100% foreign exchange earnings can be credited to the EEFC account subject to the condition that the sum total of the accruals in the account during a calendar month should be converted into Rupees on or before the last day of the succeeding calendar month after adjusting for utilization of the balances for approved purposes or forward commitments.

A Nostro account is a bank account established in a foreign country usually in the currency of that country for the purpose of carrying out transactions there. For example most commercial banks maintain US dollar accounts with their correspondent banks in USA in order to facilitate settlement of interbank and customer transactions in US dollar.

Ans. The Board for Regulation and Supervision of Payment and Settlement Systems Regulation, 2008 deals with the constitution of the Board for Regulation and Supervision of Payment and Settlement Systems (BPSS), a Committee of the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India. It also deals with the composition of the BPSS, its powers and functions, exercising of powers on behalf of BPSS, meetings of the BPSS and quorum, the constitution of Sub-Committees/Advisory Committees by BPSS, etc. The BPSS exercises the powers on behalf of the Reserve Bank, for regulation and supervision of the payment and settlement systems under the PSS Act, 2007.

The Payment and Settlement Systems Regulations, 2008 covers matters like form of application for authorization for commencing/ carrying on a payment system and grant of authorization, payment instructions and determination of standards of payment systems, furnishing of returns/documents/other information, furnishing of accounts and balance sheets by system provider etc.

No specific approach has been recommended for achieving ADF due to the reason that various banks are at different levels of IT and Process maturity. However, the Approach Paper on ADF clearly articulates the common end state for achieving the objectives of ADF.

Application and amount for the deposit (in the form of Bond Ledger Account) shall be received by any banking company, other than Co-operative Banks, to which the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (10 of 1949) applies (Authorised Banks).

Ans: Investible funds refer to capital infused in the business and surplus generated out of business of NBFC-P2P. It does not include funds of lenders and borrowers that flow through the escrow accounts. Customers’ funds lent/borrowed by using the platform cannot be utilised by the platform.

As per Clause 8 of the Scheme, the NBFC Ombudsman can receive and consider any complaint on the following grounds:non-payment or inordinate delay in the payment of interest on deposits;non-adherence to the Reserve Bank directives, if any, applicable to rate of interest on deposits;non-repayment or inordinate delay in the repayment of deposits;non-presentation or inordinate delay in the presentation of post-dated cheques provided by the customer;failure to convey in writing, the amount of loan sanctioned along with terms and conditions including annualised rate of interest and method of application thereof;failure or refusal to provide sanction letter/ terms and conditions of sanction in vernacular language or a language as understood by the borrower;failure or refusal to provide adequate notice on proposed changes being made in sanctioned terms and conditions in vernacular language as understood by the borrower;failure or inordinate delay in releasing the securities/ documents to the borrower on repayment of all dues;levying of charges without adequate prior notice to the borrower/customer;failure to provide legally enforceable built-in repossession clause in the contract/ loan agreement;failure to ensure transparency in the contract/ loan agreement regarding (i) notice period before taking possession of security; (ii) circumstances under which the notice period can be waived; (iii) the procedure for taking possession of the security; (iv) provision of final chance to be given to the borrower for repayment of loan before the sale/ auction of the security; (v) the procedure for giving repossession to the borrower and (vi) the procedure for sale/ auction of the security;non-observance of directions issued by Reserve Bank to the NBFCs;non-adherence to any of the other provisions of Reserve Bank Guidelines on Fair Practices Code for NBFCs.The Ombudsman may also deal with such other matter as may be specified by the Reserve Bank from time to time.

Ans. The BO /PO of a foreign entity, excluding an LO, are permitted to acquire property for their own use and to carry out permitted/incidental activities but not for leasing or renting out the property. However, entities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iran, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Hong Kong and Macau require prior approval of the Reserve Bank to acquire immovable property in India for a BO/PO. BOs/LOs/POs have general permission to carry out permitted/ incidental activities from leased property subject to lease period not exceeding five years.

• Yes, fixed rate of 1.5% would act as a floor, which means that 1.5% per annum interest rate is guaranteed if there is deflation.

