Ans.

i. In NEFT payment messages, the field 7495 is a free format optional field consisting of 6 lines with 35 characters each with alphanumeric options. The first two lines of this field hall be used for capturing sender and beneficiary customer LEI information, in that order, where applicable and available. When LEI information is captured, narration, remarks, etc., shall be part of last 4 lines of the field. The sender and beneficiary information shall be captured in following format:

7495: line 1 -> SL/20 digit sender LEI/

line 2 -> BL/20 digit beneficiary LEI/

ii. In RTGS customer payment and inter-bank messages, the optional field “<-RmtInf->” has 4 repeat tags with each having 140 characters. The first two loops of this field shall be used for capturing sender and beneficiary customer LEI information, in that order, where applicable and available. When LEI information is captured, narration, remarks, etc., shall be part of last two repeating loops of the field. The sender and beneficiary information shall be captured in following format:

<-RmtInf-> loop 1 -> /SL/20 digit sender LEI/

loop 2 -> /BL/20 digit beneficiary LEI/

No, SEZ Units cannot open EEFC Accounts. However, a unit located in a Special Economic Zone can open a Foreign Currency Account with an Authorised Dealer in India subject to conditions stipulated in Regulation 4 (D) of Foreign Exchange Management (Foreign Currency Accounts by a person Resident in India) Regulations dated January 21, 2016.

In terms of GOI notification No.SO.301(E) dated March 30, 2001, banks are free to allow remittance for maintenance of close relatives abroad not exceeding net salary (after deduction of taxes, contribution to provident fund and other deductions) of a person who is resident but not permanently resident in India and is a citizen of a foreign state other than Pakistan.

Therefore, independent of QA 22 procedure, they may allow remittance of net salary.

The charges levied by banks for collection of such USD denominated cheques are dependent on the type of collection arrangement chosen by customers and the number of intermediaries (correspondent banks) involved in the collection process. Each of the CBs will levy their own charges for facilitating the process of collection. All these charges will be in turn levied by the collecting banks in India from the customers. The customer’s account is credited net of collection charges (proceeds minus collection charges)

Ans. Yes, these terms are defined in Section 2 (1) of the PSS Act, 2007.

No specific Technology, Vendor, Service Provider or Process has been recommended for achieving ADF and it has been left to the banks to decide on these issues on the basis of internal requirements.

Application for the deposit will be available at branches of Authorised Banks. It is also available in the Reserve Bank of India website.

Response

No. An individual is eligible to have only one 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account' in one bank.

Yes. One can have Term/Fixed Deposit, Recurring Deposit etc., accounts in the bank where one holds 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account'.

The components of the spread i.e. business strategy and Credit risk premium shall have either a positive value or be zero. In other words, the spread components cannot be negative.

Ans: The applicant should give the list of promoters and the source of funds for the minimum capital of Rs 2 crore. The capital should be infused before issue of CoR. No change in promoters will be allowed in the interregnum.

For redressal of grievance, the complainant must first approach the concerned NBFC. If the NBFC does not reply within a period of one month after receipt of the complaint, or the NBFC rejects the complaint, or if the complainant is not satisfied with the reply given by the NBFC, the complainant can file the complaint with the NBFC Ombudsman under whose jurisdiction the branch/ registered office of the NBFC falls.

As and when the bank mobilizes USD one million or more of FCNR (B) deposits, it may approach RBI. Normally, banks may enter into swap transactions with RBI once in a week in consultation with the Financial Markets Department of RBI.

Ans. Yes provided the bank account is re-designated as a BO account.

• Interest will be accrued and compounded in the principal on half-yearly basis and paid along with principal at the time of redemption.

Ans. Direct participation in CPS can reduce delay in execution of funds transfer instructions of non-banks. Further, if there is any impact in the functioning of the bank, it can cause business disruptions for its non-bank customers as well. Such disruptions, even if temporary, can have the potential to spread instability in the system.

Direct participation to CPS will enable access neutrality between banks and non-banks and facilitate better settlement risk management with increased participation of non-banks.

