Ans.  A contravener may submit a compounding application form, physically or through PRAVAAH Portal of the Reserve Bank along with the documents/formats provided as Annexure I, Annexure II and Annexure III of the Directions – Compounding of contraventions under FEMA, 1999.

There have been complaints that life certificates submitted over the counter of pension paying branches are misplaced causing delay in payment of monthly pensions. In order to alleviate the hardships faced by pensioners, agency banks were instructed to mandatorily issue duly signed acknowledgements. They were also requested to consider entering the receipt of life certificates in their CBS and issue a system generated acknowledgement which would serve the twin purpose of acknowledgement as well as real time updation of records. Banks may provide digital acknowledgements in respect of digital life certificates submitted by the pensioners.

Reserve Bank of India has deregulated interest rates on advances including education loans sanctioned by Scheduled Commercial Banks. The interest rates are determined by banks with the approval of their respective Board of Directors, subject to regulatory guidelines on interest rate on advances contained in RBI’s Master Direction- Reserve Bank of India (Interest Rate on Advances) Directions, 2016 as updated from time to time.

Ans. No, if an existing KYC compliant customer of an RE desires to open another account or avail any other product/ service from the same RE, he is not required to submit any KYC document unless there is a change in the information with respect to his identity and/ or address.

Ans: Yes, REs have to mandatorily offer fixed interest rate product in all equated installment based personal loan categories. As stated in paragraph 2 (ii) of the circular, REs shall provide the option to the borrowers to switch over to a fixed rate as per their Board approved policy at the time of reset of interest rates.

Ans: e₹ wallets are safe and secure. There is a robust cyber-security framework to ensure that e₹ is kept secure in the user’s wallet. The e₹ stored in the e₹ wallet is safe even if the mobile device on which the e₹ wallet is installed is lost. The e₹ wallet can be recovered using the same phone number / SIM on a new mobile device.

Default in repayment by the borrower is also a type of non-compliance of material terms and conditions of loan repayment contract by the borrower and penalty, if charged, for such default may only be levied in the form of penal charges and not penal interest. Such penal charges shall be reasonable and levied by the lenders only on the amount under default in a non-discriminatory manner as per their Board approved policy. Further, it must be ensured that there is no capitalization of the penal charges i.e., no further interest computed on such charges.

Ans. No. As the money belongs to the minor child and not the bank’s staff, additional interest cannot be paid, in terms of paragraph 9.1.6 of these Directions.

An RBI Ombudsman is a senior official of RBI appointed by RBI to redress the complaints from customers of the REs against “deficiency in service”, as defined under Clause 3(1)(g) of the RB-IOS, 2021. “Deficiency in service” means a shortcoming or an inadequacy in any financial service or such other services related thereto, which the RE is required to provide statutorily or otherwise, which may or may not result in financial loss or damage to the customer.

Ans.:  Once the survey is launched, MF companies will receive an email from RBI along with the soft copy of the survey schedule (Schedule-4) in excel format as attachment. The company should use this survey schedule to fill in the details. The filled-in survey schedule (Schedule-4) in excel format (.xls format) should be sent by email to mf@rbi.org.in. No other attachments should be forwarded along with the MF survey schedule.

Ans.: The reference period of an ITES survey round is the immediately preceding financial year (April-March)

Ans: In cases where withdrawal of FMR / removal of name(s) of perpetrator(s) is necessitated due to Court directions, REs may arrange to withdraw FMR / remove name(s) of perpetrator(s) immediately. Such cases shall subsequently be placed before the official in the rank of WTD for information.

Ans. The rationale to allow non-bank entities to set up WLAs has been to increase the geographical spread of ATMs for increased / enhanced customer service, especially in semi-urban / rural areas.

Priority sector lending include only those sectors as part of the priority sector, that impact large sections of the population, the weaker sections and the sectors which are employment-intensive such as agriculture, and Micro and Small enterprises. Detailed guidelines on Priority sector lending are available in our Master Directions - Reserve Bank of India (Priority Sector Lending – Targets and Classification) Directions, 2025 dated March 24, 2025 and updated from time to time.

Answer: The term correspondent banking relationship acts as an intermediary or agent, facilitating wire transfers, conducting business transactions, accepting deposits and gathering documents on behalf of another bank. Correspondent banks are most likely to be used by domestic banks to service transactions that either originate or are completed in foreign countries. Domestic banks also use correspondent banks to gain access to foreign financial markets and to serve international clients without having to open branches abroad.

Response: An eligible depositor can open a Gold Deposit Account with any of the designated banks after meeting the KYC norms. Generally, deposits under the scheme shall be made at the CPTC/GMS Mobilisation, Collection & Testing Agent (GMCTA) which would then test the purity of the customers’ gold in their presence and issue deposit receipts of the standard gold of 995 fineness to the depositor and also inform the customers’ respective bank about acceptance of deposit. The designated bank will credit Short-Term Bank Deposit (STBD) account of the customer, as is applicable, either on the same day of receipt of deposit receipt by the depositor or within 30 days of deposit of gold at CPTC/GMCTA (regardless of whether the depositor submits the receipt or not), whichever is earlier.

