in/fla/faces/pages/login.xhtml).

Ans: Neither LLPs nor Partnerships are companies and hence have been deliberately excluded from the definition of Group Company. Further, in view of the loose structure and regulatory framework for these entities, it is felt that they should not be included in the definition.

List of Primary Dealers (As on April 01, 2020)

* Bank PDs are those which take up PD business departmentally as part of the bank itself.

** Stand alone PDs are Non Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) that exclusively take up PD business.

Update to the list of Primary dealers is available on the RBI website at /en/web/rbi/citizen-corner/primary-dealers

The value of an imperfect note may be paid for full value/half value under rules as specified in Part III of Reserve Bank of India (Note Refund) Rules, 2009 [As amended by Reserve Bank of India (Note Refund) Amendment Rules, 2018] available in our website under www.rbi.org.in → Publications → Occasional.

The term ‘deposit’ is defined under Section 45 I(bb) of the RBI Act, 1934. ‘Deposit’ includes and shall be deemed always to have included any receipt of money by way of deposit or loan or in any other form but does not include:

i. amount raised by way of share capital, or contributed as capital by partners of a firm;

ii. amount received from a scheduled bank, a co-operative bank, a banking company, Development bank, State Financial Corporation, IDBI or any other institution specified by RBI;

iii. amount received in ordinary course of business by way of security deposit, dealership deposit, earnest money, advance against orders for goods, properties or services;

iv. amount received by a registered money lender other than a body corporate;

v. amount received by way of subscriptions in respect of a ‘Chit’.

Paragraph 2(1)(xii) of the Non-Banking Financial Companies Acceptance of Public Deposits ( Reserve Bank) Directions, 1998 defines a ‘ public deposit’ as a ‘deposit’ as defined under Section 45 I(bb) of the RBI Act, 1934 and further excludes the following:

a. amount received from the Central/ State Government or any other source where repayment is guaranteed by Central/ State Government or any amount received from local authority or foreign government or any foreign citizen/ authority/ person;

b. any amount received from financial institutions specified by RBI for this purpose;

c. any amount received by a company from any other company;

d. amount received by way of subscriptions to shares, stock, bonds or debentures pending allotment or by way of calls in advance if such amount is not repayable to the members under the articles of association of the company;

e. amount received from directors of a company or from its shareholders by private company or by a private company which has become a public company;

f. amount raised by issue of bonds or debentures secured by mortgage of any immovable property or other asset of the company subject to conditions;

fa. any amount raised by issuance of non-convertible debentures with a maturity more than one year and having the minimum subscription per investor at ₹ 1 crore and above, provided it is in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Bank.

g. the amount brought in by the promoters by way of unsecured loan;

h. amount received from a mutual fund;

i. any amount received as hybrid debt or subordinated debt;

j. amount received from a relative of the director of an NBFC;

k. any amount received by issuance of Commercial Paper.

l. any amount received by a systemically important non-deposit taking non-banking financial company by issuance of ‘perpetual debt instruments’

m. any amount raised by the issue of infrastructure bonds by an Infrastructure Finance Company

Ans: The period of 10 years was specified as a prudential measure not necessarily in alignment with a provision of the Companies Act. Moreover, the issue here is not public deposits but Outside Liabilities.

Ans: The Directions on CIC-ND-SIs have not restricted them from making overseas investment. Such investment will be governed by the provisions of Chapter VII of Master Direction-Core Investment Companies (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2016. Similarly, presently CIC-ND-SIs can raise funds through ECB. The same would be governed by the instructions contained in the ECB Policy issued by Foreign Exchange Department of the Reserve Bank. Lending to NBFCs/ CICs by banks will be governed by the provisions as applicable to banks and specifically contained in the instructions on ‘bank finance to NBFCs’ issued by Department of Banking Regulation of the Reserve Bank.

For dated G-Sec, T-Bills and SDLs, the amount per unit will be based on the indicative price of the security, the accrued interest and a mark-up.

For SGBs, the funding will be based on the Issue Price declared by RBI for that particular issue.

The details are available on our website at the following link: www.rbi.org.in>>Issuer of currency>>Notifications

A summary of the old (2009) and amended NRR (2018) is as under:

Note Refund Rules - Amended

Users may refer to Master Direction on Risk Management and Inter-bank dealings dated July 5, 2016, as amended from time to time.

Answer: Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs), Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs), Foreign Central Banks, Multilateral Development Bank, Long term investors like Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs), Multilateral Agencies, Endowment Funds, Insurance Funds and Pension Funds which are registered with SEBI Long Term Investors may invest in other securities as specified in Schedule 5 to Notification No FEMA 20.

Non-payable banknotes are retained by the receiving banks and sent to the Reserve Bank where they are destroyed.

All NBFCs are not entitled to accept public deposits. Only those NBFCs to which the Bank had given a specific authorisation and have an investment grade rating are allowed to accept/ hold public deposits to a limit of 1.5 times of its Net Owned Funds. All existing unrated AFCs that have been allowed to accept deposits shall have to get themselves rated by March 31, 2016. Those AFCs that do not get an investment grade rating by March 31, 2016, will not be allowed to renew existing or accept fresh deposits thereafter. In the intervening period, i.e. till March 31, 2016, unrated AFCs or those with a sub-investment grade rating can only renew existing deposits on maturity, and not accept fresh deposits, till they obtain an investment grade rating.

However, as a matter of public policy, Reserve Bank has decided that only banks should be allowed to accept public deposits and as such has since 1997 not issued any Certificate of Registration (CoR) to new NBFCs for acceptance of public deposits.

