Ans. Yes, these terms are defined in Section 2 (1) of the PSS Act, 2007.

The charges levied by banks for collection of such USD denominated cheques are dependent on the type of collection arrangement chosen by customers and the number of intermediaries (correspondent banks) involved in the collection process. Each of the CBs will levy their own charges for facilitating the process of collection. All these charges will be in turn levied by the collecting banks in India from the customers. The customer’s account is credited net of collection charges (proceeds minus collection charges)

Like in most countries, banks in India also are required to develop their own individual policy / procedures relating to collection of cheques. The customer is entitled to receive due disclosures from the bank on the bank's obligations and the customers' rights.

Broadly, the policies formulated by banks should cover the following areas:

Immediate credit for local / outstation cheques, Time frame for collection of local / outstation instruments and compensation payable for delayed collection.

The CCPs of various banks are made available on the website of respective bank.

Banks are obliged to disclose their liability to customers by way of compensation / interest payments due to delays for non-compliance with the standards set by the banks themselves. The customer has to be compensated by way of compensation/interest payment even if no formal claim is lodged to the effect.

The Public Debt Act, 1944 shall cease to apply to the Government securities to which the G S Act applies, while the Indian Securities Act, 1920 has been repealed.

Ans : NBFCs desirous of sponsoring IDF-MFs are required to comply with the following requirements :

• The NBFC should have a minimum Net Owned Funds (NOF) of Rs.300 crore; and Capital to Risk Weighted Assets (CRAR) of 15%;

• its net NPAs should be less than 3% of net advances;

• it should have been in existence for at least 5 years;

• it should be earning profits for the last three years and its performance should be satisfactory;

• the CRAR of the NBFC post investment in the IDF-MF should not be less than the regulatory minimum prescribed for it;

• The NBFC should continue to maintain the required level of NOF after accounting for investment in the proposed IDF and

• There should be no supervisory concerns with respect to the NBFC.

On behalf of GAH, PM needs to submit an access request form to CCIL. The Request would be formally addressed to RBI. However, CCIL has been authorized to directly receive and process Access Request Form from PM for operational convenience. A detailed operation flow is contained in Annexure I.

Ans. Yes.  An entity not registered with the Bank may not conduct the business of factoring unless it is an entity mentioned in Section 5 of the Act i.e. a bank or any corporation established under an Act of Parliament or State Legislature, or a Government Company as defined under section 617 of the Companies Act, 1956.

A sub-target of 7.5% of Adjusted Net Bank Credit (ANBC) or Credit Equivalent of Off-Balance Sheet Exposure (CEOBE), whichever is higher, towards lending to the Micro-enterprises under overall Priority Sector Lending has been prescribed for Domestic commercial banks, Foreign banks with 20 branches and above, Regional Rural Banks and Small Finance Banks.

• Index ratio (IR) will be calculated by dividing the reference WPI on the settlement date with the reference WPI on the issue date.

• The formula for the same is as under:

1. Yes, the green activities/ projects financed under the framework can be classified under priority sector if they meet the requirements laid down in priority sector lending (PSL) guidelines of RBI [Master Directions FIDD.CO.Plan.BC.5/04.09.01/2020-21 dated September 04, 2020] as amended from time to time.

2. As the activities/ projects listed in the framework are the same as indicated in Sovereign Green Bonds (SGrBs) framework, investment by REs in SGrBs are covered under the framework.

Ans: Presently market risk capital charge for Government Securities is calculated using Standardized Duration Method. This method is based on the price sensitivity with respect to nominal interest rates (modified duration). This methodology may be made applicable to IIBs also. Nominal interest rates are composed of two factors: real interest rates and inflation expectations. IIBs are exposed to the risk of changes in the real rates only. Therefore, price sensitivity calculated with respect to nominal yields will not provide the true risk of the IIBs. Hence in the case of IIBs, price sensitivity with respect to change in the real yields should be calculated for IIBs.

Authorized dealers may release foreign exchange upto USD 100,000 or its equivalent to resident Indians for medical treatment abroad on self declaration basis of essential details, without insisting on any estimate from a hospital/doctor in India/abroad. A person visiting abroad for medical treatment can obtain foreign exchange exceeding the above limit, provided the request is supported by an estimate from a hospital/doctor in India/abroad. This exchange is to meet the expenses involved in treatment and in addition to the amount referred to in paragraph 1 above.