Thereafter, the interest on deposits will start accruing from date of conversion of gold deposited into tradable gold bars or 30 days after receipt of gold at the CPTC/GMCTA, whichever is earlier.

Answer: Opening of accounts by individuals/ entities of Pakistan nationality/ ownership and entities of Bangladesh ownership requires prior approval of the Reserve Bank.

However, individuals of Bangladesh nationality can open an NRO account subject to the individual(s) holding a valid visa and valid residential permit issued by Foreigner Registration Office (FRO)/ Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) concerned.

Further, citizens of Bangladesh/Pakistan belonging to minority communities in those countries, namely, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians residing in India and who have been granted Long Term Visa (LTV) or whose application for LTV is under consideration, are permitted to open only one NRO account with an AD bank in India subject to the conditions mentioned in Notification No. FEMA 5(R)/2016-RB dated April 01, 2016, as updated from time to time. The opening of such NRO accounts will be subject to reporting of the details of the accounts opened by the concerned Authorised bank, to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on a quarterly basis as instructed vide AP (DIR Series) Circular No. 28 dated March 28, 2019.

Ans. The monies so collected by the PPI issuers are to be used to make payments to merchants who are part of the acceptance arrangement and for facilitating funds transfer / remittance services on behalf of the PPI holders.

Yes. One can have Term/Fixed Deposit, Recurring Deposit etc., accounts in the bank where one holds 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account'.

All loans meeting the eligibility criteria, unless covered by the specific exclusions listed in Paragraph 2 of the Annex to the Resolution Framework subject to the clarification at Sl. No. 2 above fall within the scope of resolution under the framework. These loans, if not falling under any of the categories mentioned in Paragraph 2 of the Annex to the Resolution Framework, is eligible for resolution under Part A of the Annex if they fall within the purview of “personal loans” as defined in the Circular DBR.No.BP.BC.99/08.13.100/2017-18 dated January 4, 2018 on “XBRL Returns – Harmonization of Banking Statistics”, even if they are not explicitly classified as so in any regulatory / supervisory reporting, or under Part B of the Annex otherwise.

Ans. RTGS is available 24x7x365 with effect from December 14, 2020.

• Index ratio (IR) will be calculated by dividing the reference WPI on the settlement date with the reference WPI on the issue date.

• The formula for the same is as under:

Ans. Yes.  An entity not registered with the Bank may not conduct the business of factoring unless it is an entity mentioned in Section 5 of the Act i.e. a bank or any corporation established under an Act of Parliament or State Legislature, or a Government Company as defined under section 617 of the Companies Act, 1956.

On behalf of GAH, PM needs to submit an access request form to CCIL. The Request would be formally addressed to RBI. However, CCIL has been authorized to directly receive and process Access Request Form from PM for operational convenience. A detailed operation flow is contained in Annexure I.

Ans : NBFCs desirous of sponsoring IDF-MFs are required to comply with the following requirements :

• The NBFC should have a minimum Net Owned Funds (NOF) of Rs.300 crore; and Capital to Risk Weighted Assets (CRAR) of 15%;

• its net NPAs should be less than 3% of net advances;

• it should have been in existence for at least 5 years;

• it should be earning profits for the last three years and its performance should be satisfactory;

• the CRAR of the NBFC post investment in the IDF-MF should not be less than the regulatory minimum prescribed for it;

• The NBFC should continue to maintain the required level of NOF after accounting for investment in the proposed IDF and

• There should be no supervisory concerns with respect to the NBFC.

Like in most countries, banks in India also are required to develop their own individual policy / procedures relating to collection of cheques. The customer is entitled to receive due disclosures from the bank on the bank's obligations and the customers' rights.

Broadly, the policies formulated by banks should cover the following areas:

Immediate credit for local / outstation cheques, Time frame for collection of local / outstation instruments and compensation payable for delayed collection.

The CCPs of various banks are made available on the website of respective bank.

Banks are obliged to disclose their liability to customers by way of compensation / interest payments due to delays for non-compliance with the standards set by the banks themselves. The customer has to be compensated by way of compensation/interest payment even if no formal claim is lodged to the effect.

Banks generally offer either of the following loan options: Floating Rate Home Loans and Fixed Rate Home Loans. For a Fixed Rate Loan, the rate of interest is fixed either for the entire tenure of the loan or a certain part of the tenure of the loan. In case of a pure fixed loan, the EMI due to the bank remains constant. If a bank offers a Loan which is fixed only for a certain period of the tenure of the loan, please try to elicit information from the bank whether the rates may be raised after the period (reset clause). You may try to negotiate a lock-in that should include the rate that you have agreed upon initially and the period the lock-in lasts.

