An Indian company can make overseas investment in any activity (except those that are specifically prohibited) in which it has experience and expertise. However, for undertaking activities in the financial sector, certain additional conditions specified in Regulation 7 may be adhered to (Please refer to Q.9).

Person going abroad for immigration can draw foreign exchange upto US$ 5,000 or the amount prescribed by the country of emigration from an authorised dealer in India. These amount is only to meet the incidental expenses in the country of migration. No amount of foreign exchange can be remitted outside India to become eligible or for earning points or credits for immigration. All such remittances require prior permission of the Reserve Bank.

Banks can refer to the methodology given in the Approach Paper to assess People, Process and Technology maturity and place themselves in a specific cluster which in turn would help in determining the time lines for implementation of ADF.

Ans. i) Majority of transactions, as possible, should be settled directly through the accounts maintained by AD Category-l banks with banks in the other participating countries and vice versa; only the spill-overs in either direction are required to be settled by the Central Banks in the countries concerned through the Clearing Union. At all times, the balances maintained in the ACU Dollar, ACU Euro and ACU Yen accounts should be commensurate with requirements of the normal business. With effect from July 01, 2016, all eligible current account transactions including trade transactions in “Euro” are permitted to be settled outside the ACU mechanism until further notice. ii) AD Category-l banks are permitted to settle commercial and other eligible transactions in much the same manner as other normal foreign exchange transactions.

NDS-OM Web Module is only an electronic front end for accessing the main NDS-OM system. All instructions/notifications/circulars/press releases issued by RBI, both current and future, relating to CSGL trades would be binding and applicable. Dealing on NDS-OM Web would also be subject to RBI's NDS-OM Guiding Principles.

Ans. Yes, the AD bank should ensure compliance to the extant instructions issued by the Department of Banking Regulation.

Ans. LEI shall be recorded for all non-individual NEFT / RTGS messages / transactions. An indicative list of entity types is given by LEIL at https://www.ccilindia-lei.co.in/Documents/FAQs.pdf.

The tenor of the swap will be for three years or more in line with the tenor of the underlying FCNR (B) deposits. Bank desirous of availing the swap window may approach RBI for the swap, indicating the tenor in number of days.

Yes, Cheque facility is available for operation of the EEFC account.

The basic legal framework for determining rights, responsibilities and liabilities of the parties in connection with collection of USD denominated cheques drawn on US banks are governed by the legal framework as laid down under the US federal and state laws like Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) etc. However, in the event of return of a counterfeit cheque handled through this process, the drawee bank in the US has the right to recover the proceeds from presenting banks within the period stipulated under US Clearing House guidelines.

No, additional risk weight on incremental exposure merely on account of borrower being classified as specified borrower, should not normally result in change in credit rating.

The deposits under this Scheme shall be made in one or more occasions (with effect from February 07, 2017 as per amendment to Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Deposit Scheme, Notification No S.O. 4061 E) in any of the Authorised Banks during normal banking hours on working days [excluding Sundays even if the banking services are offered in select branches on Sundays], till the 31st day of March, 2017.

Response

No. The 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account' should be considered as a normal banking service available to all customers, through branches.

No, the facility is not available to people who are not Indian citizens.

Banks can grant fixed rate loans to long term projects wherein the interest rate are fixed till the loan is due for refinancing. The loan, at the time of refinancing, will be treated as a fresh fixed rate loan with a maturity period equal to the period upto the next date of refinancing. Such fixed rate loans will fall under the directions contained in Section 13(d)(v) of Reserve Bank of India (Interest Rate on Advances) Directions, 2016.