Ans. The Asian Monetary Units (AMUs) is the common unit of account of ACU and is denominated as ‘ACU Dollar’, ‘ACU Euro’ and ‘ACU Yen’, which is equivalent in value to one US Dollar, one Euro and one Japanese Yen respectively. All instruments of payments under ACU have to be denominated in AMUs. Settlement of such instruments may be made by AD Category-I banks through the ACU Dollar Accounts, ACU Euro Accounts and ACU Yen Accounts, which should be distinct from the other US Dollar, Euro and Japanese Yen Accounts respectively maintained for non ACU transactions. As the payment channel for processing ‘ACU Euro’ is under review, the operations in ‘ACU Euro’ have been temporarily suspended with effect from July 01, 2016 and accordingly, all eligible current account transactions including trade transactions in “Euro” are permitted to be settled outside the ACU mechanism until further notice.

Ans The primary modes of funds transfer at present are demand draft, mail transfer and telegraphic transfer. The demand draft facility is paper based. The remitter, after purchasing demand draft from a bank branch, dispatches the same by post/courier to the beneficiary. The beneficiary, in turn, lodges the draft to his/her bank for collection and clearing. The time taken for completing the process is about 10 days. In the case of telegraphic transfer, fund reaches the beneficiary either on the same day or the next; but both the remitter and the beneficiary would have to be account holders of the same bank. If they are customers of different banks, a good deal of paper processing is required. On the other hand, RBI EFT system is an inter-bank oriented system. RBI acts as an intermediary between the remitting bank and the receiving bank and effects inter-bank funds transfer. The customers of banks can request their respective branches to remit funds to the designated customers irrespective of bank affiliation of the beneficiary.

উত্তর. NEFT একটি বৈদ্যুতিন নিধি স্থানান্তর ব্যবস্থা জ্যার মাধ্যমে সেসব লেনদেন যা একটি নির্দিষ্ট সময়ের জন্য পাওয়া গেছে তাদের একটি গোছায় প্রক্রিয়াজাত করা হয়। এর অন্যদিকে, RTGS-এ, লেনদেনগুলিকে একটির পর একটি হিসেবে পাঠান হয় অর্থাৎ লেনদেনের পর লেনদেনের হিসেবে, RTGS-এর ব্যবসা সময়ে ।

Ans. The monies so collected by the PPI issuers are to be used to make payments to merchants who are part of the acceptance arrangement and for facilitating funds transfer / remittance services on behalf of the PPI holders.

হ্যাঁ। কারো টার্ম ফিক্সড ডিপোজিট, রেকারিং ডিপোজিট প্রভৃতি থাকতে পারে সেই ব্যাংকে যেখানে তার ‘বেসিক সেভিংস ব্যাংক ডিপোজিট অ্যাকাউন্ট’ আছে।

উত্তর. টাকা বিতরণ ছাড়াও, এটিএমগুলি / ডব্লিউএলএগুলি আরও অনেক পরিষেবা অফার / গ্রাহকদের সুবিধা ইত্যাদি দিতে পারে। এই পরিষেবাগুলির মধ্যে কয়েকটি হচ্ছে :

• খাতার হিসেব তথ্য
• টাকা জমা দেওয়া (ডব্লিউএলএতে অনুমোদন করা হয়নি )
• নিয়মিত বিল পরিশোধ (ডব্লিউএলএ তে অনুমোদিত নয়)
• মোবাইলের পুনঃ-ভর ভাউচার কেনার সময় (ডব্লিউএলএ-তে অনুমোদিত নয়)
• ছোট / সংক্ষিপ্ত বিবরণ সৃষ্টি করা
• পিন পরিবর্তন
• চেক বইয়ের জন্য অনুরোধ

In terms of para 2 of the circular, CCO is to be selected through a suitable process with an appropriate ‘Fit and Proper’ evaluation/selection criteria. ‘Fit and Proper’ criteria may be examined and reported from the perspectives of competency, integrity and conflict of interest, among others.

Ans. Banks, NBFC - Factors and other financial institutions as permitted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), can participate as financiers in TReDS.

Yes, the originating NBFCs/HFCs have the option to buy back their assets after a specified period of 12 months, as a re-purchase transaction on a right of first refusal basis.

• There is no bar on processing of payment transactions outside India if so desired by the PSOs. However, the data shall be stored only in India after the processing. The complete end-to-end transaction details should be part of the data.

• In case the processing is done abroad, the data should be deleted from the systems abroad and brought back to India not later than the one business day or 24 hours from payment processing, whichever is earlier. The same should be stored only in India.

• However, any subsequent activity such as settlement processing after payment processing, if done outside India, shall also be undertaken / performed on a near real time basis. The data should be stored only in India.

• In case of any other related processing activity, such as chargeback, etc., the data can be accessed, at any time, from India where it is stored.