Ans. Yes, for providing a non-microfinance loan to a low-income household (as defined under the directions), it should be ensured that the limit of 50 per cent on monthly loan repayment obligations of a household as a percentage of monthly household income is not breached. In other words, the limit of 50 per cent shall include both microfinance as well as non-microfinance loans.

• There is no bar on processing of payment transactions outside India if so desired by the PSOs. However, the data shall be stored only in India after the processing. The complete end-to-end transaction details should be part of the data.

• In case the processing is done abroad, the data should be deleted from the systems abroad and brought back to India not later than the one business day or 24 hours from payment processing, whichever is earlier. The same should be stored only in India.

• However, any subsequent activity such as settlement processing after payment processing, if done outside India, shall also be undertaken / performed on a near real time basis. The data should be stored only in India.

• In case of any other related processing activity, such as chargeback, etc., the data can be accessed, at any time, from India where it is stored.

Yes, the originating NBFCs/HFCs have the option to buy back their assets after a specified period of 12 months, as a re-purchase transaction on a right of first refusal basis.

Ans. Banks, NBFC - Factors and other financial institutions as permitted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), can participate as financiers in TReDS.

In terms of para 2 of the circular, CCO is to be selected through a suitable process with an appropriate ‘Fit and Proper’ evaluation/selection criteria. ‘Fit and Proper’ criteria may be examined and reported from the perspectives of competency, integrity and conflict of interest, among others.

For redressal of grievance, the complainant must first approach the System Participant (as defined in the Scheme) concerned. If the System Participant does not reply within a period of one month after receipt of the complaint, or rejects the complaint, or if the complainant is not satisfied with the reply given, the complainant can file the complaint with the Ombudsman for Digital Transactions within whose jurisdiction the branch or office of the System Participant complained against, is located. For complaints arising out of services with centralized operations, the same shall be filed before the Ombudsman for Digital Transactions within whose territorial jurisdiction the billing / declared address of the customer is located.

No. For NRIs the facility is available from January 2, 2017 to June 30, 2017 at five Reserve Bank offices at Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, and Nagpur. The limit of exchange for NRIs will be ₹ 25000/-.

All loans meeting the eligibility criteria, unless covered by the specific exclusions listed in Paragraph 2 of the Annex to the Resolution Framework subject to the clarification at Sl. No. 2 above fall within the scope of resolution under the framework. These loans, if not falling under any of the categories mentioned in Paragraph 2 of the Annex to the Resolution Framework, is eligible for resolution under Part A of the Annex if they fall within the purview of “personal loans” as defined in the Circular DBR.No.BP.BC.99/08.13.100/2017-18 dated January 4, 2018 on “XBRL Returns – Harmonization of Banking Statistics”, even if they are not explicitly classified as so in any regulatory / supervisory reporting, or under Part B of the Annex otherwise.

Response: For business credit cards, wherein the cards have been issued based on the application by a corporate or business entity, card-issuers shall seek explicit consent as required under paragraph 6(a)(vi)/send intimation as required under paragraph 8(b) respectively from/to the principal account holder (viz. corporate or business entity) unless specified otherwise in the agreement. Similarly, with regard to retail credit cards too, it is clarified that the requisite consent shall be sought from the principal cardholder and not from the add-on cardholders.

However, for blocking of such credit cards, either the actual cardholder or the principal cardholder can initiate the request.

Ans: Yes, customer/depositor can claim a refund of their unclaimed amounts from their banks. Based on the request of claim made by customer/depositor or legal heirs (in case of deceased depositors), the banks shall repay the customer/depositor along with interest (applicable only in case of Interest-Bearing deposit accounts) and then lodge a claim for a refund from the DEA Fund maintained by the RBI for an equivalent amount paid to the customer/depositor.

ANS: No, the UDGAM portal facilitates only (a) the search of unclaimed deposits/accounts across multiple banks at one place and (b) provides information on claim/settlement process of each bank (which will be available in the search result). The unclaimed deposits can be claimed only from the respective bank.

The Public Debt Act, 1944 shall cease to apply to the Government securities to which the G S Act applies, while the Indian Securities Act, 1920 has been repealed.

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]

Yes, joint holding is allowed.

