Answer: An NRO (current/ savings) account can be opened by a foreign national of non-Indian origin visiting India, with funds remitted from outside India through banking channel or by sale of foreign exchange brought by him to India. The balance in the NRO account may be paid to the account holder at the time of his departure from India provided the account has been maintained for a period not exceeding six months and the account has not been credited with any local funds, other than interest accrued thereon.

Ans. No. In terms of paragraph 9.1.6 of these Directions, the benefit of additional interest on term deposits held by bank’s staff member/ retired staff member singly or jointly with family members is only available where the staff member/ retired staff member is the principal account holder.

Ans: The Master Directions require reporting of frauds perpetrated only in the Group entities (subsidiaries / affiliates / joint ventures etc.) belonging to the reporting NBFCs / HFCs. In other words, the reporting requirement is not applicable to the other entities in wider Group to which the reporting NBFC / HFC belongs, which may not be subsidiaries / affiliates / joint ventures etc. of the reporting NBFCs / HFCs.

A Deputy Ombudsman is a senior officer appointed by RBI to assist the RBI Ombudsman (refer Question 4) in matters of resolution of complaints and in handling certain complaints and the functions entrusted under the Scheme. The Deputy Ombudsman endeavors to promote settlement of a complaint by agreement between the complainant and the RE through facilitation or conciliation or mediation and dispose complaints as discussed in Question 24.

Ans.  Following documents are required for opening of an account by an individual:

(a) any one of the following Officially Valid Documents (OVDs) or the equivalent e-document thereof, containing details of his name and address, viz.,

• the passport,
• the driving licence, 
• proof of possession of Aadhaar number,
• the Voter's Identity Card issued by the Election Commission of India,
• the job card issued by NREGA duly signed by an officer of the State Government, and
• the letter issued by the National Population Register.

(b) the Permanent Account Number (PAN) or the equivalent e-document, thereof, or Form No. 60 as defined in Income-tax Rules, 1962; and

(c) other documents in respect of the nature of business and financial status of the customer, or the equivalent e-documents thereof, as may be required by the RE.

Ans.: If the company’s accounts are not audited before the due date of submission, i.e. July 15, then the ITES survey schedule should be submitted based on unaudited (provisional) account.

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

In terms of para 3(i) of the circular, the prescribed guidelines will not affect the normal procedures for compounding of interest in the loan account. Therefore, REs may charge interest on unpaid interest (including on unpaid EMI) at the contracted rate of interest till the date of remediation, and not at the penal rate of interest.

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. In addition to dispensing cash, ATMs / WLAs may offer many other services / facilities to customers. Some of such services include:

• Account Information

• Cash Deposit

• Regular Bill Payment

• Purchase of Re-load Vouchers for Mobiles (not permitted at WLAs)

• Mini / Short Statement Generation

• PIN Change

• Request for Cheque Book

Yes, pensioners can submit life certificates without visiting the branch using Jeevan Praman provided the Pension Sanctioning Authority is on boarded on the platform. Further, banks have also been advised to provide super senior citizens (pensioners over 70 years of age) and differently abled or infirm persons (having medically certified chronic illness or disability) including those who are visually impaired, the facility to submit life certificate at the premises/ residence of such customers.

Response: The minimum deposit at any one time is 10 grams of raw gold (bars, coins, jewellery excluding stones and other metals) and there is no maximum limit for deposit under the scheme. The quantity of gold deposited will be expressed up to three decimals of a gram.

No. The 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account' should be considered as a normal banking service available to all customers, through branches.

Ans: The treatment in clause 36 is only to facilitate transfer of loans where due to operational or other constraints, the transferee does not conduct a loan level due diligence. This is without prejudice to the requirement under Clause 46 to apply prudential norms at the individual loan level.

Ans. The RTGS system is primarily meant for large value transactions. The minimum amount to be remitted through RTGS is ₹ 2,00,000/- with no upper or maximum ceiling.

Ans. The list of PPI issuers is available on the RBI website at the links https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/bs_viewcontent.aspx?Id=2491 (bank-PPI issuers) and https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/PublicationsView.aspx?id=12043 (non-bank PPI issuers).

• Final monthly WPI will be used as reference WPI for 1st day of the calendar month. The reference WPI for intermittent days, i.e. dates between 1st days of the two consecutive months will be computed through interpolation.

