Ans. Section 2(1) (i) of the PSS Act 2007 defines a payment system to mean a system that enables payment to be effected between a payer and a beneficiary, involving clearing, payment or settlement service or all of them, but does not include a stock exchange (Section 34 of the PSS Act 2007 states that its provisions will not apply to stock exchanges or clearing corporations set up under stock exchanges). It is further stated by way of an explanation that a “payment system” includes the systems enabling credit card operations, debit card operations, smart card operations, money transfer operations or similar operations.

All systems (except stock exchanges and clearing corporations set up under stock exchanges) carrying out either clearing or settlement or payment operations or all of them are regarded as payment systems. All entities operating such systems will be known as system providers. Also all entities operating money transfer systems or card payment systems or similar systems fall within the definition of a system provider. To decide whether a particular entity operates the payment system, it must perform either the clearing or settlement or payment function or all of them.

Response

The 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account' would be subject to provisions of PML Act and Rules and RBI instructions on Know Your Customer (KYC) / Anti-Money Laundering (AML) for opening of bank accounts issued from time to time. BSBDA can also be opened with simplified KYC norms. However, if BSBDA is opened on the basis of Simplified KYC, the accounts would additionally be treated as “BSBDA-Small account” and would be subject to the conditions stipulated for such accounts as indicated in our circulars RPCD.CO.RCB.AML.BC.No.63/07.40.00/2010-11 dated April 26, 2011 and RPCD.CO.RRB.AML.BC.No.15/03.05.33(E)/2011-12 dated August 8, 2011.

The re-pricing of the swap would be done as given in the illustration at the end of the FAQ.

Ans. Yes, please refer to the Master Directions on Reporting (/en/web/rbi/-/notifications/master-direction-reporting-under-foreign-exchange-management-act-1999-updated-as-on-may-12-2023-lt-span-gt-10202). The registration is required to be done once the AD bank’s approval for the establishment of office is issued.

Ans. The directions are applicable to loans sanctioned on or after April 1, 2022. Accordingly, pricing of the existing loans of NBFC-MFIs i.e., sanctioned prior to April 1, 2022 shall continue to be as per the guidelines applicable as on March 31, 2022. As other REs were already free to decide pricing of loans sanctioned, they are allowed to review and revise interest rates applicable to the existing loans also, subject to compliance with the relevant guidelines.

Ans. The following payments are eligible to be settled through ACU:-

1. for export / import transaction between ACU member countries on deferred payment terms; and

2. not declared ineligible as mentioned under Q.10

Note:- Trade transaction with Myanmar may be settled in any freely convertible currency, in addition to the ACU mechanism.

Ans. Yes. The TReDS could deal with both receivables factoring as well as reverse factoring.

Ans. The IFSC number can be obtained by the remitter (customer) from his / her bank branch. Alternatively, it is available on the cheque leaf of the beneficiary. This code number / bank branch information can be communicated by the beneficiary to the remitting customer. The list of IFSCs is also available on the RBI website at the link https://rbi.org.in/Scripts/Bs_viewRTGS.aspx?Category=5. The list is updated on a fortnightly basis.

The instructions in the circular dated September 7, 2020 is applicable in the case of all borrowers in respect of whom resolution is being undertaken in terms of Part B of the Annex to the circular dated August 6, 2020 on Resolution Framework.

Response: The cardholder shall be provided option to choose any date as the starting or closing day of the billing cycle at least once. Further, card-issuers may provide the option to modify the billing cycle through multiple channels such as helpline, dedicated e-mail-id, Interactive Voice Response (IVR), internet banking, mobile-application and any other modes.

Ans. Resident individuals (but not permanently resident in India) who have remitted their entire earnings and salary and wish to further remit ‘other income’ may approach RBI with documents through their AD bank for consideration.

Ans: The monthly updates mentioned in the circular specifically relate to the inclusion of new secured assets possessed by the REs, and the removal of the secured assets that have been sold or resolved by the REs.

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

Ans: For transactions up to ₹50,000, the charges are as follows:

1. Originating bank – Maximum ₹5/- per transaction.

2. State Bank of India – ₹20/- per transaction. SBI would share this ₹20/- with NSBL at ₹10 each. NSBL would not charge any additional amount for crediting the beneficiary. if he maintains an account with it.

3. In case the beneficiary does not maintain an account with NSBL then, an additional amount would be charged- ₹50/- for remittances up to ₹5,000/- and ₹75/- for remittance above ₹5,000/-.

