Ans : Yes, in addition to the consent of the beneficiaries, the mandate also provides important information related to bank account details etc. which are useful for the user institution to transfer funds to the right accounts . A model mandate form has been prescribed for the purpose and is available in the ECS Credit Procedural Guidelines.

Ans. The remitting customer has to furnish the following information to a bank for initiating an RTGS remittance:

1. Amount to be remitted

2. The account number to be debited

3. Name of the beneficiary bank and branch

4. The IFSC number of the receiving branch

5. Name of the beneficiary customer

6. Account number of the beneficiary customer

7. Sender to receiver information, if any

8. Sender and Beneficiary Legal Entity Identifier (for eligible transactions)

• WPI series is being revised after every 10 or more years (e.g. base year revision in WPI series took place in 1981-82, 1993-94 and 2004-05).

• Any revision in the base year would be tackled by splicing the base years so that a consistent WPI series with the same base year is available for indexation purpose since the issue date of the bond.

Yes. One or more documents can be uploaded along with the application. However each document size should not exceed 1 MB.

PM remains responsible, as the case at present, of all the actions of his GAHs. PM will be responsible for the margin maintenance and settlement of the trades of their GAHs also. Prior to commencement of trade on NDS-OM Web by an eligible authorized GAH user, the PM shall ensure that the various Operational Risk Control Parameters (ORCP) values have been set on NDS-OM Web. For the purpose, PM needs to install an application for its GAHs Management, Risk Management and Bid Management policies and practices. NDS-OM Administrator (CCIL) would create an authorized super-user (Client Head) for the PM for attending to the management activities.

Ans No. It is not necessary for all branches to have computer systems. Branches can send the remittance details to their service branch in paper format (the copies of the EFT Application Forms submitted by the remitting customers accompanied by a Remittance Scroll). The Service branch will make data entry and transmit the funds transfer information electronically to local NCC. But, if a branch has computer facility, it can transmit funds transfer information electronically to its service branch either on a floppy or through a network. This would minimise the data entry work at the service branch.

Yes. If you have deposits with more than one bank, deposit insurance coverage limit is applied separately to the deposits in each bank.

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.

Person going abroad for employment can draw foreign exchange upto USD100,000 from any authorised dealer in India on the basis of self-declaration.

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

The Reserve Bank of India is the aggregator for accounting of all GST collections in the respective government accounts. Agency banks who collect the GST for challans generated by tax payers online on the GST portal report the collections for settlement to government accounts to RBI. RBI has also facilitated payment of GST by tax payers directly into government accounts at RBI by using NEFT / RTGS payment options provided in GST portal.

Yes. This is available on the RBI website. The aggregator or facilitator through whom the application is made will assist the investor to obtain the form.

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 have freedom to determine their own penal rates of interest for premature withdrawal of term deposits.

Authorised dealers are permitted to allow advance remittance where the contracts/agreements insist for the same. However, where the amount exceeds US $ 100,000 or its equivalent, a guarantee from a bank of international repute, situated outside India or a guarantee from an authorised dealer in India, if such a guarantee is issued against the counter-guarantee of a bank of international repute situated outside India, should be obtained from the overseas beneficiary. The remitter in India will have to ensure that the overseas beneficiary has fulfilled his obligations under the contract/agreement.

Real estate business means buying and selling of real estate or trading in transferable development rights (TDRs) but does not include development of township, construction of residential/commercial premises, roads and bridges.

Foreign exchange can be purchased from any authorised dealer. Besides authorised dealers, full-fledged money changers are also permitted to release exchange for business and private visits.

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.

Yes, in addition to the consent of the beneficiaries, the mandate also provides important information related to bank account details etc. which are useful for the user institution to transfer funds to the right accounts . A model mandate form has been prescribed for the purpose and is available in the ECS Credit Procedural Guidelines.

No. It is clarified that requirement under ADF is restricted to ensuring that data as available in the banks’ source systems is submitted to Reserve Bank without any manual intervention. All returns, statement and reports prescribed by RBI to be submitted by banks fall under the ADF project.

Eligible investors cannot participate directly. They have to necessarily come through a Bank or Primary Dealer (PD) for auction.

