Ans. Detailed operational guidelines are available in A.P.(DIR Series) Circular No. 22 dated March 17, 2020 and Master Direction No.16/2015-16 dated January 1, 2016 on Export of Goods and Services, as amended from time to time.

Ans. The residents can hold foreign coins without any limit.

There are three images of each cheque that are taken in CTS – front Gray Scale, front Black and White and back Black and White. Customers should use image friendly coloured ink to write cheques to facilitate clear image of written information. Further, customer should use permanent ink to prevent fraudulent alternation of contents later. However, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has not prescribed specific ink colors to be used to writing cheques.

Customer should also be aware that cheques with alteration / modification are not accepted under CTS. No changes / corrections can be carried out on the cheques (other than for date validation purposes, if required). For any change in the payee’s name, courtesy amount (amount in figures) or legal amount (amount in words), fresh cheque leaves should be used by customers. This would help banks in identifying and controlling fraudulent alterations.

One can file a complaint with the Banking Ombudsman simply by writing on a plain paper. One can also file it online at (“click here to lodge a complaint”) or by sending an email to the Banking Ombudsman. There is a form along with details of the scheme in our website. However, it is not mandatory to use this format.

Banks are required to provide both the cheque drop box facility and the acknowledgement facility at their collection counters. No bank branch can refuse to give an acknowledgement to the customer if the latter asks for the same while tendering cheque for collection at the bank branch’s counter.

A newly licensed FFMC should commence operations within a period of six months from the date of issuance of licence. A copy of the registration under Shops & Establishment Act or any other documentary evidence such as rent receipt, copy of lease agreement, etc. should be submitted to the Reserve Bank before commencement of business.

Ans: Yes, a person who does not have a bank account can remit funds through NEFT to a beneficiary having a bank account, with another NEFT member bank. It can be done by depositing cash at the nearest NEFT enabled branch of any bank, by furnishing additional details such as complete address, telephone number, etc. Such cash remittances will, however, be restricted to a maximum of ₹50,000 per transaction.

One may lodge his/ her complaint with the office of the NBFC Ombudsman under whose jurisdiction, the alleged NBFC branch is situated. (Click here for address and area of operation of the NBFC Ombudsman).

For complaints relating to types of services with centralized operations, complaints may be filed before the NBFC Ombudsman within whose territorial jurisdiction the billing address of the customer is located.

• Investors can invest through the authorised banks and Stock Holding Corporation of India (SHCIL).

• They will fill an application form and submit the same along with other documents and payment to the bank.

• On receipt of money, the bank will register the investor on the RBI’s web-based platform (E-Kuber) and on validation, generate the Certificate of Holding.

Ans : Yes, However, the exposure of sponsor NBFCs / IFCs and non-sponsor NBFCs / IFCs to the equity and debt of the IDFs would be governed by the extant credit concentration norms as given in para 18 of the Non-Banking Financial (Non-Deposit Accepting or Holding) Companies Prudential Norms (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2007.

In terms of the Specified Bank Notes (Deposit of Confiscated Notes) Rules 2017 notified by GoI on May 12, 2017, where specified bank notes have been confiscated or seized by a law enforcement agencies or produced before a court on or before the 30th day of December 2016, such specified bank notes may be tendered for deposit in a bank account or exchange of the value thereof with legal tender, subject to the following conditions, namely:—

(a) in case confiscated specified bank notes are returned by the court to a person who is a party in case pending before that court, then, the person shall be entitled, on production of the direction of the court, to deposit or exchange such specified bank notes, the serial numbers of which—

(i) have been noted by the law enforcement agency which confiscated or produced them before the court; and

(ii) are mentioned in the direction of the court;

(b) in case specified bank notes are forfeited in favour of the Central Government or the State Government by an order of the court, then, that Government shall be entitled, on production of the direction of the court, to deposit or exchange such specified bank notes; or

(c) in case specified bank notes are placed in custody of any other person by an order of the court on or before the 30th day of December, 2016, then, the person shall be entitled, on production of the direction of the court, to deposit or exchange such specified bank notes, the serial numbers of which—

(i) have been noted by the law enforcement agency which confiscated or produced them before the court; and

(ii) are mentioned in the direction of the court.

