No. Co-operative Credit Societies cannot accept deposits from general public. They can accept deposits only from their members within the limit specified in their bye laws.

No. These societies are formed for salaried employees and hence they can accept deposit only from their own members and not from general public.

Yes, nomination facility is available to the depositors of NBFCs. The Rules for nomination facility are provided for in section 45QB of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. Non-Banking Financial Companies have been advised to adopt the Banking Companies (Nomination) Rules, 1985 made under Section 45ZA of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. Accordingly, depositor/s of NBFCs are permitted to nominate one person to whom the NBFC can return the deposit in the event of the death of the depositor/s. NBFCs are advised to accept nominations made by the depositors in the form similar to one specified under the said rules, viz Form DA 1 for the purpose of nomination, and Form DA2 and DA3 for cancellation of nomination and change of nomination respectively.

NBFCs that ought to have sought registration from RBI but are functioning without doing so are committing a breach of law. Such companies are liable for action as envisaged under the RBI Act, 1934. To identify such entities, RBI has multiple sources of information. These include market intelligence, complaints received from affected parties, industry sources, and exception reports submitted by statutory auditors in terms of Non-Banking Financial Companies Auditor’s Report (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2008. Further, the State Level Co-ordination Committees (SLCC) is convened by RBI in all the States/UTs on quarterly basis. The SLCC is now chaired by the Chief Secretary/ Administrator of the concerned State/UT and has, as its members, apart from the Reserve Bank, the Regional Directorate of the MCA/ ROC, local unit of SEBI, NHB, Registrar of Chits, ICAI, Economic Intelligence Unit of the State Police and officials from Law and Home Ministries of the State Government. As all the relevant financial sector regulators and enforcement agencies participate in the SLCC, it is possible to quickly share the information and agree on an effective course of action to be taken against entities indulging in unauthorized and suspect businesses involving funds mobilization from public.

No. Proprietorship and partnership concerns are un-incorporated bodies. Hence they are prohibited under the RBI Act 1934 from accepting public deposits.

It depends on whether the money is received as advance for delivering jewellery at a future date or whether the money is received with a promise to return the same with interest. The money accepted by Jewellery shops in instalments for the purpose of delivering jewellery at the end of the period of contract is not deposit. It will amount to acceptance of deposits if in return for the money received, the jewellery shop promises to return the principal amount along with interest.

Such unincorporated entities, if found accepting public deposits, are liable for criminal action. Further NBFCs are prohibited by RBI from associating with any unincorporated bodies. If NBFCs associate themselves with proprietorship/partnership firms accepting deposits in contravention of RBI Act, they are also liable to be prosecuted under criminal law or under the Protection of Interest of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act, if passed by the State Governments.

Deposits are defined under the RBI Act 1934 as acceptance of money other than that raised by way of share capital, money received from banks and other financial institutions, money received as security deposit, earnest money and advance against goods or services and subscriptions to chits. All other amounts, received as loan or in any form are treated as deposits. Chit Funds activity involves contributions by members in instalments by way of subscription to the Chit and by rotation each member of the Chit receives the chit amount. The subscriptions are specifically excluded from the definition of deposits and cannot be termed as deposits. While Chit funds may collect subscriptions as above, they are prohibited by RBI from accepting deposits with effect from August 2009.E. Depositor Protection Issues

Some of the important regulations relating to acceptance of deposits by NBFCs are as under:

1. The NBFCs are allowed to accept/renew public deposits for a minimum period of 12 months and maximum period of 60 months. They cannot accept deposits repayable on demand.

2. NBFCs cannot offer interest rates higher than the ceiling rate prescribed by RBI from time to time. The present ceiling is 12.5 per cent per annum. The interest may be paid or compounded at rests not shorter than monthly rests.

3. NBFCs cannot offer gifts/incentives or any other additional benefit to the depositors.

4. NBFCs should have minimum investment grade credit rating.

5. The deposits with NBFCs are not insured.

6. The repayment of deposits by NBFCs is not guaranteed by RBI.

7. Certain mandatory disclosures are to be made about the company in the Application Form issued by the company soliciting deposits.

A depositor wanting to place deposit with an NBFC must take the following precautions before placing deposits:

1. That the NBFC is registered with RBI and specifically authorized by the RBI to accept deposits. A list of deposit taking NBFCs entitled to accept deposits is available at www.rbi.org.in → Sitemap → NBFC List. The depositor should check the list of NBFCs permitted to accept public deposits and also check that it is not appearing in the list of companies prohibited from accepting deposits, which is available at www.rbi.org.in → Sitemap → NBFC List → NBFCs who have been issued prohibitory orders, winding up petitions filed and legal cases under Chapter IIIB, IIIC and others.