• For interpolation, two months final WPI should be available throughout the month. As final WPI is available with a lag of about two and half months (e.g. final WPI February 2013 will be released in mid-May 2013), two months final WPI could be available only with a lag of four months.

• In view of above, the four months lag has been chosen for final WPI to be considered as reference WPI for 1st day of the calendar month. For example, December 2012 final WPI will be taken as reference WPI for 1st of May 2013 and January 2013 final WPI will be taken as reference WPI for 1st of June 2013.

Banks have been advised to put in place loan policies governing extension of credit facilities for the MSE sector duly approved by their Board of Directors (Refer circular RPCD.SME & NFS.BC.No.102/06.04.01/2008-09 dated May 4, 2009). Banks have, however, been advised to sanction limits after proper appraisal of the genuine working capital requirements of the borrowers keeping in mind their business cycle and short-term credit requirement. As per Nayak Committee Report, working capital limits to SSI units is computed on the basis of minimum 20% of their estimated turnover up to credit limit of ₹5 crore.

Yes. The applicant will immediately receive a mail conveying details of the original office / department where the application was submitted and the details of the office / department / section to which it has been transferred. The information can also be ascertained through ATS by the applicant under ’My Application’. The entire history will be shown.

Ans : No.  As per Section 3 of the Factoring Act 2011, no Factor can commence or carry on the factoring business without a) obtaining a CoR from the Reserve Bank, b) fulfilling the principal business criteria.

Ans : NBFC-IFC will need to meet the following conditions for sponsoring an IDF-NBFC :

• Sponsor IFCs would be allowed to contribute a maximum of 49 percent to the equity of the IDF-NBFCs with a minimum equity holding of 30 percent of the equity of IDF-NBFCs,:

• Post investment in the IDF-NBFC, the sponsor NBFC-IFC must maintain minimum CRAR and NOF prescribed for IFCs

• There are no supervisory concerns with respect to the IFC.

Customer has the right to know the CCP of the bank before entering into any transaction.

The bank is obliged to disclose the amount up to which immediate credit of outstation cheque is offered in its Comprehensive Notice Board, which is to be displayed at each and every branch of the bank. The bank is also required to disclose time frame for collection of local / outstation instruments and policy for compensation payable for delayed collection. The same will be available in the Information Booklets which should be available at all the bank branches. The customer is also entitled to receive a copy of the bank’s CCP, if (s)he so desires. Banks are also required to put up their CCP on their websites.

• On redemption, investors will get principal and compounded interest.

Answer: A person resident in India may maintain a foreign currency account outside India if he had opened it when he was resident outside India or inherited it from a person resident outside India.

Ans. Board-approved policies of REs should cover such operational aspects. One possible way could be to distribute the annualized repayment obligations over twelve months to estimate monthly outgo of the household towards debt repayment.

Ans There is no value limit for individual transactions.

Ans: Individuals, firms and corporates maintaining accounts with any member bank, participating in the NEFT system, can electronically transfer funds to any individual, firm or corporate having an account with any other bank in the country participating in the NEFT system.

The list of bank-wise branches participating in NEFT is available on the website of RBI at /en/web/rbi/-/list-of-neft-enabled-bank-branches-bank-wise-indian-financial-system-code-updated-as-on-june-30-2023-2009-1.

The DICGC insures principal and interest upto a maximum amount of ₹ five lakhs. For example, if an individual had an account with a principal amount of 4,95,000 plus accrued interest of 4,000, the total amount insured by the DICGC would be 4,99,000. If, however, the principal amount in that account was five lakhs, the accrued interest would not be insured, not because it was interest but because that was the amount over the insurance limit.

Students going abroad for studies are treated as Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and are eligible for all the facilities available to NRIs under FEMA. In addition, they can receive remittances upto USD 100,000 from close relatives from India on self-declaration, towards maintenance, which could include remittances towards their studies also. Educational and other loans availed of by students as resident in India can be allowed to continue. There is no dilution in the existing remittance facilities to students in regard to their academic pursuits.

Applicant companies should calculate their Net Owned Funds (NOF) of as per the following.

1. Owned Funds :- (Paid-up Equity Capital + Free reserves + Credit balance in Profit & Loss A/c) minus (Accumulated balance of loss, Deferred revenue expenditure and Other intangible assets)

2. Net Owned Funds :- Owned funds minus the amount of investments in shares of its subsidiaries, companies in the same group, all (other) non-banking financial companies as also the book value of debentures, bonds, outstanding loans and advances made to and deposits with its subsidiaries and companies in the same group in excess of 10 per cent of the Owned funds.