In terms of GOI notification No.SO.301(E) dated March 30, 2001, banks are free to allow remittance for maintenance of close relatives abroad not exceeding net salary (after deduction of taxes, contribution to provident fund and other deductions) of a person who is resident but not permanently resident in India and is a citizen of a foreign state other than Pakistan.

Therefore, independent of QA 22 procedure, they may allow remittance of net salary.

Answer: This is essentially a bank-to-bank arrangement similar to correspondent banking arrangement.

Ans. Yes, for providing a non-microfinance loan to a low-income household (as defined under the directions), it should be ensured that the limit of 50 per cent on monthly loan repayment obligations of a household as a percentage of monthly household income is not breached. In other words, the limit of 50 per cent shall include both microfinance as well as non-microfinance loans.

Ans. Direct participation in CPS can reduce delay in execution of funds transfer instructions of non-banks. Further, if there is any impact in the functioning of the bank, it can cause business disruptions for its non-bank customers as well. Such disruptions, even if temporary, can have the potential to spread instability in the system.

Direct participation to CPS will enable access neutrality between banks and non-banks and facilitate better settlement risk management with increased participation of non-banks.

Answer: The RBI has published an Alert List containing names of entities neither authorised as ‘authorised persons’ to deal in forex under the FEMA, 1999 nor authorised to operate ETPs under the Electronic Trading Platforms (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2018. The Alert List also contains names of entities/platforms/websites which appear to be promoting unauthorised entities/ETPs, including through advertisements of such unauthorised entities or claiming to be providing training/advisory services. The Alert List is not exhaustive and is based on what was known to RBI at the time of publication. An entity not appearing in the Alert List should not be assumed to be authorised by the RBI. The authorisation status of any person / ETP can be ascertained from the list of authorised persons and authorised ETPs.

Ans: By nature, prepaid cards can be (a) Small PPIs and (b) Full-KYC PPIs. The usage depends on the type of PPI and is subject to prescribed limits and conditions. These cards can be issued by both banks and non-banks.

• Small PPIs can be used only for purchase of goods and services at a group of clearly identified merchant locations / establishments, which have a specific contract with the issuer (or contract through a payment aggregator / payment gateway) to accept the PPIs as payment instruments.

• Full KYC-PPIs can be used for purchase of goods and services, funds transfer or cash withdrawal.

FAQs on Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) give further detailed information on PPIs.

• Interest will be accrued and compounded in the principal on half-yearly basis and paid along with principal at the time of redemption.

No. For NRIs the facility is available from January 2, 2017 to June 30, 2017 at five Reserve Bank offices at Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, and Nagpur. The limit of exchange for NRIs will be ₹ 25000/-.

All loans meeting the eligibility criteria, unless covered by the specific exclusions listed in Paragraph 2 of the Annex to the Resolution Framework subject to the clarification at Sl. No. 2 above fall within the scope of resolution under the framework. These loans, if not falling under any of the categories mentioned in Paragraph 2 of the Annex to the Resolution Framework, is eligible for resolution under Part A of the Annex if they fall within the purview of “personal loans” as defined in the Circular DBR.No.BP.BC.99/08.13.100/2017-18 dated January 4, 2018 on “XBRL Returns – Harmonization of Banking Statistics”, even if they are not explicitly classified as so in any regulatory / supervisory reporting, or under Part B of the Annex otherwise.

In terms of RBI circular RPCD. MSME&NFS.BC.No.46/06.12.05/2012-13 dated November 09, 2012, banks have been advised not to reject any education loan application for reasons that the residence of the borrower does not fall under the bank's service area.

Ans.

i. In NEFT payment messages, the field 7495 is a free format optional field consisting of 6 lines with 35 characters each with alphanumeric options. The first two lines of this field hall be used for capturing sender and beneficiary customer LEI information, in that order, where applicable and available. When LEI information is captured, narration, remarks, etc., shall be part of last 4 lines of the field. The sender and beneficiary information shall be captured in following format:

7495: line 1 -> SL/20 digit sender LEI/

line 2 -> BL/20 digit beneficiary LEI/

ii. In RTGS customer payment and inter-bank messages, the optional field “<-RmtInf->” has 4 repeat tags with each having 140 characters. The first two loops of this field shall be used for capturing sender and beneficiary customer LEI information, in that order, where applicable and available. When LEI information is captured, narration, remarks, etc., shall be part of last two repeating loops of the field. The sender and beneficiary information shall be captured in following format:

<-RmtInf-> loop 1 -> /SL/20 digit sender LEI/

loop 2 -> /BL/20 digit beneficiary LEI/

Ans. Yes. Under this facility, cash can be withdrawn from PoS terminal(s) at designated merchant establishment(s), irrespective of the fact whether the card issuer and the acquiring bank are same or not.