Ans. “Settlement” means the settlement of payment instructions received and these include settlement of securities, foreign exchange or derivatives or other transactions. Settlement can take place either on a net basis or on a gross basis. Both netting and gross settlement system are defined under the Act.

Ans. Response to Q.No.2 may be referred to for the applicable types of transactions.

The deposit by a declarant shall not be less than twenty-five per cent of the undisclosed income declared under sub-section (1) of section 199C of the Taxation and Investment Regime for Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, 2016. Deposit shall be made in multiples of ₹ 100.

Under Section 19 of the Factoring Act, 2011 every Factor is under obligation to file the particulars of every transaction of assignment of receivables in his favour with the Central Registry to be set-up under section 20 of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (54 of 2002), within a period of thirty days from the date of such assignment or from the date of establishment of such registry, as the case may be.

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.

One may lodge complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman for Digital Transactions within whose jurisdiction the branch or office of the System Participant complained against, is located (For jurisdiction of the Ombudsman please click here). For complaint arising out of services with centralized operations, complaints can be filed with the office of the Ombudsman for Digital Transactions within whose territorial jurisdiction the billing / declared 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.

Yes, foreign exchange earnings received through an international credit card for which reimbursement has been made in foreign exchange may be regarded as remittance through normal banking channel and the same can be credited to the EEFC account.

Ans: Banks can replace the security sold through buy-back route with any other specified security for the amount availed under TLTRO scheme. Banks should ensure that their TLTRO funding should always be backed by specified security till maturity of TLTRO.

No. Timeframe for collection of USD cheques will vary depending on the collection mode. The date of credit to the account of the customer will be reckoned based on the date of credit (value date) to the Nostro Account of collecting banks and the cooling period. The time taken by banks for collection of USD cheques normally ranges from 15 to 30 days and may go up to 45 days depending upon the collection arrangement and place at which the instrument is payable. The diversity in the banking and payment systems in USA and laws governing cheque transactions have a significant bearing on the collection time. Based on the mode of collection, banks have been advised to indicate the period for collection of USD cheques in their USD Cheque Collection Policy. The transit time may be reduced by 2 to 3 days by sending the cheques the same day from branches to centralised pooling branch and centralised pooling branch to Correspondent Banks. However, banks have also been advised to explore using faster methods of realisation such as leveraging on Check-21 facility in the US for saving in transit time.

Yes, subscription to the market instruments in the primary market will be considered to determine exposures beyond NPPL.

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

Yes, banks have to necessarily approach RBI for cancellation of the swap if the underlying FCNR (B) deposit has been prematurely withdrawn. For the sake of operational and mutual convenience of both RBI and the bank, the cancellation of the swap may be undertaken once a threshold amount of deposits have been prematurely withdrawn. The threshold amount will be decided by RBI and conveyed to the bank at the time of bank approaching the RBI for cancellation of swap.

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.

The System Audit Report (SAR), from a CERT-In empanelled Auditor, should inter-alia include Data Storage, Maintenance of Database, Data Backup Restoration, Data Security, etc.

ಉತ್ತರ.

ಕ್ಲೋಸ್ಡ್ ಸಿಸ್ಟಮ್ ಪಿಪಿಐಗಳು : ಈ ಪಿಪಿಐಗಳನ್ನು ಆ ಘಟಕದಿಂದ ಮಾತ್ರ ಸರಕುಗಳು ಹಾಗೂ ಸೇವೆಗಳನ್ನು ಖರೀದಿಸಲು ಅನುಕೂಲವಾಗುವಂತೆ ಒಂದು ಘಟಕದಿಂದ ನೀಡಲಾಗುತ್ತದೆ ಹಾಗೂ ಹಣ ಹಿಂಪಡೆಯಲು ಅನುಮತಿಸುವುದಿಲ್ಲ . ಈ ಉಪಕರಣಗಳನ್ನು ಮೂರನೇಯ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಗಳ ಸೇವೆಗಳಿಗಾಗಿ ಪಾವತಿಸುವುದಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಅಥವಾ ಹಣ ಸಂದಾಯಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಬಳಸಲಾಗದ ಕಾರಣ, ಅಂತಹ ಉಪಕರಣಗಳ ನೀಡಿಕೆ ಹಾಗೂ ಕಾರ್ಯಾಚರಣೆಯನ್ನು ಆರ್ಬಿಐ ಅನುಮೋದನೆ/ ಅಧಿಕೃತತೆಯ ಅಗತ್ಯವಿರುವ ಪೇಮೆಂಟ್ ಸಿಸ್ಟಮ್ ಎಂದು ವರ್ಗೀಕರಿಸಲಾಗಿಲ್ಲ.

