Ans. On realization of the sum for which contravention is compounded, a certificate shall be issued by the Reserve Bank, indicating that, the applicant has complied with the order passed by the Compounding Authority.

Ans.: Company has to submit only one form aggregating all the units in India. However, for the units abroad, the information should be provided in Part D of the schedule.

Ans. In addition to the purpose of establishing an account-based relationship, KYC Identifier can be used for updation/ periodic updation of KYC, or for verification of identity of a customer. Further details in this regard are given in paragraph 56(j) of the Master Direction on KYC.

Ans: Users can raise disputes via their e₹ wallet app or reach out to their customer care centre.

Yes. The prescribed instructions on penal charges are also applicable in case of securitisation and co-lending portfolios.

Ans. No. In terms of paragraph 29.1 of these Directions, banks cannot pay any remuneration or fees or commission or brokerage or incentives on deposits in any form or manner to any individual, firm, company, association, institution or any other person except:

1. commission paid to agents employed to collect door-to-door deposits under a special scheme.

2. commission paid to Direct Selling Agents/ Direct Marketing Agents as part of the outsourcing arrangements by commercial banks

3. remuneration paid to Business Facilitators or Business Correspondents.

4. incentives granted to staff members of co-operative banks as approved by Reserve Bank of India from time to time.

For redress of his grievance, the complainant must first approach the concerned RE. If the RE does not respond within a period of 30 days after lodgment of the complaint or rejects the complaint wholly/partly or if the complainant is not satisfied with the response/resolution given by the RE, the complainant can lodge his complaint under the RB-IOS, 2021.

Approaching the RBI Ombudsman without first lodging a complaint with the RE or doing so before 30 days after lodging the complaint, if there is no response from the RE, would make the complaint non-maintainable under RB-IOS, 2021.

It may be noted that the complaint should be made to the RBI Ombudsman not later than one year after receiving the reply of the RE or, in cases where no reply is received, not later than one year and 30 days after the date of the representation to the RE.

For redress of grievance in case of deficiency of service, the complainant / aggrieved customer may first approach the concerned bank. If the bank does not respond within a period of 30 days after lodging of the complaint or if the complainant is not satisfied with the response/resolution given by the bank, the complainant can lodge the complaint under the Reserve Bank - Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS), 2021 at the Complaint Management System portal of RBI (cms.rbi.org.in).

Answer: Yes, the income from INR balance can be repatriated subject to applicable regulatory guidelines and tax provisions.

The salient features of the Framework are as under:

i) Before a loan account of an MSME turns into a Non-Performing Asset (NPA), banks or creditors should identify incipient stress in the account by creating three sub-categories under the Special Mention Account (SMA) category as given in the Framework.

ii) Any MSME borrower may also voluntarily initiate proceedings under this Framework.

iii) Committee approach to be adopted for deciding corrective action plan.

iv) Time lines have been fixed for taking various decisions under the Framework.

For more details you may refer to circular no. FIDD.MSME & NFS.BC.No.21/06.02.31/2015-16 dated March 17, 2016.

Response: In case of STBD, the corresponding provisions will be as determined by designated banks. In case of MTGD or LTGD deposits, premature closure before the minimum lock-in period is available in case of death of depositor or default of loan taken against MLTGD certificate. The applicable interest rates are detailed in para 2.2.2. (f) and 2.2.2. (g) of the Master Directions – Gold Monetization Scheme, 2015.

Ans : No. There is no value limit on the amount of individual transactions.

Ans. The PSS Act does not place any restriction on the types of payment systems / services a foreign entity can provide. However, any service provided by a domestic or foreign entity must be in accordance with the overall legal framework of the country.

Foreign entities viz., card networks like MasterCard (Singapore), Visa Worldwide Pte. Limited (Singapore), etc. are authorised under the PSS Act and operating card schemes in India. Also, cross-border remittance service providers viz., Western Union Financial Services Incorporated, USA, MoneyGram Payment Systems Inc, USA., etc. have also been authorised and are providing remittance services. The list of entities authorised under the PSS Act is available at /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

Ans: After crediting the account of the beneficiary, the beneficiary bank shall advise the beneficiary of the funds received. The remitter’s name shall be printed in the Account Statement / Pass Book of the beneficiary.

