To facilitate the distribution of banknotes and rupee coins, the Reserve Bank has authorised select scheduled banks to establish currency chests. These are storehouses where banknotes and rupee coins are stocked on behalf of the Reserve Bank for distribution to bank branches in their area of operation. As on February 28, 2025, there were 2691 currency chests.

[The currency chests are expected to distribute banknotes and rupee coins to other bank branches in their area of operation.]

Ans: The Reserve Bank will send emails to all the eligible entities from generic email IDs of the Reserve Bank to notify them about the launch of the CPIS for the latest reference period. Entities are required to fill in the latest survey schedule attached along with the mail and send to the generic email IDs of the Reserve Bank as per the instruction given in the survey schedule.

Ans.: The respondent companies can submit their responses on or before July 15 of the survey year.

In terms of Section 45-IA of the RBI Act, 1934, no NBFC can commence or carry on business of a non-banking financial institution without a) obtaining a certificate of registration from the Reserve Bank and without having a Net Owned Funds (NOF) of ₹10 crore with effect from October 01, 2022 (NBFCs seeking registration shall have NOF of ₹10 crore ab initio, and existing NBFCs have timeline upto March 31, 2027 to attain NOF of ₹10 crore). However, in terms of the powers conferred upon the Reserve Bank, to obviate dual regulation, certain categories of NBFCs which are regulated by other regulators are exempted from the requirement of registration with the Reserve Bank viz., Alternative Investment Fund/ Merchant Banking companies/ Stock broking companies registered with SEBI; Insurance Company holding a valid Certificate of Registration issued by IRDA; Nidhi companies as notified under Section 620A of the Companies Act, 1956; Chit companies doing the business of chits as defined in clause (b) of Section 2 of the Chit Funds Act, 1982; Stock Exchange or a Mutual Benefit company, etc.

Ans: Public funds are not the same as public deposits. Public funds include public deposits, inter-corporate deposits, bank finance and all funds received whether directly or indirectly from outside sources such as funds raised by issue of Commercial Papers, debentures etc. Indirect receipt of public funds means funds received not directly but through associates and group entities which have access to public funds.

Even though public funds include public deposits as clarified above, it may be noted that CICs cannot accept public deposits. That is one of the eligibility criteria to be  classified as a CIC. It may further be clarified that no NBFC can accept public deposits without specific permission of the Bank even if it holds a Certificate of Registration (CoR) from the Bank.

Clarification: Housing loans to banks’ own employees are not eligible for classification under priority sector lending, irrespective of whether they are extended on commercial terms or at subsidised rates.

Answer: A person resident outside India (other than an individual who is a citizen of Pakistan or Bangladesh or an entity which is registered/ incorporated in Pakistan or Bangladesh), may purchase convertible notes issued by an Indian start-up company for an amount of twenty five lakh rupees or more in a single tranche. A start-up company engaged in a sector where foreign investment requires Government approval may issue convertible notes to a non-resident only with the approval of the Government. The amount of consideration should be received by inward remittance through banking channels or by debit to the NRE/ FCNR (B)/ Escrow account maintained by the person concerned.

As LLPs are not eligible to receive FDI, they cannot raise ECBs.

There is no limit on the remittance amount as well as on the number of remittances. However, there is an upper cap of Rs.15.00 lakh for trade related transactions.

Unsecured debentures Inter-Corporate Deposits (ICDs) Money received in trust Security deposits from employees Equated Monthly Investments (EMI) received in advance against lease/hire purchase finance. Unsecured debentures issued to the shareholders by a public limited company and to the general members of public by public and private limited companies are included in the definition of `public deposit’. However, unsecured debentures issued to other companies and banks/all India financial institutions are not public deposit. The money received in trust is no longer an exempted borrowing and hence forms part of the public deposit. However, other borrowings by way of ICDs, security deposits from employees (provided these are deposited in an account with a bank or a post office, jointly with the employee) and advance receipt of lease or hire purchase instalments, are exempted borrowings and hence fall outside the purview of public deposit.