4. For transactions above ₹50,000/-, charges prescribed by SBI shall apply. The charges prescribed by SBI is available on the website of SBI under the hyperlink - https://nsbl.statebank/remittance-from-india.

Ans: No. DLG arrangements for credit cards are not permitted.

The RE needs to publish the FF along with opinion of external reviewer on the FF (before implementation of FF) on its website. There is no requirement of publishing FF twice, i.e., one before and another after external review.

Ans: The limits on cash withdrawal at ATMs and for purchase of goods and services are decided by the card issuer. Within these limits, the card holder may set and modify transaction limits for various uses like domestic, international, PoS, ATMs, online transactions, contactless transactions, etc. Cash withdrawal using debit cards and full-KYC prepaid cards at PoS terminals has been allowed by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) whereby, a maximum of ₹2,000 can be withdrawn per transaction within an overall monthly limit of ₹10,000. Cardholders can check with their issuers for details of such facilities provided by them.

Answer: “Capital account transaction" means a transaction which alters the assets or liabilities, including contingent liabilities, outside India of persons resident in India or assets or liabilities in India of persons resident outside India. Please refer to the Foreign Exchange Management (Permissible Capital Account Transactions) Regulations, 2000 for permitted capital account transactions.

Ans: In case of delinquent loans, REs can deploy physical interface to recover loans in cash, where absolutely necessary. In order to afford operational flexibility to REs, such transactions are exempted from the requirement of direct repayment of loan in the RE’s bank account. However, any recovery by cash should be duly reflected in the borrower’s account and REs shall ensure that any fees, charges, etc., payable to LSPs are paid directly by them (REs) and are not charged by LSP to the borrower directly or indirectly from the recovery proceeds.

Ans. Cases involving serious contravention suspected of money laundering, terror financing or affecting sovereignty and integrity of the nation are categorized as sensitive contraventions. These contraventions shall not be compounded by the Reserve Bank of India.

Answer: Any multilateral organization, of which India is a member nation, or its subsidiary/ affiliate bodies and officials in India can open deposits with an authorised dealer in India.

Ans. In such case, an OVD containing the earlier name along with a copy of the Gazette notification, or marriage certificate issued by the State Government, as applicable, indicating the change in name, can be submitted for opening the account.

Ans: Yes, the circular will be applicable to the existing borrowers.

Ans: Yes. e₹ can be loaded/redeemed/transferred from/to one’s bank account to/from the e₹ wallet 24 hours x 7 days a week.

No. The quantum and reason for penal charges shall have to be clearly disclosed by REs to the customers upfront in the loan agreement and Most Important Terms & Conditions (MITC) / Key Fact Statement (KFS), as applicable.

Ans. No. In terms of item (iv) of Schedule-I to paragraph 29.8 of these Directions, societies registered under Societies Registration Act, 1860 (SRA,1860) or societies registered under any other law in force in a State or a Union Territory with the same object & purpose of promoting literary, scientific, and charitable activities as the SRA,1860, are eligible to open savings bank account with banks. Accordingly, savings bank accounts cannot be opened in the name of any other society/societies.

The 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account' would be subject to provisions of PML Act and Rules and RBI instructions on Know Your Customer (KYC) / Anti-Money Laundering (AML) for opening of bank accounts issued from time to time. BSBDA can also be opened with simplified KYC norms. However, if BSBDA is opened on the basis of Simplified KYC, the accounts would additionally be treated as “BSBDA-Small  Account” and would be subject to the conditions stipulated for such accounts as indicated in para 2.7 of Master Circular DBOD.AML.BC.No. 11/14.01.001/2012-13 dated July 2, 2012.

Ans.: Four major business activities of computer software & information technology enabled services with their sub classifications are covered under the survey schedule. Details can be found in the survey schedule itself.

If any customer has a complaint against a bank due to non-payment or inordinate delay in the payment or collection of cheques, complaint can be lodged with the bank concerned. If the bank fails to respond within 30 days, you may make a complaint under “The Reserve Bank-Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS 2021)”. Complaints can be filed online on https://cms.rbi.org.in, or through the dedicated e-mail or sent in physical mode to the ‘Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre’ set up at RBI, 4th Floor, Sector 17, Chandigarh – 160 017 in the format given at the following path - /documents/87730/39016390/RBIOS2021_121121_A.pdf. A toll-free number – 14448 (9:30 am to 5:15 pm) – is also available for customers to seek assistance in filing complaints and information on grievance redressal, with multi-lingual support.