Ans. Foreign exchange for travel abroad can be purchased from an authorized person against rupee payment in cash below Rs.50,000/-. However, if the sale of foreign exchange is for the amount equivalent to Rs 50,000/- and above, the entire payment should be made by way of a crossed cheque/ banker’s cheque/ pay order/ demand draft/ debit card / credit card / prepaid card only.

Ans. All remittances are subject to payment of taxes as applicable in India – Authorised Dealers are to convince themselves on this aspect.

No duplicate challan is issued under any circumstances. Instead, a 'Certificate of Credit' is issued on specific request with the requisite particulars and payment of prescribed fee.

The minimum amount for bidding will be Rs.10,000 (face value) and in multiples in Rs.10,000. The maximum amount for a single non-competitive bid only for the auctions of GOI dated securities should not exceed Rs.2,00,00,000 (face value) per security per auction.

CTS has been implemented in New Delhi, Chennai, and Mumbai with effect from February 1, 2008, September 24, 2011, and April 27, 2013 respectively. After migration of the entire cheque volume to CTS, the traditional mechanisms of cheque clearing have been discontinued across the country. Further, banks have been advised to ensure that all branches are connected to CTS.

Under CTS, cheque processing locations in India are consolidated into the three grids in Chennai, Mumbai and New Delhi.

Each grid provides processing and clearing services to all the banks under its respective jurisdiction. Banks, branches, and customers based at small / remote locations falling under the jurisdiction of a grid would be benefitted, irrespective of whether there exists at present a formal arrangement for cheque clearing or otherwise. The illustrative jurisdiction of the three grids is indicated below:

• Chennai Grid : Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nādu, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
• Mumbai Grid : Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
• New Delhi Grid : National Capital Region of New Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.

MICR is an acronym for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition. The MICR Code is a numeric code that uniquely identifies a bank-branch participating in the ECS Credit scheme. This is a 9 digit code to identify the location of the bank branch; the first 3 characters represent the city, the next 3 the bank and the last 3 the branch. The MICR Code allotted to a bank branch is printed on the MICR band of cheques issued by bank branches.

One can file a complaint before the Banking Ombudsman if the reply is not received from the bank within a period of one month after the bank concerned has received one's complaint, or the bank rejects the complaint, or if the complainant is not satisfied with the reply given by the bank.

The term deposit is a contract between the bank and the customer for a definite term and it cannot be paid prematurely at bank's option. Term deposit can be paid prematurely at the request of the customer.

To begin with, non-competitive bidding will be allowed only in select auctions of dated Government of India securities which will be announced as and when proposed to be issued.

Firms/companies/organizations, as well as banks/financial institutions in India, are free to advertise in Print Media abroad, such as overseas newspapers/periodicals or on Internet.

An Indian company can make overseas investment in any activity (except those that are specifically prohibited) in which it has experience and expertise. However, for undertaking activities in the financial sector, certain additional conditions specified in Regulation 7 may be adhered to (Please refer to Q.9).

Person going abroad for immigration can draw foreign exchange upto US$ 5,000 or the amount prescribed by the country of emigration from an authorised dealer in India. These amount is only to meet the incidental expenses in the country of migration. No amount of foreign exchange can be remitted outside India to become eligible or for earning points or credits for immigration. All such remittances require prior permission of the Reserve Bank.

Banks can refer to the methodology given in the Approach Paper to assess People, Process and Technology maturity and place themselves in a specific cluster which in turn would help in determining the time lines for implementation of ADF.

Ans. i) Majority of transactions, as possible, should be settled directly through the accounts maintained by AD Category-l banks with banks in the other participating countries and vice versa; only the spill-overs in either direction are required to be settled by the Central Banks in the countries concerned through the Clearing Union. At all times, the balances maintained in the ACU Dollar, ACU Euro and ACU Yen accounts should be commensurate with requirements of the normal business. With effect from July 01, 2016, all eligible current account transactions including trade transactions in “Euro” are permitted to be settled outside the ACU mechanism until further notice. ii) AD Category-l banks are permitted to settle commercial and other eligible transactions in much the same manner as other normal foreign exchange transactions.

NDS-OM Web Module is only an electronic front end for accessing the main NDS-OM system. All instructions/notifications/circulars/press releases issued by RBI, both current and future, relating to CSGL trades would be binding and applicable. Dealing on NDS-OM Web would also be subject to RBI's NDS-OM Guiding Principles.