These rules do not apply to specified bank notes confiscated or seized after the 30th day of December, 2016.

The RBI Offices where the confiscated Specified Banknotes will be accepted in terms of the Specified Banknotes (Deposit of confiscated Notes) Rules 2017 are:

Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Belapur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Patna and Thiruvananthapuram

Ans. Yes, however, BO’s transactions should be restricted to its designated INR account and it should not put any transactions through the agent’s foreign currency account.

Ans. Details of types of membership in RTGS are available in chapter 4 of RTGS System Regulations. The type of membership in RTGS for non-banks PSPs will be decided by Reserve Bank based on the type of transactions they handle.

Ans. The insurance charges included in the factsheet are only for credit linked insurance product as these charges are linked to the microfinance loan. A borrower would not have incurred these charges if he had not taken the loan. The factsheet should contain information related to only pricing of microfinance loans to keep it uncluttered. Disclosures related to other non-credit products should be provided separately from the factsheet as mentioned under para 7.1.5¹ of the directions. All non-credit products (both financial products such as investment products, insurance products etc. as well as non-financial products such as solar lanterns, sewing machines etc.) should be provided only with the explicit consent of the borrower and REs should ensure that there is no direct or indirect linkage between the loan provided to the borrower and other non-credit products. No non-credit product shall be sold as a pre-condition for the loan product. REs should prominently display² that purchase of any non-credit product by the microfinance borrowers is purely on a voluntary basis. Board-approved Fair Practices Code of the REs, as mentioned under para 7.1.1³ of the directions, should also cover this aspect.

Ans. In TReDS, FU can be created either by the MSME seller or the buyer. If MSME seller creates it, the process is called factoring; if the same is created by corporates or other buyers, it is called as reverse factoring.

Ans. PPIs that require RBI approval / authorisation prior to issuance are classified under two types:

1. Small PPIs (or minimum-detail PPIs): These PPIs are issued by banks and non-banks after obtaining minimum details of the PPI holder. These PPIs can be used 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. Funds transfer or cash withdrawal from such PPIs is not permitted.

2. Full-KYC PPIs: The PPIs are issued by banks and non-banks after completing Know Your Customer (KYC) of PPI holder. These PPIs can be used for purchase of goods and services, funds transfer or cash withdrawal.

NBFCs which are required to comply with Indian Accounting Standards (IndAS) shall, as hitherto, continue to be guided by the guidelines duly approved by their Boards and as per ICAI Advisories for recognition of significant increase in credit risk and computation of Expected Credit Losses. However, the various additional provisions mentioned in the circular dated August 6, 2020 would constitute the prudential floors for the purpose of Paragraph 2 of the Annex to the circular DOR (NBFC).CC.PD.No.109/22.10.106/2019-20 dated March 13, 2020 on Implementation of Indian Accounting Standards.

The aim of introducing 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account' is very much part of the efforts of RBI for furthering Financial Inclusion objectives. All the accounts opened earlier as 'no-frills' account vide  UBD.BPD.Cir.No.19/13.01.000/2005-06 dated  November 24, 2005 should be renamed as BSBDA as per instructions contained in paragraph 2 of our Circular  UBD.BPD.Cir.No.5/13.01.000/2012-13 dated August 17, 2012.

Response

The aim of introducing 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account' is very much part of the efforts of RBI for furthering Financial Inclusion objectives. All the accounts opened earlier as 'no-frills' account vide RPCD Circular dated RPCD.RF.BC.54/07.38.01/2005-06 dated December 13, 2005 and RPCD.CO.No.RRB.BC.58/03.05.33(F)/2005-06 dated December 27, 2005 should be renamed as BSBDA as per the instructions contained in paragraph 2 of our Circular RPCD.CO.RRB.RCB.BC.No.24/07.38.01/2012-13 dated August 22, 2012 and all the new accounts opened since the issue of our circular RPCD.CO.RRB.RCB.BC.No.24 dated August 22, 2012 should be reported under the monthly report of the progress of Financial Inclusion plans submitted by banks to RPCD, CO.

