Ans. A CIC is a Non-Banking Financial Company

(i) with asset size of ₹ 100 crore and above;

(ii) carrying on the business of acquisition of shares and securities and which satisfies the following conditions as on the date of the last audited balance sheet;

(iii) it holds not less than 90% of its net assets in the form of investment in equity shares, preference shares, bonds, debentures, debt or loans in group companies;

(iv) its investments in the equity shares (including instruments compulsorily convertible into equity shares within a period not exceeding 10 years from the date of issue) in group companies and units of Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) only as sponsor constitutes not less than 60% of its net assets as mentioned in clause (iii) above;

(v) Provided that the exposure of such CICs towards InvITs shall be limited to their holdings as sponsors and shall not, at any point in time, exceed the minimum holding of units and tenor prescribed in this regard by SEBI (Infrastructure Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2014, as amended from time to time. It does not trade in its investments in shares, bonds, debentures, debt or loans in group companies except through block sale for the purpose of dilution or disinvestment;

(vi) it does not carry on any other financial activity referred to in Section 45I(c) and 45I(f) of the RBI act, 1934 except investment in bank deposits, money market instruments including money market mutual funds that make investments in debt/money market instruments with a maturity of up to 1 year, government securities, loans to and investments in debt issuances of group companies or guarantees issued on behalf of group companies;

(vii) it accepts public funds.

Answer: The routes under which foreign investment can be made is as under:

1. Automatic Route: Foreign Investment is allowed under the automatic route without prior approval of the Government or the Reserve Bank of India, in all activities/ sectors as specified in the Regulation 16 of FEMA 20 (R).
2. Government Route: Foreign investment in activities not covered under the automatic route requires prior approval of the Government. Procedure for applying for Government approval is given at http://fifp.gov.in/Forms/SOP.pdf

The Indian currency is called the Indian Rupee (INR). One Rupee consists of 100 Paise. The symbol of the Indian Rupee is ₹. The design resembles both the Devanagari letter "₹" (ra) and the Latin capital letter "R", with a double horizontal line at the top.

Ans: Presently the banks, mutual fund companies, non-financial companies, non-banking financial companies and insurance companies are surveyed under the CPIS.

Ans.: The respondent companies should follow the below-mentioned points while filling the survey schedule:

1. The company must use the latest survey schedule which is in .xls format without any macros.

2. The company is required to save the survey schedule in Excel 97-2003 workbook i.e., in .xls format only.

3. In order to save the survey schedule in .xls format, follow the below-mentioned steps:
   a. Go to Office Button / File → Save As → Save As type
   b. Select “Excel 97-2003 Workbook” and Save the survey schedule in .xls format.

4. The company must use the .xls format of the survey schedule provided by RBI and are requested not to incorporate any macros in the survey schedule while submitting the same.

5. Please note that survey schedules submitted in any other format (other than .xls format) will be auto rejected by the system.

6. Please ensure, all information furnished in the survey schedule are complete and no information is missed out.

7. After filling Part-I to III, the company has to fill the Declaration sheet. The Declaration sheet helps in confirming and validating that the information entered by the company are double checked before submitting the same to RBI. This would help to avoid errors like data entry errors, missed data etc.

8. Further the respondents are requested to not use any special characters i.e., [!@#$%^&*_()] and comma while data filing in all parts of survey schedule.

Master Direction No. 5 on ‘External Commercial Borrowings, Trade Credits and Structured Obligations dated March 26, 2019 may be referred to for guidance on the extant framework on ECB and TC. ECBs and TCs raised under the prior frameworks should continue to be in compliance with the corresponding guidelines applicable at the time of availing the ECBs and TCs.

Rupee Drawing Arrangement (RDA) is a channel to receive cross-border remittances from overseas jurisdictions. Under this arrangement, the Authorised Category I banks enter into tie-ups with the non-resident Exchange Houses in the FATF compliant countries to open and maintain their Vostro Account.

Yes. You can continue to use, withdraw or transfer your funds from your account upto the available balance in your account.

Similarly, you can continue to use your debit card to withdraw or transfer funds upto the available balance in your account.

No. The said provision enabling banks to enter into compromise settlement in respect of borrowers categorised as fraud or wilful defaulter is not a new regulatory instruction and has been the settled regulatory stance for more than 15 years. This enabler is already available to banks as per the extant instructions, as given under:

1. RBI had advised IBA vide letter dated May 10, 2007 that, “(i) banks may enter into compromise settlement with wilful defaulters/ fraudulent borrowers without prejudice to the criminal proceeding underway against such borrowers; (ii) All such cases of compromise settlements should be vetted by Management Committee/ Board of banks.”

2. Master Circular on Wilful Defaulters dated July 1, 2015 envisages lenders agreeing to compromise settlement with borrowers classified as wilful defaulters and states that such cases need not be reported to Credit Information Companies provided inter alia that, “the borrower has fully paid the compromised amount.”

3. Master Directions on Frauds dated July 1, 2016 provides for compromise settlement with borrowers classified as fraud, subject to the condition that, “No compromise settlement involving a fraudulent borrower is allowed unless the conditions stipulate that the criminal complaint will be continued.”

Clarification : Priority Sector Lending (PSL) eligibility of loans outstanding as on April 1, 2025 shall be determined with reference to the provisions of the Master Directions on Priority Sector Lending 2025