Ans. Yes, the AD bank should ensure compliance to the extant instructions issued by the Department of Banking Regulation.

Ans. LEI shall be recorded for all non-individual NEFT / RTGS messages / transactions. An indicative list of entity types is given by LEIL at https://www.ccilindia-lei.co.in/Documents/FAQs.pdf.

The tenor of the swap will be for three years or more in line with the tenor of the underlying FCNR (B) deposits. Bank desirous of availing the swap window may approach RBI for the swap, indicating the tenor in number of days.

Yes, Cheque facility is available for operation of the EEFC account.

The basic legal framework for determining rights, responsibilities and liabilities of the parties in connection with collection of USD denominated cheques drawn on US banks are governed by the legal framework as laid down under the US federal and state laws like Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) etc. However, in the event of return of a counterfeit cheque handled through this process, the drawee bank in the US has the right to recover the proceeds from presenting banks within the period stipulated under US Clearing House guidelines.

Ans. “Payment obligation” is defined as what is owed by one participant in a payment system to another such participant which results from clearing or settlement or payment instructions relating to funds, securities or foreign exchange or derivatives or other transactions.

No, additional risk weight on incremental exposure merely on account of borrower being classified as specified borrower, should not normally result in change in credit rating.

The deposits under this Scheme shall be made in one or more occasions (with effect from February 07, 2017 as per amendment to Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Deposit Scheme, Notification No S.O. 4061 E) in any of the Authorised Banks during normal banking hours on working days [excluding Sundays even if the banking services are offered in select branches on Sundays], till the 31st day of March, 2017.

Response

No. The 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account' should be considered as a normal banking service available to all customers, through branches.

No, the facility is not available to people who are not Indian citizens.

Banks can grant fixed rate loans to long term projects wherein the interest rate are fixed till the loan is due for refinancing. The loan, at the time of refinancing, will be treated as a fresh fixed rate loan with a maturity period equal to the period upto the next date of refinancing. Such fixed rate loans will fall under the directions contained in Section 13(d)(v) of Reserve Bank of India (Interest Rate on Advances) Directions, 2016.

One's complaint will not be considered under the following circumstances :If the NBFC against whom the complaint is registered, is not covered under the Scheme.If one has not approached the NBFC concerned in the first instance for redressal of the grievance.If the subject matter of the complaint is not pertaining to the grounds of complaint specified under Clause 8 of the Scheme.If one has not made the complaint within one year from the date of receipt of reply from the NBFC; or if no reply is received, and the complaint to NBFC Ombudsman is made after the lapse of more than one year and one month from the date of complaint to the NBFC.If the subject matter of the complaint is pending for disposal/ has already been dealt with at any other forum like court of law, consumer court etc.If the complaint is for the same subject matter that was settled through the office of the NBFC Ombudsman in any previous proceedings.If the complaint is frivolous or vexatious.

Ans. Non-banks increasingly and actively offer financial services and direct access to CPS can enable them to leverage technology and offer more choices to their consumers.

Apart from managing settlement risk in payments landscape, expanding access and participation of non-banks is a progressive move and leads to diversity and resiliency of the payments ecosystem.

As indicated above, the payment data sent abroad for processing should be deleted abroad within the prescribed time line and stored only in India. The data stored in India can be accessed / fetched for handling customer disputes whenever required.

Yes, upon buy back of the assets under the PCG scheme, the originating NBFC/ HFC will be required to maintain capital for the re-purchased assets as per the capital requirements prescribed for NBFCs/HFCs by the Bank.

Ans. Broadly, following steps take place during financing / discounting through TReDS:

1. Creation of a Factoring Unit (FU) - standard nomenclature used in TReDS for invoice(s) or bill(s) of exchange - containing details of invoices / bills of exchange (evidencing sale of goods / services by the MSME sellers to the buyers) on TReDS platform by the MSME seller (in case of factoring) or the buyer (in case of reverse factoring);

2. Acceptance of the FU by the counterparty - buyer or the seller, as the case may be;

3. Bidding by financiers;

4. Selection of best bid by the seller or the buyer, as the case may be;

5. Payment made by the financier (of the selected bid) to the MSME seller at the agreed rate of financing / discounting;

6. Payment by the buyer to the financier on the due date.

In view of the difficulties expressed by banks, they may follow the indicated processes for selection of CCO in the above circular within a period of nine months from the date of the circular viz. September 11, 2020 and are free to reappoint the current incumbent as the CCO if she/he meets the requirements.

