No. The deposit insurance scheme is compulsory and no bank can withdraw from it.

A franchiser, i.e. AD Category–I Bank/ AD Category–II / FFMC should undertake the following minimum checks while conducting due diligence of its franchisees:

1. existing business activities of the franchisee/ its position in the area

2. minimum Net Owned Funds of the franchisee

3. Shops & Establishments / other applicable municipal certification in favour of the franchisee

4. verification of physical existence of location of the franchisee, where restricted money changing activities will be conducted

5. conduct certificate of the franchisee from the local police authorities (certified copy of Memorandum and Articles of Association and Certificate of Incorporation in respect of incorporated entities)
   
   Note: Obtaining of Conduct Certificate of the franchisee from the local police authorities is optional for the franchisers. However, the franchisers may take due care to avoid appointing individuals/ entities as franchisees who have cases / proceedings initiated / pending against them by any law enforcing agencies.

6. declaration regarding past criminal case, if any, cases initiated / pending against the franchisee or its directors / partners by any law enforcing agency, if any

7. PAN Card of the franchisee and its directors / partners

8. photographs of the directors / partners and the key persons of franchisee

The above checks should be done on a regular basis, at least once in a year. The franchiser should obtain from the franchisees proper documentary evidence confirming the location of the franchisees in addition to personal visits to the site. The franchiser should also obtain a Chartered Accountant's certificate confirming the maintenance of minimum Net Owned Funds of the franchisee, i.e., Rs.10 lakh on an ongoing basis.

In case the aggregate amount bid is more than the reserved amount through non-competitive bidding, allotment would be made on a pro rata basis.

Example:

Suppose, the amount reserved for allotment in non-competitive basis is 10 crore. The total amount of bids for non-competitive segment is 12 crore. The partial allotment percentage is =10/12=83.33%. That is, each bank or PD or specified stock exchange who has submitted non-competitive bids received from eligible investors will get 83.33% of the total amount submitted by him. It may be noted that the actual allotment may vary slightly at times from the partial allotment ratio due to rounding off with a view to ensuring that the allotted amounts are in multiples of 10,000/-.

Ans. A customer is required to pay only those charges which are explicitly mentioned in the factsheet provided by the lender. Besides this, the customer should also note the following:

• There is no pre-payment penalty on microfinance loans.

• Penalty, if any, for delayed payment can be applied only on the overdue amount and not on the entire loan amount.

• Any change in interest rate or any other charge shall be informed to the borrower in writing well in advance and these changes shall be effective only prospectively.

Ans. No. RTGS is a credit-push system i.e., transactions can be originated by the payer / remitter / sender only to pay / transfer / remit funds to a beneficiary.

Yes. The customer can approach the bank to discount or purchase the cheque. It is the commercial decision to extend this facility to customers based on customer profile. It needs to be appreciated that the charges for purchase / discount will be significantly higher because the bank will be parting with the proceeds before realising the cheques. The charges will vary depending on when the request for discount / purchase is made by the customer and the period for which the bank is out of funds.

Response

Yes. Please refer to response to the above query (Query No.14). However, if the bank does not levy any additional charges and offers more facilities free than those prescribed under BDBDA a/cs without minimum balance then such accounts can be classified as BSBDA.

Yes. As per the 13 of the Scheme, the NBFC Ombudsman may reject a complaint at any stage on the following grounds:the complaint made is not on the grounds of complaint referred to in clause 8 of the Scheme; orthe compensation sought is beyond the pecuniary limit specified under the Scheme; orthe complaint made requires consideration of elaborate documentary and oral evidence and the proceedings before the Ombudsman are not appropriate for adjudication of such complaint; orthe complaint made is without any sufficient cause; orthe complaint made is not pursued by the complainant with reasonable diligence required to be taken; orin the opinion of the Ombudsman there is no loss or damage or inconvenience caused to the complainant.

Yes.

• The minimum investment limit is Rs. 5,000/- (five thousand).

• The maximum limit is Rs. 10 lakh per annum for eligible individual investors and Rs. 25 lakh per annum for institutions such as HUFs, Charitable Trusts, Education Endowments and similar institutions which are not pro-profit in nature.