ಸೆಮಿ- ಕ್ಲೋಸ್ಡ್ ಸಿಸ್ಟಮ್ ಪಿಪಿಐಗಳು: ಈ ಪಿಪಿಐಗಳನ್ನು ಬ್ಯಾಂಕುಗಳು [ಆರಬಿಐನಿಂದ ಅನುಮೋದಿತ] ಹಾಗೂ ಬ್ಯಾಂಕೇತರರು[ ಆರ್ಬಿಐನಿಂದ ಅಧಿಕೃತ ಅಧಿಕಾರ ಪಡೆದ ] ಹಣಕಾಸು ಸೇವೆಗಳು,ಹಣ ರವಾನೆ ಸೌಲಭ್ಯಗಳು, ಮುಂತಾದವುಗಳನ್ನೊಳಗೊಂಡು , ಸರಕುಗಳು ಹಾಗೂ ಸೇವೆಗಳನ್ನು ಖರೀದಿಸುವುದಕ್ಕಾಗಿ,ಸ್ಪಷ್ಟವಾಗಿ ಗುರುತಿಸಲಾದ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರ ಸ್ಥಳಗಳು/ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಗಳ ಸಮೂಹದಲ್ಲಿ ನೀಡಲಾಗುತ್ತದೆ, ಪಿಪಿಐಗಳನ್ನು ಪಾವತಿ ಉಪಕರಣಗಳಂತೆ ಸ್ವೀಕರಿಸಲು ನೀಡಿಕೆದಾರರೊಂದಿಗೆ [ ಅಥವಾ ಪೇಮೆಂಟ್ ಎಗ್ರಿಗೇಟರ್/ಪೇಮೆಂಟ್ ಗೇಟ್ವೇ ಮೂಲಕ ಒಪ್ಪಂದ ]ನಿರ್ದಿಷ್ಟ ಒಪ್ಪಂದವನ್ನು ಹೊಂದಿರುತ್ತದೆ. ಈ ಉಪಕರಣಗಳನ್ನು ಬ್ಯಾಂಕುಗಳು ಅಥವಾ ಬ್ಯಾಂಕೇತರರು ನೀಡಿರುವುದನ್ನು ಪರಿಗಣಿಸದೇ ನಗದು ಹಿಂಪಡೆಯುವಿಕೆಯನ್ನು ಅನುಮತಿಸುವುದಿಲ್ಲ.

ಓಪನ್ ಸಿಸ್ಟಮ್ ಪಿಪಿಐಗಳು : ಈ ಪಿಪಿಐಗಳನ್ನು ಬ್ಯಾಂಕುಗಳು [ಆರ್ಬಿಐ ಅನುಮೋದಿತ] ಮಾತ್ರ ನೀಡುತ್ತವೆ ಹಾಗೂ ಹಣಕಾಸು ಸೇವೆಗಳು,ಹಣ ರವಾನೆ ಸೌಲಭ್ಯಗಳು, ಮುಂತಾದವುಗಳನ್ನೊಳಗೊಂಡು , ಸರಕುಗಳು ಹಾಗೂ ಸೇವೆಗಳನ್ನು ಖರೀದಿಸುವುದಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಯಾವುದೇ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಬಳಸಲಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಇಂತಹ ಪಿಪಿಐಗಳ ಮೂಲಕ ಎಟಿಎಮ್ಗಳು /ಪಾಯಿಂಟ್ಸ್ ಆಫ್ ಸೇಲ್ [ಪಿಒಎಸ್]ಟರ್ಮಿನಲ್ಸ್ /ಬಿಝ್ನೆಸ್ ಕರೆಸ್ಪಾಂಡೆಂಟ್ಸ್[ಬಿಸಿಗಳು]ಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನಗದು ಹಿಂಪಡೆತವನ್ನು ಅನುಮತಿಸಲಾಗುತ್ತದೆ.

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.