2. NBFCs have to prominently display the Certificate of Registration (CoR) issued by the Reserve Bank on its site. This certificate should also reflect that the NBFC has been specifically authorized by RBI to accept deposits. Depositors must scrutinize the certificate to ensure that the NBFC is authorized to accept deposits.

3. The maximum interest rate that an NBFC can pay to a depositor should not exceed 12.5%. The Reserve Bank keeps altering the interest rates depending on the macro-economic environment. The Reserve Bank publishes the change in the interest rates on www.rbi.org.in → Sitemap → NBFC List → FAQs.

4. The depositor must insist on a proper receipt for every amount of deposit placed with the company. The receipt should be duly signed by an officer authorized by the company and should state the date of the deposit, the name of the depositor, the amount in words and figures, rate of interest payable, maturity date and amount.

5. In the case of brokers/agents etc collecting public deposits on behalf of NBFCs, the depositors should satisfy themselves that the brokers/agents are duly authorized by the NBFC.

6. The depositor must bear in mind that public deposits are unsecured and Deposit Insurance facility is not available to depositors of NBFCs.

7. The Reserve Bank of India does not accept any responsibility or guarantee about the present position as to the financial soundness of the company or for the correctness of any of the statements or representations made or opinions expressed by the company and for repayment of deposits/discharge of the liabilities by the company.

No. The Reserve Bank does not guarantee repayment of deposits by NBFCs even though they may be authorized to collect deposits. As such, investors and depositors should take informed decisions while placing deposit with an NBFC.

If an NBFC defaults in repayment of deposit, the depositor can approach Company Law Board or Consumer Forum or file a civil suit in a court of law to recover the deposits. NBFCs are also advised to follow a grievance redress procedure as indicated in reply to question 57 below. Further, at the level of the State Government, the State Legislations on Protection of Interest of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) empowers the State Governments to take action even before the default takes place or complaints are received from depositors. If there is perpetration of an offence and if the intention is to defraud, the State Government can even attach properties.

When an NBFC fails to repay any deposit or part thereof in accordance with the terms and conditions of such deposit, the Company Law Board (CLB) either on its own motion or on an application from the depositor, directs by order the Non-Banking Financial Company to make repayment of such deposit or part thereof forthwith or within such time and subject to such conditions as may be specified in the order. After making the payment, the company will need to file the compliance with the local office of the Reserve Bank of India.

As explained above, the depositor can approach CLB by mailing an application in prescribed form to the appropriate bench of the Company Law Board according to its territorial jurisdiction along with the prescribed fee.

The details of addresses and territorial jurisdiction of the bench officers of CLB are as under:

S. No.	Benches	Jurisdiction	Telephone No.
1.	Company Law Board Principal Bench Paryavaran Bhawan B-Block, 3rd Floor C.G.O. Complex Lodhi Road,New Delhi – 110 003	All States & Union Territories	011 – 24366126
2.	Company Law Board New Delhi Bench Paryavaran Bhawan B-Block, 3rd Floor C.G.O. Complex Lodhi Road,New Delhi – 110 003	States of Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Union Territories of Chandigarh.	011 – 24363671, 011 – 24362324
3.	Company Law Board Kolkata Bench 5, Esplande Row(West) Kolkata – 700 001	States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Orissa, Sikkim, Tripura, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar Island and Mizoram.	033 – 22486330
4.	Company Law Board Mumbai Bench N.T.C. House, 2ND Floor, 15 Narottam Morarjee Marg, Ballard Estate, Mumbai – 400 038	States of Goa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and (Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Damman and Diu)	022 – 22619636
5.	Company Law Board, Chennai Bench Corporate Bhawan (UTI Building), 3rd Floor, No. 29 Rajaji Salari, Chennai – 600001.	States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Union Territories of Pondicherry and Lakshadweep Island.	044 – 25262791

An Official Liquidator is appointed by the court after giving the company reasonable opportunity of being heard in a winding up petition. The liquidator performs the duties of winding up of the company and such duties in reference thereto as the court may impose. Where the court has appointed an official liquidator or provisional liquidator, he becomes custodian of the property of the company and runs day-to-day affairs of the company. He has to draw up a statement of affairs of the company in prescribed form containing particulars of assets of the company, its debts and liabilities, names/residences/occupations of its creditors, the debts due to the company and such other information as may be prescribed. The scheme is drawn up by the liquidator and same is put up to the court for approval. The liquidator realizes the assets of the company and arranges to repay the creditors according to the scheme approved by the court. The liquidator generally inserts advertisement in the newspaper inviting claims from depositors/investors in compliance with court orders. Therefore, the investors/depositors should file the claims within due time as per such notices of the liquidator. The Reserve Bank also provides assistance to the depositors in furnishing addresses of the official liquidator.