One's complaint will not be considered under the following circumstances:If the System Participant against whom the complaint is registered, is not covered under the Scheme.If one has not approached the System Participant concerned in the first instance for redressal of the grievance.If the subject matter of the complaint is not pertaining to the grounds of complaint specified under Clause 8 of the Scheme.If one has not made the complaint within one year from the date of receipt of reply from the System Participant; or if no reply is received, and the complaint to the Ombudsman is made after the lapse of more than one year and one month from the date of complaint to the System Participant. In exceptional circumstances as decided by the Ombudsman, a complaint made after the period mentioned above may be accepted by the Ombudsman, provided the complaint is made before the expiry of the period of limitation prescribed under the Indian Limitation Act, 1963 for such claims.If the subject matter of the complaint is pending for disposal / has already been dealt with at any other forum like court of law, consumer court etc.If the complaint is for the same subject matter that was settled through the office of the Ombudsman in any previous proceedings.If the complaint is frivolous or vexatious.The complaint falls under the disputes covered under Section 24 of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.The complaint pertains to dispute arising from a transaction between customers.

Ans. No. The facility is available irrespective of whether the card holder makes a purchase or not.

The definitions of invocation and implementation in respect of eligible personal loans have been given in Paragraphs 7 and 10 respectively of the Annex to the Resolution Framework. In respect of other eligible loans, invocation shall be as per Paragraphs 14 and 15 of the Annex to the Resolution Framework whereas implementation shall have the meaning as per Paragraphs 14-16 of the circular dated June 7, 2019 on Prudential Framework for Resolution of Stressed Assets.

Response: In case a cardholder does not clear the total amount due within the payment due date, interest free credit period will be lost, and interest may be levied from the date of transaction on the outstanding amount (adjusted for payments/refunds/reversed transactions as and when credited) and not on the total amount due. Further, late payment fee and other charges relating to delay in payment shall be levied only on the outstanding amount (adjusted for payments/refunds/reversed transactions as and when credited) after the payment due date and not on the total amount due.

Ans: There is no specific time limit prescribed in the Scheme for claiming a refund from the DEA Fund by the customer/ depositor. However, customer/ depositor or the legal heirs (in case of deceased depositor) are encouraged to claim such amounts as soon as they become aware of unclaimed amounts.

ANS: UDRN is a unique number generated through Core Banking Solution (CBS) by banks and assigned to each Unclaimed account/ deposit transferred to Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund of RBI. This number is used so that the account holder or the bank branch where account is maintained, cannot be identified by any third party. The UDRN enables the bank branches to seamlessly settle claims received from the customers/depositors, who have made successful search in UDGAM portal. All the 30 banks on-boarded to the UDGAM portal have put in place necessary requirements to generate UDRN during the development of the portal.

Yes.  Relief/Savings Bonds are also Government securities. They are issued in the form of Stock Certificate and BLA by the RBI and in the form of BLA by the Agency Banks. All the provisions of the G S Act and the G S Regulations apply to them as well. However, Relief/Savings Bonds may have certain features of their own as per the specific Government Loan Notification announcing their issue. For example, Savings Bonds are not transferable except as explained at Question No. 46 below.

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]

Ans:No. The ‘outstanding balance’, ‘asset classification’ and ‘date of asset classification’ of the secured assets possessed under Section 13 (4) of the SARFAESI Act, 2002, shall be as per the information published in the newspapers in terms of Rule 3 (1) or Rule 6 (2) of the Security (Enforcement) Rules of 2002 in case of movable property, and Rule 8 (2) in case of immovable property.

Answer: No. Remittances under LRS can be made only for permissible current and capital account transactions. All other transactions which are otherwise not permissible under FEMA and those in the nature of remittance for margins or margin calls to overseas exchanges / overseas counterparty are not allowed under the Scheme.

Presently, the UPI ID registered with the same bank where account is held can only be used.

Deposit into bank accounts can be made without restrictions subject to compliance with extant Know Your Customer (KYC) norms and other applicable statutory / regulatory requirements.

Ans: No.

Ans: Remittances under the Scheme for transfer of funds from India to Nepal can be originated from any of the NEFT-enabled bank-branches in India. List of bank-wise branches participating in the NEFT system is available on the website of RBI at http://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/bs_viewcontent.aspx?Id=2009.