• For example, if inflation rate is (-) 5%, then interest rate should be (-) 3.5% by simple calculation. But in such case, negative inflation will not be recognised and investors would get fixed rate of 1.5% (please see example 2 at 23).

Ans. Banks have been providing the services to non-banks for their payment and settlement needs.

Ans. Loans backed by hypothecation of any security shall not be treated as microfinance loans.

Yes. But ADs (banks) should ensure that the funds to be repatriated outside India were either received from abroad or are of repatriable in nature or are permissible in terms of RBI notification No.FEMA.13/2000 dated 3rd May 2000.

The provisions relating to process of selection / removal / qualification, etc. would be fully applicable to foreign banks operating under the branch model (FBOBM). However, in respect of FBOBM, any reference to the Board in terms of para 2.5 of the aforesaid circular detailing the selection process would be treated as equivalent to the Regional or Head Office Compliance. Further, in terms of para 2.7 on detailing the reporting line, any reference to the Board/ACB would be treated as equivalent to Regional or Head Office Compliance in case of FBOBM.

Ans. No, LEI is not required for customer transactions where both remitter and beneficiary are individuals. For transactions, where either or both parties are non-individual/s, LEI will be required.

As per Clause 8 of the Scheme, the Ombudsman for Digital Transactions shall receive and consider complaints on deficiency in services against System Participants defined in the Scheme on any of the following grounds:

4.(1) Prepaid Payment Instruments: Non-adherence to the instructions of Reserve Bank by System Participants about Prepaid Payment Instruments¹ on any of the following:

1. Failure in crediting merchant's account within reasonable time;

2. Failure to load funds within reasonable time in wallets / cards;

3. Unauthorized electronic fund transfer;

4. Non-Transfer / Refusal to transfer/ failure to transfer within reasonable time, the balance in the Prepaid Payment Instruments to the holder’s ‘own’ bank account or back to source at the time of closure, expiry of validity period etc., of the Prepaid Payment Instrument;

5. Failure to refund within reasonable time / refusal to refund in case of unsuccessful / returned / rejected / cancelled / transactions;

6. Non-credit / delay in crediting the account of the Prepaid Payment Instrument holder as per the terms and conditions of the promotions offer(s) from time to time, if any;

7. Non-adherence to any other instruction of the Reserve Bank on Prepaid Payment Instruments.

Ans. Corporates, Government Departments, PSUs and any other entity can participate as buyers in TReDS.

For the borrowers eligible for resolution under the circular dated August 6, 2020 on Resolution Framework for COVID-19-related Stress, the circular dated August 6, 2020 will be applicable if a resolution process under the circular is invoked. For all other borrowers, the extant instructions as otherwise applicable shall still be in force. However, if any entity is otherwise eligible to be resolved under the Resolution Framework, only Resolution Framework can be used for resolving the stress arising out of the pandemic.

Response: In addition to financial transactions, any process initiated by the cardholder such as generation of statement, change of PIN, change in transaction controls, etc., shall be considered for treating a card as ‘used’. However, any calls made to the customer care centre, for reasons other than those cited above, shall not be considered towards usage of a card.

ANS: Yes. The banks are required to transfer the entire amount, including the accrued interest, as on the date of transfer to the DEA Fund.

ANS: A user is required to register on the portal by providing his/her name and mobile number. (The user manual available on the portal (https://udgam.rbi.org.in/unclaimed-deposits/#/login) elucidates the detailed process of registration and use of the portal).
(a) Individuals: For searching unclaimed deposits in individual category, a user has to provide inputs such as name of the account holder, name of the bank (one or more banks can be selected) and any one or more of the five inputs viz., Permanent Account Number (PAN), Driving License Number, Voter ID Number, Passport Number and Date of Birth of the account holder.
(b) Non-Individuals: For searching unclaimed deposits in non-individual category, a user has to provide inputs such as name of the entity, name of the bank (one or more banks can be selected) and any one or more of the four inputs viz., Name of the authorised signatory, PAN, Corporate Identification Number (CIN) and Date of Incorporation.
Even if none of the above-mentioned information is available, the user can type the address of the account holder or the entity (as the case may be), in place of these inputs mentioned above for undertaking the search.