Yes, a depositor can approach any or all of the redressal authorities i.e consumer forum, court or CLB.

No, there is no Ombudsman for hearing complaints against NBFCs. However, in respect of credit card operations of an NBFC, which is a subsidiary of a bank, if a complainant does not get satisfactory response from the NBFC within a maximum period of thirty (30) days from the date of lodging the complaint, the customer will have the option to approach the Office of the concerned Banking Ombudsman for redressal of his grievance/s.If complaints or grievances against the NBFCs are submitted to the nearest office of the Reserve Bank of India, the same are taken up with the NBFC concerned to facilitate resolution of the grievance/complaint. Further, all NBFCs have in place a Grievance Redressal Officer, whose name and contact details have to be mandatorily displayed in the premises of the NBFCs. The grievance can be taken up with the Grievance Redressal Officer. In case the complainant is not satisfied with the settlement of the complaint by the Grievance Redressal Officer of the NBFC, he/she may approach the nearest office of the Reserve Bank of India with the complaint. The details of the Office of the Reserve Bank has also to be mandatorily displayed in the premises of the NBFC.

Companies registered with MCA but not required to be registered with RBI as NBFC are not under the regulatory domain of RBI. Whenever RBI receives any such complaints about the companies registered with MCA but not registered with RBI as NBFCs, it forwards the complaints to the Registrar of Companies (ROC) of the respective state for any action. The complainants are advised that the complaints relating to irregularities of such companies should be promptly lodged with ROC concerned for initiating corrective action. However, in case it comes to the knowledge of RBI those companies were required to be registered with the RBI, but have not done so and have accepted deposits as defined under RBI Act, such action as is deemed necessary under the provisions of the RBI Act will be taken.

As per Reserve Bank’s Directions, overdue interest is payable to the depositors in case the company has delayed the repayment of matured deposits, and such interest is payable from the date of receipt of such claim by the company or the date of maturity of the deposit whichever is later, till the date of actual payment. If the depositor has lodged his claim after the date of maturity, the company would be liable to pay interest for the period from the date of claim till the date of repayment. For the period between the date of maturity and the date of claim it is the discretion of the company to pay interest. In cases where NBFCs are required to freeze the term deposits of customer based on the orders of the enforcement authorities or the deposit receipts are seized by the enforcement authorities, they shall follow the procedure as given below:

1. request letter may be obtained from the customer on maturity. While obtaining the request letter from the depositor for renewal, NBFCs should also advise him to indicate the term for which the deposit is to be renewed. In case the depositor does not exercise his option of choosing the term for renewal, NBFCs may renew the same for a term equal to the original term.

2. No new receipt is required to be issued. However, suitable note may be made regarding renewal in the deposit ledger.

3. Renewal of deposit may be advised by registered letter / speed post / courier service to the concerned Government department under advice to the depositor. In the advice to the depositor, the rate of interest at which the deposit is renewed should also be mentioned.

4. If overdue period does not exceed 14 days on the date of receipt of the request letter, renewal may be done from the date of maturity. If it exceeds 14 days, NBFCs may pay interest for the overdue period as per the policy adopted by them, and keep it in a separate interest free sub-account which should be released when the original fixed deposit is released.

However the final repayment of the principal and the interest so accrued should be done only after the clearance regarding the same is obtained by the NBFCs from the respective Government agencies.

An NBFC accepts deposits under a mutual contract with its depositors. In case a depositor requests for pre-mature payment, Reserve Bank of India has prescribed Regulations for such an eventuality in the Non-Banking Financial Companies Acceptance of Public Deposits (Reserve Bank) Directions, 1998 wherein it is specified that NBFCs cannot grant any loan against a public deposit or make premature repayment of a public deposit within a period of three months (lock-in period) from the date of its acceptance. However, in the event of death of a depositor, the company may, even within the lock-in period, repay the deposit at the request of the joint holders with survivor clause / nominee / legal heir only against submission of relevant proof, to the satisfaction of the companyAn NBFC, (which is not a problem company) subject to above provisions, may permit after the lock–in period, premature repayment of a public deposit at its sole discretion, at the rate of interest prescribed by the BankA problem NBFC is prohibited from making premature repayment of any deposits or granting any loan against public deposit/deposits, as the case may be. The prohibition shall not, however, apply in the case of death of depositor or repayment of tiny deposits i.e. up to ₹ 10000/- subject to lock in period of 3 months in the latter case.