Ans. Remittances under the facility can be consolidated in respect of family members subject to the individual family members complying with the terms and conditions of the Scheme. However, clubbing is not permitted by other family members for capital account transactions such as opening a bank account and investment, if they are not the co-owners/co-partners of the investment/ overseas bank account. Remittances for acquiring immovable property outside India from a person resident outside India, may be consolidated in respect of relatives if such relatives, being persons resident in India, comply with the terms and conditions of the Scheme.

Ans: By nature, prepaid cards can be (a) Small PPIs and (b) Full-KYC PPIs. The usage depends on the type of PPI and is subject to prescribed limits and conditions. These cards can be issued by both banks and non-banks.

• Small PPIs can be used only 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.

• Full KYC-PPIs can be used for purchase of goods and services, funds transfer or cash withdrawal.

FAQs on Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) give further detailed information on PPIs.

Ans: The ‘outstanding amount’ to be displayed on the website of the RE shall be as per definition provided under Section 13 (9) (b) of the SARFAESI Act, 2002 i.e. it shall include principal, interest and any other dues payable by the borrower to the secured creditor in respect of secured asset as per the books of account of the secured creditor.

The term ‘credit facility’ means a term loan, project loan subscription to bonds/ debentures/ preference shares/ equity shares in a project company acquired as a part of project finance package such that such subscription amounts to be “in the nature of advance” or any other form of long term funded facility provided to a borrower company engaged in developing/ operating and maintaining/ developing, operating and maintaining infrastructure facilities, that is a project in any of the sub-sectors as specified in the definition of infrastructure loan.

Ans.: In case MF company does not receive the soft-form of Schedule-4, they may download the same from RBI website under the head 'Regulatory Reporting' → ‘List of Returns’ → ‘FLA Schedule IV - Survey Schedule’ [or under the head 'Forms' (available under ‘More Links’ at the bottom of the home page) and sub-head Survey] or send a request to the e-mail: mfquery@rbi.org.in

The entities from Singapore enabled for the UPI-PayNow linkage and their VPAs are as follows:

Banks / Non-bank	VPA Handles Enabled
DBS Bank Singapore	Registered mobile number
Liquid Group (Non-Bank Financial Institution)	Registered mobile number followed by XNAP (e.g., 123456789XNAP)

Members of the public may approach bank branches for deposit and/or exchange of ₹2000 banknotes held by them.

The facility for deposit into accounts and exchange for ₹2000 banknotes will be available at all banks until September 30, 2023. The facility for exchange will be available also at the 19 Regional Offices (ROs) of RBI having Issue Departments¹ until September 30, 2023.

Ans: While the Guidelines mandate the REs accepting DLG cover to have a Board approved policy in place, the REs acting as DLG providers shall also put in place Board approved policy as a prudent measure.

Ans: If the remitting customer maintains an account with a bank branch in India, there is no need for any additional information, documents or identification. Else, the remitter has to submit documents for proof of identification such as Passport / Permanent Account Number / Driving License / Telephone Bill / Certificate of Identification issued by his employer with photograph and other details. The information will be captured in the NEFT system as part of compliance with Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements. Complete address and telephone / mobile number of the beneficiary in Nepal will also be required.

Ans. The circular does not prescribe any instructions with respect to SWIFT message formats.

1. Yes, the green activities/ projects financed under the framework can be classified under priority sector if they meet the requirements laid down in priority sector lending (PSL) guidelines of RBI [Master Directions FIDD.CO.Plan.BC.5/04.09.01/2020-21 dated September 04, 2020] as amended from time to time.

2. As the activities/ projects listed in the framework are the same as indicated in Sovereign Green Bonds (SGrBs) framework, investment by REs in SGrBs are covered under the framework.

Answer: The RBI has published an Alert List containing names of entities neither authorised as ‘authorised persons’ to deal in forex under the FEMA, 1999 nor authorised to operate ETPs under the Electronic Trading Platforms (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2018. The Alert List also contains names of entities/platforms/websites which appear to be promoting unauthorised entities/ETPs, including through advertisements of such unauthorised entities or claiming to be providing training/advisory services. The Alert List is not exhaustive and is based on what was known to RBI at the time of publication. An entity not appearing in the Alert List should not be assumed to be authorised by the RBI. The authorisation status of any person / ETP can be ascertained from the list of authorised persons and authorised ETPs.