Answer: Yes

As part of the financial sector liberalisation, all credit related matters of banks including charging of interest have been deregulated by RBI and are governed by the banks' own lending policies.

With a view to improve monetary policy transmission, banks have been advised to link loans to Micro and Small Enterprises to an external benchmark from October 01, 2019. (Refer circular DBR.DIR.BC.No.14/13.03.00/2019-20 dated September 04, 2019). To further improve the transmission of monetary policy rates, it has been decided that with effect from April 01, 2020, loans to Medium Enterprises shall be linked to external benchmark. (Refer circular DOR.DIR.BC.No.39/13.03.00/2019-20 dated February 26, 2020).

Ans: Yes. ECS can be used to transfer funds to NRE and NRO accounts in the country. This, however, is subject to the adherence to the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 2000 (FEMA) and Wire Transfer Guidelines.

Ans. The following payments are not eligible to be settled through ACU:-

1. Payments between Nepal and India and Bhutan and India, exception being made in the case of goods imported from India by an importer resident in Nepal who has been permitted by the Nepal Rastra Bank to make payments in foreign exchange. Such payments may be settled outside ACU mechanism; and

2. Payments that are not on account of export / import transactions between ACU members countries except to the extent mutually agreed upon between the Reserve Bank and the other participants; and

3. All eligible current account transactions including trade transactions with Iran should be settled in any permitted currency outside the ACU mechanism until further notice.

Ans: The NEFT system is available round the clock throughout the year on all days, i.e., on 24x7x365 basis. NEFT presently operates in batches on half-hourly intervals throughout the day. In case of non-availability of NEFT for any reason, appropriate message will be broadcasted by RBI to all system participants.

An authorisation granted under Section 10(1) of FEMA 1999 may be revoked by the Reserve Bank at any time if the Reserve Bank is satisfied that -

1. it is in public interest so to do; or

2. the authorised person has failed to comply with the condition subject to which the authorisation was granted or has contravened any of the provisions of the Act or any rule, regulation, notification, direction or order made thereunder

Reserve Bank also reserves the right to revoke the authorisation of any of the offices of the authorised person for infringement of any statutory or regulatory provision. The Reserve Bank may at any time vary or revoke any of the existing conditions of an authorisation/licence or impose new conditions.

Ans. The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 1976 is administered and monitored by the Ministry of Home Affairs whose address is given below:

Ministry of Home Affairs, FCRA Wing, 1st Floor, Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, Near Pragati Maidan, New Delhi-110001

No specific approval from the Reserve Bank is required in this regard

Banks should exercise care while affixing stamps on the cheque forms, so that it does not interfere with the material portions such as date, payee’s name, amount, and signature. The use of rubber stamps, etc., should not overshadow the clear appearance of these basic features in image. It is necessary to ensure that all essential elements of a cheque are captured in an image during the scanning process and banks / customers have to exercise appropriate care in this regard.

Banks are also required to verify the security features additional to CTS-2010 standard that have been voluntarily implemented

• A non-competitive scheme has been devised for participation of such investors in the auction. Under this scheme, investors are required to indicate the amount of their bids and not the price at which they want to subscribe. Allocation to such investors is made at the weighted average price emerged in the competitive bidding.

• Presently in auction, up to 5 per cent of the notified amount is reserved for non-competitive bidding, while up to 20 per cent of the notified amount will be earmarked for such bidding in case of IIBs to encourage retail participation.

• The retail investors will be able to participate in non-competitive bidding through primary dealers (PD) and banks. They can open a gilt account with PDs and banks or demat account for such participation.

• Investor does not need to open a BLA with any bank for making investment.

• After receiving the money and registration of the investor on RBI’s CBS (E-Kuber), the RBI will open a BLA for each investor and issue a “Certificate of Holding” indicating number of units of IINSS-C held by the investor.

Ans : The following are the entry point norms for IDF-NBFC :

• Minimum Net Owned Funds (NOF) of Rs. 300 crore;

• Capital to Risk Weighted Assets (CRAR) of 15%;

• Net NPAs less than 3% of net advances;

• It should have been in existence for at least 5 years before application:

• It should have been profitable in the last three years;

• its performance should be satisfactory and free from supervisory concerns;

• It shall have at the minimum, a credit rating grade of 'A' of CRISIL or equivalent rating issued by other accredited rating agencies such as FITCH, CARE, BRICKWORK and ICRA.

