Ans: All direct investments in group companies, as appearing in the CICs balance sheet will be taken into account for this purpose. Investments made by subsidiaries in step down subsidiaries or other entities will not be taken into account for computing 90 percent of net assets.

The applicant company is required to apply online and submit a physical copy of the application along with the necessary documents to the Regional Office of the Reserve Bank of India. The application can be submitted online by accessing RBI’s secured website https://cosmos.rbi.org.in . At this stage, the applicant company will not need to log on to the COSMOS application and hence user ids are not required. The company can click on “CLICK” for Company Registration on the login page of the COSMOS Application. A window showing the Excel application form available for download would be displayed. The company can then download suitable application form (i.e. NBFC or SC/RC) from the above website, key in the data and upload the application form. The company may note to indicate the correct name of the Regional Office in the field “C-8” of the “Annex-I dentification Particulars” in the Excel application form. The company would then get a Company Application Reference Number for the CoR application filed on-line. Thereafter, the company has to submit the hard copy of the application form (indicating the online Company Application Reference Number, along with the supporting documents, to the concerned Regional Office. The company can then check the status of the application from the above mentioned secure address, by keying in the acknowledgement number.

Ans: The CPIS is conducted by the Reserve Bank half yearly to collect the required details of the reporting entities as on end-March and end-September of a FY. In general, the survey is launched for end-March and end-September position on June 01 and December 01 of that year respectively.

Clarification: For the loans sanctioned before September 4, 2020, outstanding value up to ₹10 lakh, irrespective of the sanctioned limit, shall continue to be classified under priority sector till maturity. However, while reckoning any fresh loan under PSL to a borrower who had already availed education loan from the bank prior to September 4, 2020, it needs to be ensured that the aggregate sanctioned limit does not exceed ₹20 lakh for classification of the loans under PSL.

In the mentioned scenario, as the combined sanctioned limit becomes ₹30 lakh, the ₹18 lakh loan extended after September 4, 2020 shall not be eligible for PSL classification. However, with regard to the ₹12 lakh loan, which was already PSL as per earlier guidelines, the outstanding value under the facility, up to ₹10 lakh shall continue to be eligible under PSL till maturity.

No. As defined in the circular, technical write-off refers to cases where the NPAs remain outstanding at borrowers’ loan account level, but are derecognised by the lenders only for accounting purposes. Technical write-off is a normal banking practice undertaken by the lenders to cleanse the balance sheets of bad debts which are either considered unrecoverable or whose recovery is likely to consume disproportionate resources of the lenders. However, such technical write-offs do not entail any waiver of claims against the borrower and thus the lenders’ right to recovery is not undermined in any manner. Therefore, the defaulting borrowers are not benefited in any manner and their legal obligation as well as the costs of such defaults for them remain unchanged vis-à-vis the position prior to technical write-offs.

The circular only provides clarity on definition of technical write-off and a broad guidance on the process to be followed by the lenders for technical write-offs, which will ensure consistency in the approach followed by various lenders.

Ans.: After sending the duly filled in survey schedule (excel based) to the generic email IDs of the Reserve Bank as per the instruction in the survey schedule, the respondent will receive the system-generated acknowledgement. No separate mail will be sent in this regard. If some error is mentioned in the acknowledgement, then the respondent is required to resubmit the form by rectifying the mentioned error. After corrections, the respondent should receive a successful processing acknowledgement email.

The RBI Retail Direct Online Portal will facilitate the following:

1. Buying Government securities through primary auctions (non-competitive segment only).

2. Buying and selling Government securities in the secondary market.

3. Buying and selling Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs) in the primary and secondary market.

4. Investor services such as account statement, nomination facility, pledge/lien, gift transactions, grievance redressal, and managing profile like contact details etc.

The information about indent and supply of notes and coins or currency/coins in circulation is available on our website www.rbi.org.in, at the following link https://rbi.org.in/Scripts/AnnualReportMainDisplay.aspx

The application form and an indicative checklist of the documents required to be submitted along with the application is available at www.rbi.org.in → Site Map → NBFC List → Forms/ Returns.

Ans: Yes, entities can fill the FLA return even after due date, after taking approval from RBI. But in that case, penalty clause may be invoked on the entity for late submission.

The foreign equity holders as defined at Paragraph 1.11 of the Master Direction No. 5 on ‘External Commercial Borrowings, Trade Credits and Structured Obligations dated March 26, 2019 (MD) are eligible to lend for the end-uses given at Paragraph 2.1.viii(d), 2.1.viii(e) and 2.1.viii(f) of the MD. For end-uses, other than those in the negative list, recognised lenders are given at Paragraph 2.1.iv of the MD.

Ans: Anything that has to be repaid will be an outside liability.

Ans: In general, the due date for participating in CPIS for end-March and end-September position is July 15 and December 31 of that year respectively.

The circular is intended to achieve the following objectives:

1. It rationalises the existing regulatory guidance to banks on compromise settlements, consolidating various instructions issued over the years. It also tightens some of the related provisions and ensures greater transparency.

2. By providing a clear regulatory framework, it enables other regulated entities, particularly cooperative banks, to undertake compromise settlements as part of the normal resolution efforts.

3. It provides clarity on definition of technical write-off and provides a broad guidance on the process to be followed by the regulated entities for technical write-offs, which is a normal banking practice.

4. As a disincentive to both the lenders and the borrowers, it introduces the concept of cooling period for normal cases of compromise settlement during which the lender undertaking settlement shall not take any fresh exposure on the borrower entity. In case of borrower accounts classified as wilful defaulter or fraud, the debarment to obtain fresh finance, as explained at (2) above, will apply.

Ans: Yes, entities can modify the already submitted FLA return after taking the approval from RBI.

Ans.: In case the account closing is different from end-March, the company cannot report the information as per their account closing period. In such cases, the information should be reported for the reference period only, i.e., previous March and latest March based on company’s internal assessment. Companies can submit provisional figures in FCS survey schedule, if audited data is not available.

1. Eligible Investors may login to https://rbiretaildirect.org.in and register using the Registration link to begin the account opening process.

2. To open an account, the investor will have to furnish details like full name, PAN, mobile number, e-mail address, residential address, savings bank account number, etc. and specify a login name. Mobile number and email address will be authenticated using OTP and all further customer requests and services will be OTP based.

3. For joint accounts, the PAN, e-mail address and phone number of both holders will be required.

4. Once these details have been provided, you will get a reference number to track your application.

5. You may now initiate your Know Your Customer (KYC) verification process.

6. In case of joint accounts, the KYC verification will be done for both the holders.

7. It will be mandatory for the investor to fill in the nomination details at the time of opening of the account.

8. The savings bank account of the customer will be linked to their Retail Direct account by crediting a token amount into their bank account and verifying the same.

9. Once the KYC is successful, an RDG account will be opened in the name of the investor(s).

10. Information related to account number, login id & password to access the Online Portal will be made available to the customer on their registered e-mail id.

11. In case of KYC failures, the individual can make new application or resubmit application after making necessary changes.