Hence, the EMI of a fixed rate loan is known in advance. This is the cash outflow that can be planned for at the outset of the loan. If the inflation and the interest rate in the economy move up over the years, a fixed EMI is attractively stagnant and is easier to plan for. However, if you have fixed EMI, any reduction in interest rates in the market, will not benefit you.

Determinants of floating rate:

The EMI of a floating rate loan changes with changes in market interest rates. If market rates increase, your repayment increases. When rates fall, your dues also fall. The floating interest rate is made up of two parts: the index and the spread. The index is a measure of interest rates generally (based on say, government securities prices), and the spread is an extra amount that the banker adds to cover credit risk, profit mark-up etc. The amount of the spread may differ from one lender to another, but it is usually constant over the life of the loan. If the index rate moves up, so does your interest rate in most circumstances and you will have to pay a higher EMI. Conversely, if the interest rate moves down, your EMI amount should be lower.

Also, sometimes banks make some adjustments so that your EMI remains constant. In such cases, when a lender increases the floating interest rate, the tenure of the loan is increased (and EMI kept constant).

Some lenders also base their floating rates on their Benchmark Prime Lending Rates (BPLR). You should ask what index will be used for setting the floating rate, how it has generally fluctuated in the past, and where it is published/disclosed. However, the past fluctuation of any index is not a guarantee for its future behavior.

Flexibility in EMI:

Some banks also offer their customers flexible repayment options. Here the EMIs are unequal. In step-up loans, the EMI is low initially and increases as years roll by (balloon repayment). In step-down loans, EMI is high initially and decreases as years roll by.

Step-up option is convenient for borrowers who are in the beginning of their careers. Step-down loan option is useful for borrowers who are close to their retirement years and currently make good money.

Ans: Bonds subscribed by banks and which meet the criteria specified in circular dated April 23, 2010 will continue to be classified under HTM category.

Ans The primary modes of funds transfer at present are demand draft, mail transfer and telegraphic transfer. The demand draft facility is paper based. The remitter, after purchasing demand draft from a bank branch, dispatches the same by post/courier to the beneficiary. The beneficiary, in turn, lodges the draft to his/her bank for collection and clearing. The time taken for completing the process is about 10 days. In the case of telegraphic transfer, fund reaches the beneficiary either on the same day or the next; but both the remitter and the beneficiary would have to be account holders of the same bank. If they are customers of different banks, a good deal of paper processing is required. On the other hand, RBI EFT system is an inter-bank oriented system. RBI acts as an intermediary between the remitting bank and the receiving bank and effects inter-bank funds transfer. The customers of banks can request their respective branches to remit funds to the designated customers irrespective of bank affiliation of the beneficiary.

Ans. The Asian Monetary Units (AMUs) is the common unit of account of ACU and is denominated as ‘ACU Dollar’, ‘ACU Euro’ and ‘ACU Yen’, which is equivalent in value to one US Dollar, one Euro and one Japanese Yen respectively. All instruments of payments under ACU have to be denominated in AMUs. Settlement of such instruments may be made by AD Category-I banks through the ACU Dollar Accounts, ACU Euro Accounts and ACU Yen Accounts, which should be distinct from the other US Dollar, Euro and Japanese Yen Accounts respectively maintained for non ACU transactions. As the payment channel for processing ‘ACU Euro’ is under review, the operations in ‘ACU Euro’ have been temporarily suspended with effect from July 01, 2016 and accordingly, all eligible current account transactions including trade transactions in “Euro” are permitted to be settled outside the ACU mechanism until further notice.

Authorized dealers may release foreign exchange upto USD 100,000 or its equivalent to resident Indians for medical treatment abroad on self declaration basis of essential details, without insisting on any estimate from a hospital/doctor in India/abroad. A person visiting abroad for medical treatment can obtain foreign exchange exceeding the above limit, provided the request is supported by an estimate from a hospital/doctor in India/abroad. This exchange is to meet the expenses involved in treatment and in addition to the amount referred to in paragraph 1 above.

Ans: Bank-wise list of IFSCs is available with all the bank-branches participating in NEFT scheme. List of bank-wise branches participating in NEFT and their IFSCs is also available on the website of RBI at /en/web/rbi/-/list-of-neft-enabled-bank-branches-bank-wise-indian-financial-system-code-updated-as-on-june-30-2023-2009-1. All member banks have also been advised to print the IFSC of the branch on cheques issued to their customers.

Application in the prescribed form (as given in Part I: Annex-I of the FED Master Direction No.18/2015-16 on Reporting under FEMA 1999), along with the required documents should be submitted to the respective Regional Office of the Foreign Exchange Department of the Reserve Bank under whose jurisdiction the registered office of the applicant company falls.

Ans. A person coming into India from abroad can bring with him foreign exchange without any limit. However, if the aggregate value of the foreign exchange in the form of currency notes, bank notes or travellers cheques brought in exceeds USD 10,000 or its equivalent and/or the value of foreign currency alone exceeds USD 5,000 or its equivalent, it should be declared to the Customs Authorities at the Airport in the Currency Declaration Form (CDF), on arrival in India.