Presently, the maximum rate of interest an NBFC can offer is 12.5%. The interest may be paid or compounded at rests not shorter than monthly rests. The NBFCs are allowed to accept/renew public deposits for a minimum period of 12 months and maximum period of 60 months. They cannot accept deposits repayable on demand.

Ans: As already clarified in the FAQs, a CIC that does not access public funds is exempt from registration irrespective of having other CICs in the Group that access public funds. Illustratively, if A is a CIC and B and C are also CICs and Group Companies of A provided A does not access any form of public funds including any funds from any Group Company including B and C, it would not require to register as a CIC. If A, B and C do not access public funds in any form none of them would be required to register as a CIC.

Guidelines for the exchange of mutilated/torn notes are available in our Master Circular on “Facility for Exchange of Notes & Coins” DCM(NE) No.G-2/08.07.18/2019-20 dated July 01, 2019 which is available on our website www.rbi.org.in under Notifications>Master Circulars>Issuer of Currency. Mutilated notes can be exchanged at all bank branches in terms of RBI (Note Refund) Amendment Rules, 2018.

Ans: Adjusted net worth (ANW) is a concept akin to capital requirement wherein the ANW should not be less than 30% of the risk weighted assets (RWA). In cases where asset size is aggregated, all the CICs within the group will be registered as CIC-ND-SI ANW will be applicable individually.

The presence or absence of a serial number or other specific feature is not a determining factor when assessing damaged banknotes for value under the RBI (Note Refund) Amendment Rules, 2018.

Ans: Even though public funds include public deposits in the general course, it may be noted that CICs cannot accept public deposits. It may further be reiterated that no NBFC can accept public deposits without specific permission of the Bank even if it holds a CoR from the Bank.

Reserve Bank of India has been continuously making efforts to make good quality banknotes available to the members of public. To help RBI and the banking system towards this objective, the members of public are requested to ensure the following:

• Not to staple the banknotes

• Not to write/put rubber stamp or any other mark on the banknotes

• Not to use banknotes for making garlands/toys, decorating pandals and places of worship or for showering on personalities in social events, etc.

The Reserve Bank publishes the list of NBFCs that hold a valid Certificate of Registration for accepting deposits on its website: www.rbi.org.in → Sitemap → NBFC List → List of NBFCs Permitted to Accept Deposits. At times, some companies are temporarily prohibited from accepting public deposits. The Reserve Bank publishes the list of NBFCs temporarily prohibited also on its website. The Reserve Bank keeps both these lists updated. Members of the public are advised to check both these lists before placing deposits with NBFCs.

The facility for opting for LSF shall be available up to three years from the due date of reporting/ submission. (Ref: A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No.16 dated September 30, 2022).

Ans: No. CICs in a group would not be considered for aggregating the assets of multiple NBFCs in a group under the circular. Instructions contained in the Core Investment Companies (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2011 dated January 5, 2011 shall be applicable to CICs in this regard.

Ans: Registered CICs with assets < Rs.500 crore shall follow the asset classification norm as specified in the Non-Systemically Important Non-Banking Financial (Non-Deposit accepting or holding) Companies Prudential Norms (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2015 and those with assets >= Rs.500 crore shall follow the asset classification norm applicable to NBFCs with assets > = Rs. 500 crore as specified in the Systemically Important Non-Banking Financial (Non-Deposit accepting or holding) Companies Prudential Norms (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2015.

Banknotes returned from circulation are received at the Issue Offices of the Reserve Bank of India. The Reserve Bank of India, inter alia, uses highly sophisticated Currency Verification & Processing Systems (CVPS) machines and Shredding and Briquetting Systems (SBS) machines to verify these notes for genuineness, arithmetical accuracy and segregation of notes into fit for reissue and destruction of soiled (unfit) notes."

Yes. Extant norms permit both ECB principal and interest to be converted into equity subject to applicable conditions as given under Paragraph 7.4 of the Master Direction No. 5 on ‘External Commercial Borrowings, Trade Credits and Structured Obligations dated March 26, 2019.

All Bank notes including Mahatma Gandhi (New) series notes with writing or colour stains on them continue to be legal tender, provided they are decipherable. Such notes can be deposited or exchanged in any bank branch.

However, a claim in respect of bank notes which carries any extrinsic words or visible representations intended to convey or capable of conveying any message of a political or religious character or furthering the interest of any person or entity will be rejected as per Reserve Bank of India (Note Refund) Rules, 2009 [As amended by Reserve Bank of India (Note Refund) Amendment Rules, 2018].

Ans: Registered CICs with assets < Rs. 500 crore shall maintain standard asset provisioning of 0.25% as specified in the Non-Systemically Important Non-Banking Financial (Non-Deposit accepting or holding) Companies Prudential Norms (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2015 and those with assets >= Rs.500 crore shall maintain standard asset provisioning of 0.40% which would be applicable as specified in the Systemically Important Non-Banking Financial (Non-Deposit accepting or holding) Companies Prudential Norms (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2015.

A suspected forged note, counterfeit note or fake note is any note which does not possess the characteristics of genuine Indian currency note.

Ans:. Yes. As per the present directions for CICs, they are permitted to make investments in money market instruments, including money market mutual funds. Since Liquid Funds are also mutual funds with the underlying being money market instruments; CICs are permitted to invest their surplus funds in Liquid Fund Schemes also.

A forged note can be identified on the basis of the security features which are present in a genuine Indian currency note. These features are easily identifiable by seeing, touching and tilting the note.