'ಬೇಸಿಕ್ ಸೇವಿಂಗ್ಸ್ ಬ್ಯಾಂಕ್ ಡಿಪೋಸಿಟ್ ಅಕೌಂಟ್' ಪ್ರಾರಂಭಿಸುವುದರ ಧ್ಯೇಯವು ಆರ್ಭಿಐಯ ಫೈನಾನ್ಸಿಯಲ್ ಇನ್ಕ್ಲುಶನ್ ಉದ್ದೇಶವನ್ನು ಮುಂದುವರೆಸುವ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನದ ಭಾಗವಾಗಿದೆ. ಹಿಂದಿನ ಡಿಬಿಒಡಿ ಸುತ್ತೋಲೆ DBOD.No.Leg.BC.44/09.07.005/2005-06, ದಿನಾಂಕ 11-11-2005ರ ಪ್ರಕಾರ ತೆರೆದ ಎಲ್ಲ 'ನೊ-ಫ್ರಿಲ್ಸ್' ಖಾತೆಗಳನ್ನು ನಮ್ಮ ಆಗಸ್ಟ್ 10, 2012ರ ಸುತ್ತೋಲೆ DBOD. No. Leg. BC. 35/09.07.005/2012-13ರ ಪ್ಯಾರಾ 2 ರಲ್ಲಿ ಸೂಚಿಸಿದಂತೆ ಬಿಎಸ್ಬಿಡಿಬಿಎ ಖಾತೆಗಳೆಂದು ಮರುನಾಮಕ ಮಾಡಬೇಕು ಮತ್ತು ಆತಸ್ಟ್ 10,2012ರ ನಮ್ಮ ಸುತ್ತೋಲೆ DBOD. No. Leg. BC. 35/09.07.005/2012-13ರ ನಂತರ ತೆರೆದ ಎಲ್ಲ ಹೊಸ ಖಾತೆಗಳನ್ನು ಬ್ಯಾಂಕುಗಳು ಆರ್ಪಿಸಿಡಿ,ಸಿಒಗೆ ಕಳುಹಿಸುವ ಫೈನಾನ್ಸಿಯಲ್ ಇನ್ಕ್ಲುಶನ್ನ ಪ್ರಗತಿಯ ಮಾಸಿಕ ವರದಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸೇರಿಸಬೇಕು.

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:

Scenario 1 – Credit of refund/failed/reversed transaction within the same billing cycle
Purchase transaction date – October 15, 2023 Refund on October 19, 2023 - For cancellation of purchase dated October 15, 2023	As bill is yet to be generated in the given case, the refund amount received on October 19, 2023, shall be adjusted with other debits, prior to calculation of the Total Amount Due.
Scenario 2 – Credit of refund/failed/reversed transaction post generation of bill but before making payment of the dues
Purchase transaction date - October 29, 2023 Refund on November 04, 2023 - For cancellation of purchase dated October 29, 2023	The bill is generated on October 30, 2023, however, the payment towards the dues has not been made till the date of refund. Therefore, the refund amount received on November 04, 2023, shall be adjusted towards the Total Amount Due (TAD) and accordingly the cardholder will be required to pay only the remaining outstanding (Remaining outstanding = TAD – Refund amount).
Scenario 3 – Credit of refund/failed/reversed transaction for which payment has already been made
Purchase transaction date - October 30, 2023 Payment towards dues – November 06, 2023 Refund on November 07, 2023 - For cancellation of purchase dated October 30, 2023	As the cardholder has already cleared the dues, card-issuers shall seek explicit consent of the cardholder to adjust the refund amount in line with the provision stipulated at Para 10(h) of the MD. Case I - If the cardholder gives explicit consent, then refund amount shall be adjusted. Case II - If the cardholder does not provide the consent or no response is received for adjustment of the refund, then the refund amount will be credited to the bank account of the cardholder in line with para 10(h). Further, if the cardholder makes a request for crediting the refund (transaction for which payment has already been made), the same shall be credited back to the bank account of the cardholder irrespective of the cut off defined under Para10(h).

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.

The G S Act and the G S Regulations do not specify the eligibility criteria for investment in a G-Sec. The eligibility criteria are specified in the respective Government Notifications. Usually any person is eligible to invest in Government securities.