The bank branches originating the Indo-Nepal remittance transactions under the NEFT will process it like any other NEFT transaction, the only difference being that these transactions will subsequently be pooled / collected at the designated branch of State Bank of India (SBI) in India. At the end of the day, the remittance information is conveyed electronically by SBI in a secure mode to NSBL. NSBL then makes arrangements for credit to the bank account of the beneficiary if the beneficiary is an account holder of NSBL. Else, NSBL disburses funds in cash to the beneficiary through the authorised money transfer company (Prabhu Money Transfer). The beneficiary has to approach the local branch of the money transfer company, furnish the UTR number (also called as the Unique Transaction Reference number that uniquely identifies a transaction in the NEFT system that can be obtained from the remitter), and produce a photo identity document (generally Nepal Citizenship Certificate) to prove his identity.

If the beneficiary does not approach the money transfer company within a week from the date of the transaction, the money transfer company would make arrangements for return of the remittance to the originator.

Ans. Each leg of remittance would have only two parties and hence, the AD bank should obtain the LEI accordingly as per the circular.

Banks are allowed to offer overdraft facility to customers against Green Deposits subject to the instructions contained in the Consolidated Circular on Opening of Current Accounts and CC/OD Accounts by Banks dated April 19, 2022, as amended from time to time.

Ans. Tokenisation has been allowed through mobile phones and / or tablets for all use cases / channels (e.g., contactless card transactions, payments through QR codes, apps etc.)

These limits are applicable in respect of audit of all RBI Regulated Entities, irrespective of the asset size.

Yes. The application on behalf of the minor has to be made by his/her guardian.

Answer: The AD bank approaching RBI for seeking approval for opening of Special Rupee Vostro Account must submit the following information along with their proposal/request:

1. The details of the arrangement between AD bank and correspondent bank from the trading partner country along with the funds flow.

2. A brief write-up on the foreign banks seeking correspondent relationship for Special Rupee Vostro Account.

3. Copy of the request letter of the correspondent bank to AD bank.

4. Confirmation from AD bank that the due diligence has been carried out by AD bank which establishes correspondent banking relationship as per our extant guidelines {Master Direction - Know Your Customer (KYC) Direction, 2016 dated Feb 25, 2016) (As amended from time to time)}.

5. Confirmation from AD bank stating that the correspondent bank is not from a country or jurisdiction in the updated FATF Public Statement on High Risk & Non-Co-operative jurisdictions on which FATF has called for counter measures.

6. Confirmation from AD bank that they shall ensure that all the transactions taking place in the Special Rupee Vostro Account of the correspondent bank are strictly in adherence to the instructions given in the A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 10 dated July 11, 2022.

7. Financial parameters pertaining to the correspondent bank as required for the proposal may be obtained beforehand by email to fedcotrade@rbi.org.in and the same may be furnished by AD bank along with the proposal.

Ans. AD will be guided by the nature of transaction as declared by the remitter in Form A2 and will thereafter certify that the remittance is in conformity with the instructions issued by the Reserve Bank in this regard from time to time. However, the ultimate responsibility is of the remitter to ensure compliance to the extant FEMA rules/regulations.

Ans: A card can be dipped (Chip based card), tapped (Contactless Near Field Communication {NFC} Card) or swiped (Magnetic-Stripe card) at a PoS terminal.

Ans: The insurance charges shall be included in the computation of APR only for the insurance which is linked/integrated in loan products as these charges are intrinsic to the nature of such digital loans.

Ans: The treatment in clause 36 is only to facilitate transfer of loans where due to operational or other constraints, the transferee does not conduct a loan level due diligence. This is without prejudice to the requirement under Clause 46 to apply prudential norms at the individual loan level.

Ans: Answers as given in Q 1 and Q 3.

Ans: No.

Ans. Along with the application in the prescribed format, the applicant may also furnish the details as per the Annexures- relating to Foreign Direct Investment, External Commercial Borrowings, Overseas Direct Investment and Branch Office / Liaison Office, as applicable, (Annexures available in the Directions – Compounding of contraventions under FEMA, 1999, as mentioned in answer to Q. 4 above) along with an undertaking that they are not under investigation of DOE,., a cancelled cheque copy, a copy of the Memorandum of Association while applying for compounding of contraventions under FEMA, 1999. Application submitted to the Reserve Bank must contain contact details i.e., name of the applicant / authorised official or representative of the applicant, telephone/ mobile number and email ID.