Response: For a typical credit card with billing cycle from October 1, 2023 to October 30, 2023, let’s assume the bill is generated on October 30, 2023 and the due date of payment is November 19, 2023. The different scenarios for adjustment of credit are detailed below:

Note: The card-issuers may put in place a suitable mechanism to prevent evergreening of the credit facility.

Ans. Tokenisation and de-tokenisation can be performed by the authorised card network or by the card issuer. The list of card networks authorised by RBI to operate in India is available on the RBI website at the link /en/web/rbi/-/publications/certificates-of-authorisation-issued-by-the-reserve-bank-of-india-under-the-payment-and-settlement-systems-act-2007-for-setting-up-and-operating-payment-system-in-india-12043.

A.(8 to 13) The requirement is that the companies in the Promoter Group 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) (b) of the guidelines]

A company in which public holds 51 per cent need not necessarily be listed. For the purpose of these guidelines, ‘public shareholding’ implies that no person along with his relatives (as defined in Section 6 of the Companies Act, 1956) and entities in which he and / or his relatives hold not less than 50 per cent of the voting equity shares, by virtue of his shareholding or otherwise, exercises ‘significant influence’ or ‘control’ (as defined in Accounting Standard 23) over the company.

Ans. There are no restrictions on the frequency of remittances under LRS. However, the total amount of foreign exchange purchased from or remitted through, all sources in India during a financial year should be within the cumulative limit of USD 2,50,000.

Once a remittance is made for an amount up to USD 2,50,000 during the financial year, a resident individual would not be eligible to make any further remittances under this scheme, even if the proceeds of the investments have been brought back into the country.

Ans: A CP transaction is a transaction that is carried out through physical presence of card at the point of transaction. It is also known as face-to-face or a proximity payment transaction. An example is a transaction carried out at an ATM or a PoS terminal. A CNP transaction does not require the card to be physically presented at the point of transaction. It is also called as a remote transaction. An example is an online transaction or a mobile banking transaction using the card.

Ans:No, details in the "Guarantor Name (wherever applicable)" column should be limited to guarantors who have created a security interest in favor of the RE and whose assets are possessed under the Act.

Ans.: The submission of Annual Return on FLA is mandatory under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999 [vide the RBI Circular: A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 45 dated March 15, 2011] for all Indian companies which have received foreign direct investment and/or have made direct investment abroad. Entities can submit the annual return on FLA through the online web-based portal having address https://flair.rbi.org.in.

All the steps for online web-based reporting of annual return on FLA, are provided in user manuals. Entity should read the following documents for further guidance:

(a) User manual on “FLA User Registration Form”.

(b) User manual on reporting of “Annual Return on FLA” for all sections for step-by-step procedure for filing the FLA return.

(c) FAQs for FLA.

Ans: The declaration has to be certified by the statutory auditor of the DLG provider.

REs can engage with any appropriate and reputed domestic/ international agency for external review of the Financing Framework, Third-party Verification/ Assurance and Impact Assessment of the green activities/ projects.

Answer: Forex cash, tom and spot transactions can be undertaken for the purpose of buying/selling foreign exchange for permitted current/capital account transactions.

Answer: No

Ans: The principle underlying the Digital Lending Guidelines is that a LSP should not be involved in handling of funds flowing from the lender to the borrower or vice versa. While entities offering only PA services shall remain out of the ambit of ‘Guidelines on Digital Lending’, any PA also performing the role of an LSP must comply with the Digital Lending Guidelines.

Ans: Valuation and accounting methodology as given in the answers to above questions.

Ans. No. All requisite approvals should be obtained, and compliances should be completed before seeking compounding of contravention. Compounding can be done only after all the necessary administrative action is complete as mentioned in Paragraph 4.2 of Directions – Compounding of contraventions under FEMA, 1999, Copies of approvals and other compliances should be enclosed along with the application.

Answer: Persons resident in Nepal and Bhutan can open Indian rupee accounts with an authorised dealer in India.