The deposits kept in different branches of a bank are aggregated for the purpose of insurance cover and a maximum amount of upto Rupees five lakhs is paid.

Ans. Yes provided the bank account is re-designated as a BO account.

As and when the bank mobilizes USD one million or more of FCNR (B) deposits, it may approach RBI. Normally, banks may enter into swap transactions with RBI once in a week in consultation with the Financial Markets Department of RBI.

Ans. Remittances under the facility can be consolidated in respect of family members subject to the individual family members complying with the terms and conditions of the Scheme. However, clubbing is not permitted by other family members for capital account transactions such as opening a bank account and investment, if they are not the co-owners/co-partners of the investment/ overseas bank account. Remittances for acquiring immovable property outside India from a person resident outside India, may be consolidated in respect of relatives if such relatives, being persons resident in India, comply with the terms and conditions of the Scheme.

Yes, joint holding is allowed.

For redressal of grievance, the complainant must first approach the concerned NBFC. If the NBFC does not reply within a period of one month after receipt of the complaint, or the NBFC rejects the complaint, or if the complainant is not satisfied with the reply given by the NBFC, the complainant can file the complaint with the NBFC Ombudsman under whose jurisdiction the branch/ registered office of the NBFC falls.

Ans: The applicant should give the list of promoters and the source of funds for the minimum capital of Rs 2 crore. The capital should be infused before issue of CoR. No change in promoters will be allowed in the interregnum.

The components of the spread i.e. business strategy and Credit risk premium shall have either a positive value or be zero. In other words, the spread components cannot be negative.

Response

No. An individual is eligible to have only one 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account' in one bank.

Yes. One can have Term/Fixed Deposit, Recurring Deposit etc., accounts in the bank where one holds 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account'.

No. The requirement is that not less than 51 per cent of the voting equity shares of the NOFHC shall be held by companies in the Promoter Group, in which the public hold not less than 51 percent of the voting equity of such companies. If 10 independent individuals form a Group, then such a Group cannot satisfy the above criteria laid down for holding the NOFHC. Additionally, such newly formed Promoter Group would not be able to meet one of the ‘Fit and Proper’ criteria, which requires Promoters/Promoter Groups to have a successful track record of running their business for at least 10 years. Essentially, the intention is that existing groups should set up banks and not groups set up for this purpose. However, it is clarified that individuals belonging to the Promoter Group can participate in the voting equity shares of NOFHC. While any such individual along with his relatives (as defined in Section 6 of the Companies Act 1956) and along with entities in which he and / or his relatives hold not less than 50 per cent of the voting equity shares, can hold voting equity shares not exceeding 10 per cent of the total voting equity shares of the NOFHC, all such individuals (along with their relatives and companies as specified above) irrespective of their numbers, cannot hold more than 49 per cent of the voting equity shares of the NOFHC (since the companies forming part of the Promoter Group whereof companies in which the public hold not less than 51 per cent of the voting equity shares shall hold not less than 51 per cent of the total voting equity shares of the NOFHC).[ para 2 ( C ) (ii) (a) and (b) of the guidelines]

Members of the public may approach bank branches for deposit and/or exchange of ₹2000 banknotes held by them.

The facility for deposit into accounts and exchange for ₹2000 banknotes will be available at all banks until September 30, 2023. The facility for exchange will be available also at the 19 Regional Offices (ROs) of RBI having Issue Departments¹ until September 30, 2023.

The entities from Singapore enabled for the UPI-PayNow linkage and their VPAs are as follows:

Banks / Non-bank	VPA Handles Enabled
DBS Bank Singapore	Registered mobile number
Liquid Group (Non-Bank Financial Institution)	Registered mobile number followed by XNAP (e.g., 123456789XNAP)

Ans: In case of floating rate loans, APR may be disclosed at the time of origination based on the prevailing rate as per the format of KFS. However, as and when the floating rate changes, only the revised APR may be disclosed to the customer via SMS/ e-mail each time the revised APR becomes applicable.

Ans: Ideally, the gap between time of transfer and due-diligence cut-off date should be minimal and the board approved policy should strive to ensure that. However, to account for such scenario and to ensure strict compliance with the stipulation that no loans in default is transferred under provisions of chapter III, lenders are advised to formulate a board approved policy covering all pertinent aspects.

Ans: Yes, the intent of the circular is to allow flexibility to the customer to switch from floating rate loan to fixed rate loan or vice versa subject to applicable charges. The RE is required to specify the number of times a borrower will be allowed to exercise the switch option during the tenor of the loan under its Board approved policy.

Ans: e₹ wallet is available and supported both on Android and iOS mobile devices.