Answer: RBI approval is required if:

(i) Remittance is in excess of USD 1,000,000 (US Dollar One million only) per financial year:

1. on account of legacy, bequest or inheritance to a citizen of foreign state, resident outside India; and
2. by NRIs/ PIOs out of the balances held in NRO accounts/ sale proceeds of assets/ the assets acquired by way of inheritance/ legacy.

(ii) Hardship will be caused to a person if remittance from India is not made to such a person.

In case of loss of original token, on a specific request and on payment of prescribed fees, the receipted challan is issued.

An aggregator or facilitator means a Scheduled Bank or Primary Dealer or Specified Stock Exchange permitted to aggregate the bids received from the investors and submit a single bid in the non-competitive segment of the primary auction.

CTS enables fast and cheap realisation of funds to customers as compared to traditional mechanisms. Under grid-based CTS clearing, all cheques drawn on bank branches falling within in the grid jurisdiction are treated and cleared as local cheques. No outstation cheque collection charges to be levied if the collecting bank and the paying bank are located within the jurisdiction of the same CTS grid even though they are located in different cities.

CTS also benefits issuers of cheques. The Corporates if needed can be provided with images of cheques by their bankers for internal requirements, if any.

Ans : The User intending to effect payments through ECS Credit has to submit details of the beneficiaries (like name, bank / branch / account number of the beneficiary, MICR code of the destination bank branch, etc.), date on which credit is to be afforded to the beneficiaries, etc., in a specified format (called the input file) through its sponsor bank to one of the ECS Centres where it is registered as a User.

The bank managing the ECS Centre then debits the account of the sponsor bank on the scheduled settlement day and credits the accounts of the destination banks, for onward credit to the accounts of the ultimate beneficiaries with the destination bank branches.

Further details about the ECS Credit scheme are contained in the Procedural Guidelines and available on the website of Reserve Bank of India at http://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/ECSUserView.aspx?Id=1

The Banking Ombudsman can receive and consider any complaint relating to the following deficiency in banking services:non-payment or inordinate delay in the payment or collection of cheques, drafts, bills etc.;non-acceptance, without sufficient cause, of small denomination notes tendered for any purpose, and for charging of commission in respect thereof;non-acceptance, without sufficient cause, of coins tendered and for charging of commission in respect thereof;non-payment or delay in payment of inward remittances ;failure to issue or delay in issue of drafts, pay orders or bankers’ cheques;non-adherence to prescribed working hours ;failure to provide or delay in providing a banking facility (other than loans and advances) promised in writing by a bank or its direct selling agents;delays, non-credit of proceeds to parties' accounts, non-payment of deposit or non-observance of the Reserve Bank directives, if any, applicable to rate of interest on deposits in any savings, current or other account maintained with a bank ;complaints from Non-Resident Indians having accounts in India in relation to their remittances from abroad, deposits and other bank related matters;refusal to open deposit accounts without any valid reason for refusal;levying of charges without adequate prior notice to the customer;Non-adherence to the instructions of Reserve Bank on ATM / Debit Card and Prepaid Card operations in India by the bank or its subsidiariesNon-adherence by the bank or its subsidiaries to the instructions of Reserve Bank on credit card operationsNon-adherence to the instructions of Reserve Bank with regard to Mobile Banking / Electronic Banking service in India by the bankNon-disbursement or delay in disbursement of pension (to the extent the grievance can be attributed to the action on the part of the bank concerned, but not with regard to its employees);Refusal to accept or delay in accepting payment towards taxes, as required by Reserve Bank/Government;Refusal to issue or delay in issuing, or failure to service or delay in servicing or redemption of Government securities;Forced closure of deposit accounts without due notice or without sufficient reason;Refusal to close or delay in closing the accounts;Non-adherence to the fair practices code as adopted by the bank;Non-adherence to the provisions of the Code of Bank's Commitments to Customers issued by Banking Codes and Standards Board of India and as adopted by the bank ;Non-observance of Reserve Bank guidelines on engagement of recovery agents by banks;Non-adherence to Reserve Bank guidelines on para-banking activities like sale of insurance / mutual fund /other third party investment products by banksAny other matter relating to the violation of the directives issued by the Reserve Bank in relation to banking or other services.A customer can also lodge a complaint on the following grounds of deficiency in service with respect to loans and advancesnon-observance of Reserve Bank Directives on interest rates;delays in sanction, disbursement or non-observance of prescribed time schedule for disposal of loan applications;non-acceptance of application for loans without furnishing valid reasons to the applicant; andnon-adherence to the provisions of the fair practices code for lenders as adopted by the bank or Code of Bank’s Commitment to Customers, as the case may be;non-observance of any other direction or instruction of the Reserve Bank as may be specified by the Reserve Bank for this purpose from time to time.The Banking Ombudsman may also deal with such other matter as may be specified by the Reserve Bank from time to time.