There is an optional field with tag 7495 in NEFT payment message that enables inclusion of additional sender-to-receiver information. Destination banks should capture and store this information in their CBS / other systems as appropriate, to be provided to the customer on request.

If the beneficiary specified in the sender's payment instruction fails to get payment through the NEFT system for some valid reasons, the originating bank shall provide the description “NEFT-Return” in the pass book / account statement of the originator whose NEFT transaction is returned.

The franchiser, i.e. AD Category–I Bank / AD Category–II / FFMC may appoint franchisees within a distance of 100 kilometres from their controlling branches concerned.

However, this distance criterion is relaxed in case of a recognised group/ chain of hotels appointed as franchisees, provided the headquarters of the group/ chain of hotels falls within a distance of 100 kilometres of the controlling branch of the franchiser concerned.

Further, in case of areas declared as hilly areas (as defined by the respective State Governments/ Union Territories) and the North-Eastern States, the distance restriction given in point (i) above is not applicable.

Ans. In terms of sub-section 4, of Section (6) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, a person resident in India is free to hold, own, transfer or invest in foreign currency, foreign security or any immovable property situated outside India if such currency, security or property was acquired, held or owned by such person when he was resident outside India or inherited from a person who was resident outside India.

Further, a resident individual can also acquire property and other assets overseas under LRS.

• Settlement cycle of IIBs will be T+1, like fixed rate conventional bonds.

Ans. No

Please refer to the FAQ (updated as on September 13, 2013) on “Features of various Deposit Schemes available for Non-Resident Indians” available on the RBI website (link: http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/FAQView.aspx?Id=69). Banks are permitted to extend loans to the FCNR (B) account holders and mark lien on such deposits.

Response

No. In BSBDA, banks are required to provide free of charge minimum four withdrawals, through ATMs and other mode including RTGS/NEFT/Clearing/Branch cash withdrawal/transfer/internet debits/standing instructions/EMI etc. It is left to the banks to either offer free or charge for additional withdrawal/s. However, in case the banks decide to charge for the additional withdrawal, the pricing structure may be put in place by banks on a reasonable, non-discriminatory and transparent manner by banks.

• Yes premature redemption is allowed.

• For senior citizens above 65 years, the premature redemption is allowed after one year. For others, it is allowed after 3 years.

• Penalty at the rate of half of the last payable coupon will be charged from the investors. For example, if last payable coupon is Rs. 1,000/-, then Rs. 500 would be charged as penalty..

Ans. RBI has made it mandatory for lenders to display the minimum, maximum and average interest rates charged on microfinance loans in all their offices, in the literature (information booklets/ pamphlets) issued by them and details on their website.

Ans. No. Default handling is outside the purview of TReDS platforms.

Such accounts are ineligible for resolution under the Resolution Framework as the Resolution Framework is applicable only for eligible borrowers which were classified as standard, but not in default for more than 30 days as on March 1, 2020. However, such accounts may still be resolved under the Prudential Framework dated June 7, 2019.

Response: No. De-activation/Blocking of a credit card temporarily curtails the ability of a cardholder to make any transaction in a credit card account while still maintaining the credit/account relationship with the card-issuer.

Closure of a credit card on the other hand amounts to termination of the account-based relationship between the cardholder and the card-issuer. The request for closure has to be honoured within seven working days as stipulated in Para 8 of the MD. However, in case payment towards dues is outstanding, the card-issuer shall provide details regarding such outstanding dues to the cardholder upon receipt of the closure request without waiting for completion of the billing cycle and accordingly advise him/her to make payment in order to complete the closure process. In such cases, the prescribed timeline of seven working days shall be calculated after excluding the number of days taken by the cardholder to clear the outstanding dues.  The card-issuer shall also report to CICs suitably about the closure of the card account.

Yes.  The title to Government security can now be recognised not only on the basis of a Succession Certificate issued under Part X of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 but also on the basis of a decree, order or direction passed by a competent court or on the basis of a certificate issued or order passed by any other authority who might have been empowered under any statute to confer on any such person a title to the Government security. Further, the title to Government security of deceased sole or joint holders may also be recognized by the RBI/Agency Banks on the basis of any one of the following six documents as prescribed in the G S Regulations.