Ans. Provisions related to penalty are contained in paragraph 15 of these Directions. The detailed procedure for premature withdrawal including partial premature withdrawal are determined by the banks in terms of their comprehensive Board approved policy.

Yes, instructions have been issued by RBI to pension disbursing banks to allow withdrawal of pension by following certain procedures which are given below:

Withdrawal of pension by old/ sick/ disabled/ incapacitated pensioners

(i) In order to take care of problems/ difficulties faced by sick and disabled pensioners in withdrawal of pension / family pension from the banks, agency banks may categorise such pensioners as under:

(a) Pensioner who is too ill to sign a cheque / unable to be physically present in the bank.

(b) Pensioner who is not only unable to be physically present in the bank but also not even able to put his/her thumb impression on the cheque/ withdrawal form due to certain physical defect / incapacity.

(ii) With a view to enabling such old/sick/incapacitated pensioners to operate their accounts, banks may follow the procedure as under:

(a) Wherever thumb or toe impression of the old/sick pensioner is obtained, it should be identified by two independent witnesses known to the bank, one of whom should be a responsible bank official.

(b) Where the pensioner cannot even put his/her thumb/ toe impression and also would not be able to be physically present in the bank, a mark can be obtained on the cheque/withdrawal form, which should be identified by two independent witnesses, one of whom should be a responsible bank official.

The responsible bank official has to be from the same bank, preferably from the same branch, where the pensioner is having his/her pension account.

Agency banks have been asked to display the instructions issued in this regard on their notice board at the branches so that sick and disabled pensioners can make full use of these facilities.

Ans: In terms of revised Master Directions, banks are not required to submit such certificates / Flash Reports to RBI.

उत्तर: म्युचुअल फंड कंपनियां प्रत्येक वर्ष 15 जुलाई या उससे पहले प्रश्नावली-4 (Excel प्रारूप) के माध्यम से अपनी प्रतिक्रिया प्रस्तुत कर सकती हैं।

RB-IOS, 2021 has simplified the processes, centralized the receipt of physical and email complaints, brought more REs under its ambit, done away with limited grounds of complaints and difference jurisdictions of Ombudsmen and now all complaints involving deficiency in service are covered under RB-IOS. Complainants can lodge their complaints against an RE on the 24x7 online CMS portal at https://cms.rbi.org.in/ or send their complaint in email/physical form to CRPC (refer Question 16). Salient benefits for the complainant arising from the RB-IOS with upgraded CMS portal are as under:

1. Simplification in the process of filing the complaint on CMS portal;

2. A complaint can be filed on CMS portal/ CRPC from anywhere in the country irrespective of the address of the complainant, RE or branch involved;

3. One address and one email for lodging of physical/ email complaints from anywhere in the country;

4. Automatic acknowledgement to the complainant on registration of online complaint;

5. Facility for real-time tracking of the status of complaint;

6. Convenience from ‘One Nation One Ombudsman’ approach;

7. Facility for online submission of additional documents on the CMS itself;

8. Detailed letter intimating decision/ closure of complaint;

9. Facility for online and voluntary feedback submission by the complainant regarding redress provided by RBI.

Ans. In case a customer does not possess an OVD, he can still open a ‘Small Account’ with a bank. For the purpose, the bank shall obtain a self-attested photograph from the customer and the designated officer of the bank certifies under his signature that the person opening the account has affixed his signature or thumb impression in his presence. The Small Account shall remain operational initially for a period of twelve months and is subject to conditions as given under paragraph 23 of the Master Direction on KYC.

Ans: No. Even if a company’s account closing period is different from reference period (end-March), the ITES survey information should be reported for the survey reference period, based on the company’s internal assessment.

Yes. REs may formulate an appropriate Board approved policy and adopt a suitable structure of penal charges that is ‘reasonable’ and ‘commensurate’ with the non-compliance of material terms and conditions of the loan contract.

Yes. REs may formulate an appropriate Board approved policy and adopt a suitable structure of penal charges that is ‘reasonable’ and ‘commensurate’ with the non-compliance of material terms and conditions of the loan contract.

Ans: It is clarified that the circular covers all equated installment based personal loans, irrespective of whether they are linked to an external benchmark or an internal benchmark.

Ans. The ATM / ATM cum debit cards, credit cards and prepaid cards, as permitted by the issuer, can be used at ATMs/WLAs for various transactions.