Yes. The reserved amount will be within the notified amount.

In terms of GOI notification No.SO.301(E) dated March 30, 2001, banks are free to allow remittance for maintenance of close relatives abroad not exceeding net salary (after deduction of taxes, contribution to provident fund and other deductions) of a person who is resident but not permanently resident in India and is a citizen of a foreign state other than Pakistan. Therefore, independent of QA 22 procedure, they may allow remittance of net salary.

Remittance of partly paid invoices is permissible, subject to total remittance not exceeding the amount indicated in the invoice. In terms of the extant guidelines, although the advertisement charges can be accepted in advance, along with the text of the advertising matter, by the Indian channel agent, the remittance can be made by the AD, only after the advertisements are telecast abroad and invoices raised thereafter, and subject to submission of the requisite documents as stated at (4) above such as invoice, tax declaration/deduction certificate, certificate from Chartered Accountant regarding foreign exchange earning in the past 2 years.

An application for repatriation of balance may be made on plain paper to the concerned Regional Office of Reserve Bank.

1. Any clarification in respect of specific cases could be obtained from the Reserve Bank’s Central office at the following address:

Overseas Investment Division,
Exchange Control Department,
Central office,
Reserve Bank of India,
Mumbai 400001.
or
e-mail: oid@rbi.org.in

Person going abroad for employment can draw foreign exchange upto US$5,000 from any authorised dealer in India.

1. A first time user should register through ATS using his/her valid email id.

2. A system generated Password will be forwarded to the applicant’s email id.

3. Thereafter, the applicant can login and submit his/her application and track the same.

4. As soon as an application is submitted through ATS, a unique application number is generated and forwarded to the applicant by the system.

5. A mail is sent by the system automatically when the application is disposed of or transferred from one office / department / section to another.

Banks are prohibited from employing / engaging any individual, firm company, association, institution for collection of deposits or selling of deposit linked products on payment of remuneration or fees or commission in any form or manner exceptcommissionpaid to agents employed to collect door to door deposits under a special scheme

The deposits kept in different branches of a bank are aggregated for the purpose of insurance cover and a maximum amount of upto Rupees five lakhs is paid.

Ans. Yes. Under this facility, cash can be withdrawn from PoS terminal(s) at designated merchant establishment(s), irrespective of the fact whether the card issuer and the acquiring bank are same or not.

Ans.

i. In NEFT payment messages, the field 7495 is a free format optional field consisting of 6 lines with 35 characters each with alphanumeric options. The first two lines of this field hall be used for capturing sender and beneficiary customer LEI information, in that order, where applicable and available. When LEI information is captured, narration, remarks, etc., shall be part of last 4 lines of the field. The sender and beneficiary information shall be captured in following format:

7495: line 1 -> SL/20 digit sender LEI/

line 2 -> BL/20 digit beneficiary LEI/

ii. In RTGS customer payment and inter-bank messages, the optional field “<-RmtInf->” has 4 repeat tags with each having 140 characters. The first two loops of this field shall be used for capturing sender and beneficiary customer LEI information, in that order, where applicable and available. When LEI information is captured, narration, remarks, etc., shall be part of last two repeating loops of the field. The sender and beneficiary information shall be captured in following format:

<-RmtInf-> loop 1 -> /SL/20 digit sender LEI/

loop 2 -> /BL/20 digit beneficiary LEI/

No, SEZ Units cannot open EEFC Accounts. However, a unit located in a Special Economic Zone can open a Foreign Currency Account with an Authorised Dealer in India subject to conditions stipulated in Regulation 4 (D) of Foreign Exchange Management (Foreign Currency Accounts by a person Resident in India) Regulations dated January 21, 2016.

In terms of GOI notification No.SO.301(E) dated March 30, 2001, banks are free to allow remittance for maintenance of close relatives abroad not exceeding net salary (after deduction of taxes, contribution to provident fund and other deductions) of a person who is resident but not permanently resident in India and is a citizen of a foreign state other than Pakistan.

Therefore, independent of QA 22 procedure, they may allow remittance of net salary.

The charges levied by banks for collection of such USD denominated cheques are dependent on the type of collection arrangement chosen by customers and the number of intermediaries (correspondent banks) involved in the collection process. Each of the CBs will levy their own charges for facilitating the process of collection. All these charges will be in turn levied by the collecting banks in India from the customers. The customer’s account is credited net of collection charges (proceeds minus collection charges)

Ans. Yes, these terms are defined in Section 2 (1) of the PSS Act, 2007.

No specific Technology, Vendor, Service Provider or Process has been recommended for achieving ADF and it has been left to the banks to decide on these issues on the basis of internal requirements.

Application for the deposit will be available at branches of Authorised Banks. It is also available in the Reserve Bank of India website.

Response

No. An individual is eligible to have only one 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account' in one bank.

Yes. One can have Term/Fixed Deposit, Recurring Deposit etc., accounts in the bank where one holds 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account'.