1. a “Will” executed by the deceased holder of the Government security bequeathing thereby the security in favour of the person claiming title thereto, provided the probate issued in respect of such Will has been submitted to the Bank by the claimant; or

2. a registered deed of family settlement, wherein the Government security claimed has been included and given to the claimant; or

3. a gift deed executed in accordance with the law relating thereto, in respect of the Government security claimed; or

4. a deed of relinquishment executed by other legal heir or successor of the deceased in accordance with law in favour of the claimant in respect of the Government security claimed; or

5. a decree passed by a foreign court in respect of the Government security claimed, the execution whereof is permissible in accordance with the provisions of Section 44A of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (5 of 1908); or

6. a deed of partition executed and acted upon in accordance with law, wherein the Government security claimed has been included and given to the share allotted to the claimant.

Ans. LRS does not envisage extension of fund and non-fund based facilities by the AD banks to their resident individual customers to facilitate remittances for capital account transactions under LRS.

However, AD banks may extend fund and non-fund based facilities to resident individuals to facilitate current account remittances under the Scheme.

The current facility for deposit / exchange of ₹2000 banknotes at bank branches has been extended by RBI till October 07, 2023.

Ans: Reasonable one-time processing fee can be retained if the customer exits the loan during cooling-off period. This, if applicable, should be disclosed to the customer upfront in KFS. However, the processing fee has to be mandatorily included for the computation of APR.

Ans. In case of non-payment of the amount indicated in the compounding order within 15 days of the order, it will be treated as if the applicant has not made any compounding application to the Reserve Bank and the other provisions of FEMA, 1999 regarding contraventions will apply. Such cases will be referred to the DoE for necessary action.

Ans.: Yes, the number of employee information should be reported as on end - March of the reference year.

The provisions made in the above framework shall be applicable to MSMEs having loan limits up to Rs.25 crore, including accounts under consortium or multiple banking arrangement (MBA).

Ans. Yes, the RE is required to obtain customer’s explicit consent to use his/ her KYC Identifier for downloading KYC records from CKYCR for the purposes mentioned in reply to Q. 14 and 15.

Ans: Given the cash-like features of e₹, there is no interest payable on the wallet balances.

A complaint can be filed through any of the following methods:

1. Online - on CMS portal of RBI at https://cms.rbi.org.in.

2. Physical complaint (letter/post) in the form as specified in Annexure ‘A’ in the Scheme to “Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre, 4th Floor, Reserve Bank of India, Sector -17, Central Vista, Chandigarh - 160017”.

3. Complaints with full details (please refer to Question 17 below) can be sent by email (crpc@rbi.org.in).

Answer: Balance in SRVA is like foreign exchange inflow converted into INR, hence balance can be used for any permissible current and capital account transaction under the present FEMA framework.

Ans. Yes, customers can be charged for transactions at ATMs over and above the mandated number of free transactions (as indicated in answer to Q. 11 above). Presently, these charges cannot exceed a maximum of Rs. 23/- per transaction (plus applicable taxes, if any) by his / her bank.

No. The prescribed instructions on penal charges are not applicable in case of rupee/ foreign currency export credit and other foreign currency loans.

Response: The jewellery will be melted by the CPTC/GMCTAs to conduct the fire assay and the customer can then get back gold only in post-melted form. Thus, the decision regarding taking back jewellery in the original form must be taken by the customer after XRF test and before giving consent for fire-assaying.

Before a loan account of a MSME turns into a Non-Performing Asset (NPA), banks or creditors should identify incipient stress in the account by creating three sub-categories under the Special Mention Account (SMA) category as given in the Table below:

Ans : The Reserve Bank of India has deregulated the charges to be levied by sponsor banks from user institutions. The sponsor banks are, however, required to disclose the charges in a transparent manner. With effect from 1st July 2011, originating banks are required to pay a nominal charge of 25 paise per transaction to the Clearing house and destination bank respectively. Destination bank branches have been directed to afford ECS Credit free of charge to the beneficiary account holders.

ECS (DEBIT)

• Like other G-Secs, the day count for IIBs would 30/360.

The Corporation has deposit insurance liability on liquidation etc. of "Insured banks" i.e. banks which have been de-registered (a) on account of prohibition on receiving fresh deposits or (b) on cancellation of license or it is found that license cannot be granted. The liability of the Corporation in these cases is limited to the extent of deposits as on the date of cancellation of registration of bank as an insured bank.