Answer: This is essentially a bank-to-bank arrangement similar to correspondent banking arrangement.

Ans. The customer need not pay any charges for availing this service.

The Circular does not prohibit an audit firm from doing audit of any Company/Entity with Large Exposure to the Entity from being appointed as SCA/SA of the Entity. It only stipulates that this aspect should also be explicitly factored while assessing independence of the auditor. In this regard, the Board/ACB/LMC shall see that there is no conflict of interest and the independence of auditors is ensured.

In terms of RBI circular RPCD. MSME&NFS.BC.No.46/06.12.05/2012-13 dated November 09, 2012, banks have been advised not to reject any education loan application for reasons that the residence of the borrower does not fall under the bank's service area.

Ans: In case of floating rate loans, APR may be disclosed at the time of origination based on the prevailing rate as per the format of KFS. However, as and when the floating rate changes, only the revised APR may be disclosed to the customer via SMS/ e-mail each time the revised APR becomes applicable.

Ans: Ideally, the gap between time of transfer and due-diligence cut-off date should be minimal and the board approved policy should strive to ensure that. However, to account for such scenario and to ensure strict compliance with the stipulation that no loans in default is transferred under provisions of chapter III, lenders are advised to formulate a board approved policy covering all pertinent aspects.

Ans: Presently market risk capital charge for Government Securities is calculated using Standardized Duration Method. This method is based on the price sensitivity with respect to nominal interest rates (modified duration). This methodology may be made applicable to IIBs also. Nominal interest rates are composed of two factors: real interest rates and inflation expectations. IIBs are exposed to the risk of changes in the real rates only. Therefore, price sensitivity calculated with respect to nominal yields will not provide the true risk of the IIBs. Hence in the case of IIBs, price sensitivity with respect to change in the real yields should be calculated for IIBs.

Ans. Yes. All compounding applications shall be submitted along with the prescribed fee of ₹10,000/- (plus applicable GST, which at present is 18%) by way of demand draft in favour of “Reserve Bank of India” and payable at the concerned Regional Office/ CO Cell, New Delhi/ Central Office or through National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT), or other permissible electronic or online modes of payment. The necessary details for making the payment through electronic mode is provided in Annexure I in Directions – Compounding of contraventions under FEMA, 1999. In case application fee is paid through NEFT or other permissible electronic mode of payment, it may be ensured that intimation of payment of applications fee, to respective RO, CO Cell, or Central Office, as case may be, shall be made as soon as possible but not later than 2 hours from time of payment, through an email as per the template provided in Para B of Annexure I of Directions – Compounding of contraventions under FEMA, 1999.

It may further be noted that in case compounding application is returned for any reason, The application fee, if paid, shall not be returned in case of return of the compounding application. However, in case such applications are re-submitted, then the application fee need not be paid again.

Answer: A resident individual can open a foreign currency account with a bank outside India in the following cases:

1) A resident student who has gone abroad for studies for the period of stay abroad. All credits to the account from India should be made in accordance with FEMA and the rules and regulations made thereunder. On the student’s return to India after completion of studies, the account will be deemed to have been opened under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS).

2) A resident who is on a visit to a foreign country for the period of stay abroad. The balance in the account should be repatriated to India on return of the account holder to India.

3) A person going abroad to participate in an exhibition/ trade fair for crediting the sale proceeds of goods. The balance should be repatriated to India within one month from the date of closure of the exhibition/ trade fair.

4) A resident individual, being an exporter, for realisation of full export value and receipt of advance remittance by the exporter towards export of goods or services.

5) The following persons for remitting/ receiving their entire salary payable to them in India:

1. A foreign citizen resident in India, who is an employee of a foreign company and is on deputation to the office/ branch/ subsidiary/ joint venture/ group company in India;

2. An Indian citizen who is an employee of a foreign company and is on deputation to the office/ branch/ subsidiary/ joint venture/ group company in India; and

3. A foreign citizen who is a resident in India and is employed with an Indian company.

6) For the purpose of sending remittances under the Liberalized Remittance Scheme.