The components of the spread i.e. business strategy and Credit risk premium shall have either a positive value or be zero. In other words, the spread components cannot be negative.

Ans: The applicant should give the list of promoters and the source of funds for the minimum capital of Rs 2 crore. The capital should be infused before issue of CoR. No change in promoters will be allowed in the interregnum.

For redressal of grievance, the complainant must first approach the concerned NBFC. If the NBFC does not reply within a period of one month after receipt of the complaint, or the NBFC rejects the complaint, or if the complainant is not satisfied with the reply given by the NBFC, the complainant can file the complaint with the NBFC Ombudsman under whose jurisdiction the branch/ registered office of the NBFC falls.

As and when the bank mobilizes USD one million or more of FCNR (B) deposits, it may approach RBI. Normally, banks may enter into swap transactions with RBI once in a week in consultation with the Financial Markets Department of RBI.

Ans. Yes provided the bank account is re-designated as a BO account.

• Interest will be accrued and compounded in the principal on half-yearly basis and paid along with principal at the time of redemption.

Ans. Direct participation in CPS can reduce delay in execution of funds transfer instructions of non-banks. Further, if there is any impact in the functioning of the bank, it can cause business disruptions for its non-bank customers as well. Such disruptions, even if temporary, can have the potential to spread instability in the system.

Direct participation to CPS will enable access neutrality between banks and non-banks and facilitate better settlement risk management with increased participation of non-banks.

Ans. Yes, for providing a non-microfinance loan to a low-income household (as defined under the directions), it should be ensured that the limit of 50 per cent on monthly loan repayment obligations of a household as a percentage of monthly household income is not breached. In other words, the limit of 50 per cent shall include both microfinance as well as non-microfinance loans.

• There is no bar on processing of payment transactions outside India if so desired by the PSOs. However, the data shall be stored only in India after the processing. The complete end-to-end transaction details should be part of the data.

• In case the processing is done abroad, the data should be deleted from the systems abroad and brought back to India not later than the one business day or 24 hours from payment processing, whichever is earlier. The same should be stored only in India.

• However, any subsequent activity such as settlement processing after payment processing, if done outside India, shall also be undertaken / performed on a near real time basis. The data should be stored only in India.

• In case of any other related processing activity, such as chargeback, etc., the data can be accessed, at any time, from India where it is stored.

Yes, the originating NBFCs/HFCs have the option to buy back their assets after a specified period of 12 months, as a re-purchase transaction on a right of first refusal basis.

Ans. Banks, NBFC - Factors and other financial institutions as permitted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), can participate as financiers in TReDS.

In terms of para 2 of the circular, CCO is to be selected through a suitable process with an appropriate ‘Fit and Proper’ evaluation/selection criteria. ‘Fit and Proper’ criteria may be examined and reported from the perspectives of competency, integrity and conflict of interest, among others.

For redressal of grievance, the complainant must first approach the System Participant (as defined in the Scheme) concerned. If the System Participant does not reply within a period of one month after receipt of the complaint, or rejects the complaint, or if the complainant is not satisfied with the reply given, the complainant can file the complaint with the Ombudsman for Digital Transactions within whose jurisdiction the branch or office of the System Participant complained against, is located. For complaints arising out of services with centralized operations, the same shall be filed before the Ombudsman for Digital Transactions within whose territorial jurisdiction the billing / declared address of the customer is located.

No. For NRIs the facility is available from January 2, 2017 to June 30, 2017 at five Reserve Bank offices at Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, and Nagpur. The limit of exchange for NRIs will be ₹ 25000/-.

All loans meeting the eligibility criteria, unless covered by the specific exclusions listed in Paragraph 2 of the Annex to the Resolution Framework subject to the clarification at Sl. No. 2 above fall within the scope of resolution under the framework. These loans, if not falling under any of the categories mentioned in Paragraph 2 of the Annex to the Resolution Framework, is eligible for resolution under Part A of the Annex if they fall within the purview of “personal loans” as defined in the Circular DBR.No.BP.BC.99/08.13.100/2017-18 dated January 4, 2018 on “XBRL Returns – Harmonization of Banking Statistics”, even if they are not explicitly classified as so in any regulatory / supervisory reporting, or under Part B of the Annex otherwise.

Response: For business credit cards, wherein the cards have been issued based on the application by a corporate or business entity, card-issuers shall seek explicit consent as required under paragraph 6(a)(vi)/send intimation as required under paragraph 8(b) respectively from/to the principal account holder (viz. corporate or business entity) unless specified otherwise in the agreement. Similarly, with regard to retail credit cards too, it is clarified that the requisite consent shall be sought from the principal cardholder and not from the add-on cardholders.

However, for blocking of such credit cards, either the actual cardholder or the principal cardholder can initiate the request.

Ans: Yes, customer/depositor can claim a refund of their unclaimed amounts from their banks. Based on the request of claim made by customer/depositor or legal heirs (in case of deceased depositors), the banks shall repay the customer/depositor along with interest (applicable only in case of Interest-Bearing deposit accounts) and then lodge a claim for a refund from the DEA Fund maintained by the RBI for an equivalent amount paid to the customer/depositor.