Ans. No. In terms of paragraph 29.8 read with item (vii) of Schedule-I of these Directions, savings bank account cannot be opened in the name of a private entity for implementation of the Government funding schemes.

Ans. Yes. The customer can open an account with a RE by submitting a deemed to be OVD for the purpose of proof of address. However, as mentioned in reply to Q 7 above, he is required to submit OVD with current address within a period of three months.

Ans: Since the access to the submission portal is CIN based, any LLP/proprietorship firm that have computer software exports as on end-March of the financial year needs to obtain a dummy CIN Number by sending a request mail on itesquery@rbi.org.in. Once the firm obtains this dummy CIN number from RBI, it can be used to submit the excel (*.xls) file for ITES survey.

However, if any entity has already got the dummy CIN number from the previous survey round, they should use the same CIN number in the current survey round also.

(It is also informed that these dummy CIN numbers are provided by RBI for filling the ITES survey schedule only and should not be used for any other purpose).

Ans: Currently, users and merchants of identified pilot banks and non-banks across the country can use e₹. These customers can download the e₹ app of the bank or non-bank, register themselves, and start using the e₹ wallet to participate in the pilot.

The instructions issued vide the circular are applicable to all credit facilities except those specifically exempted in the circular.

Ans: The options prescribed vide circular on ‘Reset of Floating Interest Rate on Equated Monthly Instalments (EMI) based Personal Loans’ dated August 18, 2023 shall be allowed for housing loans extended by UCBs, subject to the regulations prescribed vide Master Circular on ‘Housing Finance for UCBs’ dated April 11, 2023 or as amended in the future.

Ans. The cardholder can lodge grievance(s) with his / her card issuer. In case the card issuer does not respond within the stipulated time, or the reply so received is not satisfactory, the cardholder shall have recourse to the Reserve Bank - Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021 (as amended from time to time) for redressal.

Trade transactions with ACU countries are governed by Regulation 3(1)(A) and Regulation 5(1)(A) of Notification FEMA 14 (R), as amended from time to time and are to be settled under ACU mechanism or as defined therein. Therefore, transactions between ACU countries shall be kept distinct and separate and settled as per extant instructions outside the SNRR arrangement.

Ans. Small PPIs can be of two types:

1. PPIs upto ₹10,000/- (with cash loading facility). These PPIs shall be converted into full-KYC PPIs within 24 months.

2. PPIs upto ₹10,000/- (with no cash loading facility).

Ans : Yes. In case the information / account particulars contained in the mandate undergo any change, the beneficiary has to notify the changes to the User Institution so that the correct information can be incorporated in its records. This will ensure that transactions do not get rejected at the beneficiary’s bank branch due to inconsistencies/ mismatch in the data sent by the user institution.

As part of the financial sector liberalisation, all credit related matters of banks including charging of interest have been deregulated by RBI and are governed by the banks' own lending policies.

With a view to improve monetary policy transmission, banks have been advised to link loans to Micro and Small Enterprises to an external benchmark from October 01, 2019. (Refer circular DBR.DIR.BC.No.14/13.03.00/2019-20 dated September 04, 2019). To further improve the transmission of monetary policy rates, it has been decided that with effect from April 01, 2020, loans to Medium Enterprises shall be linked to external benchmark. (Refer circular DOR.DIR.BC.No.39/13.03.00/2019-20 dated February 26, 2020).

Yes. ATS is also available for all applications / letters, etc. submitted physically at the counters of RBI or received through post/courier, provided a valid email id is given in the document. Receipt of all such applications as also its disposal will be advised to the applicant through email.

Additionally, the status of such applications can also be tracked through the ATS number and the password sent to the valid email id of the applicant.

GAH accesses the trading platform through URL, ‘https://www.ndsind.com’. This is common URL for web based NDS-OM as well as for web based Auction. Users of GAH need to select NDS-OM in the option after logging on to the URL. PM will need to arrange for login/password from the CCIL and Digital Certificates from any Government Recognized Certifying Authority designated by RBI, on behalf of GAH. For added security, the digital certificates need to be installed in an e-token as per specifications approved. Without the digital certificate, e-token and the password, the GAH cannot log in to the NDS OM web based module. The Primary member will be responsible for obtaining/renewal and intimating revocation to RBI/CCIL of the Digital Certificate for such GAH users.