On liquidation etc. of other de-registered banks i.e. banks which have been de-registered on other grounds such as non payment of premium or their ceasing to be eligible co-operative banks under section 2(gg) of the DICGC Act, 1961, the Corporation will have no liability.

Notice: Information given above is to convey the basic provisions of the deposit insurance scheme of the Corporation. The information is of a non-technical nature and is not intended to be a legal interpretation of the deposit insurance scheme.

Ans: The NEFT Help Desk / Contact point of the RBI can be approached at nefthelpdeskncc@rbi.org.in.

Franchisers are expected to impart training to the franchisees as regards operations and maintenance of records.

In case the aggregate amount bid is more than the reserved amount through non-competitive bidding, allotment would be made on a pro rata basis.

It may be noted that the actual allotment may vary slightly at times from the partial allotment ratio due to rounding off with a view to ensuring that the allotted amounts are in multiples of 10,000/-.

Ans. The Reserve Bank will consider factors like the need for the proposed payment system, the technical standards and design of proposed system, the security procedures and terms and conditions of operation of the proposed system, the procedure for netting of payment instructions, risk management processes, financial status of the applicant, experience of management and integrity of applicant, consumer interests, monetary and credit policies and other relevant factors while deciding on an application for authorization for commencing or operating a payment system (Section 7 of PSS Act, 2007).

The Reserve Bank will endeavour to dispose of all applications received for authorization within six months from the date of their receipt.

• In case of redemption prematurely before the maturity date, investors can approach the concerned bank few days before the coupon date and apply.

• In case of redemption on maturity, the investor will be advised one month before maturity regarding the ensuing maturity of the bond advising them to provide a Letter of Acquaintance, confirming the NEFT account details, etc.

• If everything is in order, the investor has to be paid immediately on the maturity date for payments through electronic mode and within maximum five days for any payment through physical instruments.

Yes, the Scheme provides the appellate mechanism for the complainant as well as the NBFC.

Any person aggrieved by an Award issued under Clause 12 or by the decision of the NBFC Ombudsman rejecting the complaint for the reasons specified in sub-clause (c) to (f) of Clause 13 of the Scheme, can approach the Appellate Authority.

The Appellate Authority is vested with a Deputy Governor-in-Charge of the department of the RBI implementing the Scheme. The address of the Appellate Authority is :

The Appellate Authority
Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies
Consumer Education and Protection Department
Reserve Bank of India
First Floor, Amar Building
Fort, Mumbai 400 001.

The complainant also has the option to explore other recourse and/or remedies available as per the law.

Ans. Yes, under intimation to Reserve Bank, FED, CO Cell, Sansad Marg, New Delhi 110 001.

Response

Banks should offer the ATM Debit Cards free of charge and no Annual fee should be levied on such Cards.

In terms of the circular DBR.No.BP.BC.99/08.13.100/2017-18 dated January 4, 2018, the above exposures do not qualify as personal loans. In such cases, the resolution of eligible borrowers may be undertaken under Part B of the Annex to the Resolution Framework.

Ans. No.

The customers will be issued Certificate of Holding on the date of issuance of the SGB. Certificate of Holding can be collected from the issuing banks/SHCIL offices/Post Offices/Designated stock exchanges/agents or obtained directly from RBI on email, if email address is provided in the application form.

The ₹2000 banknotes can continue to be exchanged by individuals / entities at the 19 RBI Issue Offices up to a limit of ₹20,000 at a time. Individuals / Entities can also tender ₹2000 banknotes at the 19 RBI Issue Offices for credit to their bank accounts in India for any amount.

Ans: At the time of sanction of loan, the borrower may be conveyed the name of empaneled agents authorized to contact the borrower in case of loan default. However, if the loan turns delinquent and the recovery agent has been assigned to the borrower, the particulars of such recovery agent assigned must be communicated to the borrower through email/SMS before the recovery agent contacts the borrower for recovery.

Ans. As compounding is based on voluntary admissions and disclosures, there is no provision under the of Foreign Exchange (Compounding Proceedings) Rules, 2024, for an appeal against the order of the Compounding Authority or for a request for reduction of amount imposed or extension of period for payment of the amount imposed.

Ans.: Company has to mention percentage of this service under ‘Offshore product development’ in Q-3 (D) of Part-A and consolidated amount under Q-5 (a-iv) for software products.