ANS: No, the UDGAM portal facilitates only (a) the search of unclaimed deposits/accounts across multiple banks at one place and (b) provides information on claim/settlement process of each bank (which will be available in the search result). The unclaimed deposits can be claimed only from the respective bank.

The Public Debt Act, 1944 shall cease to apply to the Government securities to which the G S Act applies, while the Indian Securities Act, 1920 has been repealed.

No. The requirement is that not less than 51 per cent of the voting equity shares of the NOFHC shall be held by companies in the Promoter Group, in which the public hold not less than 51 percent of the voting equity of such companies. If 10 independent individuals form a Group, then such a Group cannot satisfy the above criteria laid down for holding the NOFHC. Additionally, such newly formed Promoter Group would not be able to meet one of the ‘Fit and Proper’ criteria, which requires Promoters/Promoter Groups to have a successful track record of running their business for at least 10 years. Essentially, the intention is that existing groups should set up banks and not groups set up for this purpose. However, it is clarified that individuals belonging to the Promoter Group can participate in the voting equity shares of NOFHC. While any such individual along with his relatives (as defined in Section 6 of the Companies Act 1956) and along with entities in which he and / or his relatives hold not less than 50 per cent of the voting equity shares, can hold voting equity shares not exceeding 10 per cent of the total voting equity shares of the NOFHC, all such individuals (along with their relatives and companies as specified above) irrespective of their numbers, cannot hold more than 49 per cent of the voting equity shares of the NOFHC (since the companies forming part of the Promoter Group whereof companies in which the public hold not less than 51 per cent of the voting equity shares shall hold not less than 51 per cent of the total voting equity shares of the NOFHC).[ para 2 ( C ) (ii) (a) and (b) of the guidelines]

Yes, joint holding is allowed.

Ans. Remittances under the facility can be consolidated in respect of family members subject to the individual family members complying with the terms and conditions of the Scheme. However, clubbing is not permitted by other family members for capital account transactions such as opening a bank account and investment, if they are not the co-owners/co-partners of the investment/ overseas bank account. Remittances for acquiring immovable property outside India from a person resident outside India, may be consolidated in respect of relatives if such relatives, being persons resident in India, comply with the terms and conditions of the Scheme.

Ans: By nature, prepaid cards can be (a) Small PPIs and (b) Full-KYC PPIs. The usage depends on the type of PPI and is subject to prescribed limits and conditions. These cards can be issued by both banks and non-banks.

• Small PPIs can be used only for purchase of goods and services at a group of clearly identified merchant locations / establishments, which have a specific contract with the issuer (or contract through a payment aggregator / payment gateway) to accept the PPIs as payment instruments.

• Full KYC-PPIs can be used for purchase of goods and services, funds transfer or cash withdrawal.

FAQs on Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) give further detailed information on PPIs.

Ans: The ‘outstanding amount’ to be displayed on the website of the RE shall be as per definition provided under Section 13 (9) (b) of the SARFAESI Act, 2002 i.e. it shall include principal, interest and any other dues payable by the borrower to the secured creditor in respect of secured asset as per the books of account of the secured creditor.

The term ‘credit facility’ means a term loan, project loan subscription to bonds/ debentures/ preference shares/ equity shares in a project company acquired as a part of project finance package such that such subscription amounts to be “in the nature of advance” or any other form of long term funded facility provided to a borrower company engaged in developing/ operating and maintaining/ developing, operating and maintaining infrastructure facilities, that is a project in any of the sub-sectors as specified in the definition of infrastructure loan.

Ans.: In case MF company does not receive the soft-form of Schedule-4, they may download the same from RBI website under the head 'Regulatory Reporting' → ‘List of Returns’ → ‘FLA Schedule IV - Survey Schedule’ [or under the head 'Forms' (available under ‘More Links’ at the bottom of the home page) and sub-head Survey] or send a request to the e-mail: mfquery@rbi.org.in

The entities from Singapore enabled for the UPI-PayNow linkage and their VPAs are as follows:

Banks / Non-bank	VPA Handles Enabled
DBS Bank Singapore	Registered mobile number
Liquid Group (Non-Bank Financial Institution)	Registered mobile number followed by XNAP (e.g., 123456789XNAP)

Members of the public may approach bank branches for deposit and/or exchange of ₹2000 banknotes held by them.

The facility for deposit into accounts and exchange for ₹2000 banknotes will be available at all banks until September 30, 2023. The facility for exchange will be available also at the 19 Regional Offices (ROs) of RBI having Issue Departments¹ until September 30, 2023.

Ans: While the Guidelines mandate the REs accepting DLG cover to have a Board approved policy in place, the REs acting as DLG providers shall also put in place Board approved policy as a prudent measure.