Tripartite Agreement is an agreement between three parties, namely, the Concessionaire (such as the project which is developing the infrastructure), the Project Authority (such as NHAII or a statutory body set up to develop infrastructure) and IDF-NBFC which binds all the parties collectively and provide, for the following :

1. Take-over of a portion of the debt of the Concessionaire availed from Senior Lenders;

2. a default by the Concessionaire, shall trigger the process for termination of the agreement between Project Authority and Concessionaire;

3. the Project Authority shall redeem the bonds issued by the Concessionaire which have been purchased by IDF-NBFC, from out of the termination payment as per the Tripartite Agreement and other Agreements referred to therein (compulsory buyout),

4. the fee payable by IDF-NBFC to the Project Authority as mutually agreed upon between the two.

Ans: The outbound remittances through NEFT system are permitted only to Nepal under Indo-Nepal Remittance Facility (INRF) Scheme. Under this Scheme, the remitter can transfer funds from any of the NEFT-enabled bank branches in India to Nepal, irrespective of whether the beneficiary in Nepal maintains an account with a bank branch in Nepal or not. The beneficiary would receive funds in Nepalese Rupees. The details of the INRF Scheme are available on the website of RBI at /en/web/rbi/faq-page-2?ddm__keyword__26256231__FaqDetailPage2Title_en_US=Indo-Nepal Remittance Facility scheme.

An application from an FFMC/non-bank AD Category-II for renewal of licence shall be made two months before expiry of the licence or such other period as the Reserve Bank may prescribe. Where an application for licence renewal is submitted as above, the licence shall continue in force until the date on which the licence is renewed or the application is rejected, as the case may be. No application from an FFMC/non-bank AD Category-II for renewal of licence shall be made after expiry of the licence.

Ans. Dance troupes, artistes, etc., who wish to undertake cultural tours abroad, should obtain prior approval from the Ministry of Human Resources Development (Department of Education and Culture), Government of India, New Delhi.

Positive Pay System (PPS) for CTS is an additional indicator provided by NPCI to all banks to facilitate the clearing process and pre-empt cheque-related frauds and shall form part of prudent practices followed by banks for payment processing. It has been introduced to augment customer safety in cheque payments and reduce instances of fraud occurring on account of tampering of cheque leaves.

Banks have been advised to enable PPS facility for all account holders issuing cheques for amount of ₹ 50,000 and above. While availing of this facility is at the discretion of the account holder, banks may consider making it mandatory in case of cheques for amounts of ₹ 5,00,000 and above.

One may lodge his/ her complaint at the office of the Banking Ombudsman under whose jurisdiction, the bank branch complained against is situated.

For complaints relating to credit cards and other types of services with centralized operations, complaints may be filed before the Banking Ombudsman within whose territorial jurisdiction the billing address of the customer is located. (Click here for address and area of operation of the Banking Ombudsman)

• Extant tax provisions will be applicable on interest payment and capital gains on IIBs.

• There will be no special tax treatment for these bonds.

• These securities will be issued in the form of Bonds Ledger Account (BLA).

• The securities in the form of BLA will be issued and held with RBI and thus, RBI will act as central depository.

• A certificate of holding will be issued to the holder of securities in BLA.

Ans. No. The acquirer banks (other than local area banks) may, based on the approval of their Board, provide cash withdrawal facility at PoS terminals. The local area banks shall require the approval of RBI for providing this facility.

Ans. RTGS system enables participants to initiate and receive payments for inter-bank / non-bank / customer transactions. NEFT system allows members to send and receive transactions of retail nature electronically. Membership to NEFT is, however, relevant to non-bank PPI issuers only.

RTGS system also enables eligible members to post MNSB transactions, do Own Account Transfers (OAT) between current account and settlement account in RTGS. In the context of Q.7 above, MNSB transactions are relevant for Card Networks only.