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

Ans. In terms of Section 4 of the PSS Act, 2007 no person other than the Reserve Bank can operate or commence a payment system unless authorized by the Reserve Bank. Any person desirous of commencing or operating a payment system needs to apply for authorization under the PSS Act, 2007(Section 5).

The application for authorization has to be made as per Form A under Regulation 3(2) of the Payment and Settlement Systems Regulations, 2008. The application is required to be duly filled up and submitted with the stipulated documents to the Reserve Bank.

All entities operating payment systems or desirous of setting up such systems are required to apply for authorization under the Act. The application for authorisation can be downloaded from the following link. Any unauthorized operation of a payment system would be an offence under the PSS Act, 2007 and accordingly liable for penal action under that Act.

Response

No, the BSBDA customer cannot have any other savings bank account in the same bank. If 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account’ is opened on the basis of simplified KYC norms, the account would additionally be treated as a 'Small Account' and would be subject to conditions stipulated for such accounts as indicated in our circulars RPCD.CO.RCB.AML.BC.No.63/07.40.00/2010-11 dated April 26, 2011 and RPCD.CO.RRB.AML.BC.No.15/03.05.33(E)/2011-12 dated August 8, 2011 on 'Opening of Small Account.'

Ans. This clause is applicable only for recovery from borrowers having overdue loans. For other borrowers, REs can continue with the existing timing/ process for business like group meetings, collection in regular accounts, etc. as per borrowers’ convenience.

Ans. No. The transactions processed under TReDS are “without recourse” to the MSMEs.

Ans. For a funds transfer to go through RTGS, both the sending bank branch and the receiving bank branch need to be RTGS enabled. Presently, there are more than 1,60,000 RTGS enabled bank branches, the list of which is available on the RBI website at the link https://rbi.org.in/Scripts/Bs_viewRTGS.aspx?Category=5. The list is updated on a fortnightly basis.

No, the BSBDA customer cannot have any other savings bank account in the same bank. If 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account’ is opened on the basis of simplified KYC norms, the account would additionally be treated as a 'Small Account' and would be subject to conditions stipulated for such accounts as indicated in para 2.6 (iii) of Master Circular No.UBD.BPD.(PCB).MC.No.16/12.05.001/2012-13 dated July 1, 2013 on 'KYC norms / AML Measures/ Combating of Financing of Terrorism (CFT) / Obligation of banks under PMLA, 2002'.

Response: Usage of a credit card beyond the sanctioned credit limit (i.e., overlimit) requires prior explicit consent of the cardholder, as a fraud minimisation mechanism. Further, a cardholder shall be given an option to enable or disable the option of overlimit through transaction control mechanism available on card-issuer’s platforms such as internet, mobile banking, or any other suitable medium. Unless explicit consent has been obtained from the cardholder for the overlimit facility, no overlimit can either be provided or overlimit charges be levied.

Ans. No. The rationale is that remittance facility for current account transactions under Schedule III of FEM (CAT) Amendment Rules, 2015, such as private and business visits, up to the LRS limit of USD 250, 000 can also be provided by FFMCs. As FFMCs cannot maintain accounts of remitters, the proviso (as mentioned in para 5.4 of the circular ibid) has been confined to capital account transactions. However, FFMCs, are required to ensure that the "Know Your Customer" guidelines and the Anti-Money Laundering Rules in force have been complied with while allowing the current account transactions.

Ans: RBI has been taking various steps to ensure that the card payment environment is safe and secure. RBI has mandated issuers to send alerts for all card transactions so that a card holder is aware of transactions taking place on her / his card. In order to benefit from it, the cardholders are advised to register for SMS / e-mail alerts.

Ans: While the lead lender as per the consortium agreement may initiate SARFAESI proceedings, the circular requires all consortium members to individually display on their website the details of assets taken into possession, including outstanding amount and other details as per the pari-passu charge and consortium agreement ensuring transparency.

Ans.: If the MF company/AMCs does not have foreign liability or assets during the reference period, then that company is required to submit NIL survey schedule of MF survey as well as FLA form on FLAIR portal.

Answer: "Current account transaction" means a transaction other than a capital account transaction. For example:

1. Payments due in connection with foreign trade, other current business, services, and short-term banking and credit facilities in the ordinary course of business;

2. Payments due as interest on loans and as net income from investments, remittances for living expenses of parents, spouse and children residing abroad; and

3. Expenses in connection with foreign travel, education and medical care of parents, spouse and children.

Please refer to the Foreign Exchange Management (Current Account Transactions) Rules, 2000 for permitted current account transactions.