Ans: If the remitting customer maintains an account with a bank branch in India, there is no need for any additional information, documents or identification. Else, the remitter has to submit documents for proof of identification such as Passport / Permanent Account Number / Driving License / Telephone Bill / Certificate of Identification issued by his employer with photograph and other details. The information will be captured in the NEFT system as part of compliance with Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements. Complete address and telephone / mobile number of the beneficiary in Nepal will also be required.

Ans. The circular does not prescribe any instructions with respect to SWIFT message formats.

1. Yes, the green activities/ projects financed under the framework can be classified under priority sector if they meet the requirements laid down in priority sector lending (PSL) guidelines of RBI [Master Directions FIDD.CO.Plan.BC.5/04.09.01/2020-21 dated September 04, 2020] as amended from time to time.

2. As the activities/ projects listed in the framework are the same as indicated in Sovereign Green Bonds (SGrBs) framework, investment by REs in SGrBs are covered under the framework.

Answer: The RBI has published an Alert List containing names of entities neither authorised as ‘authorised persons’ to deal in forex under the FEMA, 1999 nor authorised to operate ETPs under the Electronic Trading Platforms (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2018. The Alert List also contains names of entities/platforms/websites which appear to be promoting unauthorised entities/ETPs, including through advertisements of such unauthorised entities or claiming to be providing training/advisory services. The Alert List is not exhaustive and is based on what was known to RBI at the time of publication. An entity not appearing in the Alert List should not be assumed to be authorised by the RBI. The authorisation status of any person / ETP can be ascertained from the list of authorised persons and authorised ETPs.

Ans. The customer need not pay any charges for availing this service.

The Circular does not prohibit an audit firm from doing audit of any Company/Entity with Large Exposure to the Entity from being appointed as SCA/SA of the Entity. It only stipulates that this aspect should also be explicitly factored while assessing independence of the auditor. In this regard, the Board/ACB/LMC shall see that there is no conflict of interest and the independence of auditors is ensured.

In terms of RBI circular RPCD. MSME&NFS.BC.No.46/06.12.05/2012-13 dated November 09, 2012, banks have been advised not to reject any education loan application for reasons that the residence of the borrower does not fall under the bank's service area.

Ans: In case of floating rate loans, APR may be disclosed at the time of origination based on the prevailing rate as per the format of KFS. However, as and when the floating rate changes, only the revised APR may be disclosed to the customer via SMS/ e-mail each time the revised APR becomes applicable.

Ans: Ideally, the gap between time of transfer and due-diligence cut-off date should be minimal and the board approved policy should strive to ensure that. However, to account for such scenario and to ensure strict compliance with the stipulation that no loans in default is transferred under provisions of chapter III, lenders are advised to formulate a board approved policy covering all pertinent aspects.

Ans: Presently market risk capital charge for Government Securities is calculated using Standardized Duration Method. This method is based on the price sensitivity with respect to nominal interest rates (modified duration). This methodology may be made applicable to IIBs also. Nominal interest rates are composed of two factors: real interest rates and inflation expectations. IIBs are exposed to the risk of changes in the real rates only. Therefore, price sensitivity calculated with respect to nominal yields will not provide the true risk of the IIBs. Hence in the case of IIBs, price sensitivity with respect to change in the real yields should be calculated for IIBs.

Ans. Yes. All compounding applications shall be submitted along with the prescribed fee of ₹10,000/- (plus applicable GST, which at present is 18%) by way of demand draft in favour of “Reserve Bank of India” and payable at the concerned Regional Office/ CO Cell, New Delhi/ Central Office or through National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT), or other permissible electronic or online modes of payment. The necessary details for making the payment through electronic mode is provided in Annexure I in Directions – Compounding of contraventions under FEMA, 1999. In case application fee is paid through NEFT or other permissible electronic mode of payment, it may be ensured that intimation of payment of applications fee, to respective RO, CO Cell, or Central Office, as case may be, shall be made as soon as possible but not later than 2 hours from time of payment, through an email as per the template provided in Para B of Annexure I of Directions – Compounding of contraventions under FEMA, 1999.

It may further be noted that in case compounding application is returned for any reason, The application fee, if paid, shall not be returned in case of return of the compounding application. However, in case such applications are re-submitted, then the application fee need not be paid again.

Yes, pensioners can submit life certificates without visiting the branch using Jeevan Praman provided the Pension Sanctioning Authority is on boarded on the platform. Further, banks have also been advised to provide super senior citizens (pensioners over 70 years of age) and differently abled or infirm persons (having medically certified chronic illness or disability) including those who are visually impaired, the facility to submit life certificate at the premises/ residence of such customers.

Answer: An NRO (current/ savings) account can be opened by a foreign national of non-Indian origin visiting India, with funds remitted from outside India through banking channel or by sale of foreign exchange brought by him to India. The balance in the NRO account may be paid to the account holder at the time of his departure from India provided the account has been maintained for a period not exceeding six months and the account has not been credited with any local funds, other than interest accrued thereon.