One's complaint will not be considered under the following circumstances :If the NBFC against whom the complaint is registered, is not covered under the Scheme.If one has not approached the NBFC concerned in the first instance for redressal of the grievance.If the subject matter of the complaint is not pertaining to the grounds of complaint specified under Clause 8 of the Scheme.If one has not made the complaint within one year from the date of receipt of reply from the NBFC; or if no reply is received, and the complaint to NBFC Ombudsman is made after the lapse of more than one year and one month from the date of complaint to the NBFC.If the subject matter of the complaint is pending for disposal/ has already been dealt with at any other forum like court of law, consumer court etc.If the complaint is for the same subject matter that was settled through the office of the NBFC Ombudsman in any previous proceedings.If the complaint is frivolous or vexatious.

Ans. Non-banks increasingly and actively offer financial services and direct access to CPS can enable them to leverage technology and offer more choices to their consumers.

Apart from managing settlement risk in payments landscape, expanding access and participation of non-banks is a progressive move and leads to diversity and resiliency of the payments ecosystem.

As indicated above, the payment data sent abroad for processing should be deleted abroad within the prescribed time line and stored only in India. The data stored in India can be accessed / fetched for handling customer disputes whenever required.

Yes, upon buy back of the assets under the PCG scheme, the originating NBFC/ HFC will be required to maintain capital for the re-purchased assets as per the capital requirements prescribed for NBFCs/HFCs by the Bank.

Ans. Broadly, following steps take place during financing / discounting through TReDS:

1. Creation of a Factoring Unit (FU) - standard nomenclature used in TReDS for invoice(s) or bill(s) of exchange - containing details of invoices / bills of exchange (evidencing sale of goods / services by the MSME sellers to the buyers) on TReDS platform by the MSME seller (in case of factoring) or the buyer (in case of reverse factoring);

2. Acceptance of the FU by the counterparty - buyer or the seller, as the case may be;

3. Bidding by financiers;

4. Selection of best bid by the seller or the buyer, as the case may be;

5. Payment made by the financier (of the selected bid) to the MSME seller at the agreed rate of financing / discounting;

6. Payment by the buyer to the financier on the due date.

In view of the difficulties expressed by banks, they may follow the indicated processes for selection of CCO in the above circular within a period of nine months from the date of the circular viz. September 11, 2020 and are free to reappoint the current incumbent as the CCO if she/he meets the requirements.

One's complaint will not be considered under the following circumstances:If the System Participant against whom the complaint is registered, is not covered under the Scheme.If one has not approached the System Participant concerned in the first instance for redressal of the grievance.If the subject matter of the complaint is not pertaining to the grounds of complaint specified under Clause 8 of the Scheme.If one has not made the complaint within one year from the date of receipt of reply from the System Participant; or if no reply is received, and the complaint to the Ombudsman is made after the lapse of more than one year and one month from the date of complaint to the System Participant. In exceptional circumstances as decided by the Ombudsman, a complaint made after the period mentioned above may be accepted by the Ombudsman, provided the complaint is made before the expiry of the period of limitation prescribed under the Indian Limitation Act, 1963 for such claims.If the subject matter of the complaint is pending for disposal / has already been dealt with at any other forum like court of law, consumer court etc.If the complaint is for the same subject matter that was settled through the office of the Ombudsman in any previous proceedings.If the complaint is frivolous or vexatious.The complaint falls under the disputes covered under Section 24 of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.The complaint pertains to dispute arising from a transaction between customers.

Ans. No. The facility is available irrespective of whether the card holder makes a purchase or not.

The definitions of invocation and implementation in respect of eligible personal loans have been given in Paragraphs 7 and 10 respectively of the Annex to the Resolution Framework. In respect of other eligible loans, invocation shall be as per Paragraphs 14 and 15 of the Annex to the Resolution Framework whereas implementation shall have the meaning as per Paragraphs 14-16 of the circular dated June 7, 2019 on Prudential Framework for Resolution of Stressed Assets.

Response: In case a cardholder does not clear the total amount due within the payment due date, interest free credit period will be lost, and interest may be levied from the date of transaction on the outstanding amount (adjusted for payments/refunds/reversed transactions as and when credited) and not on the total amount due. Further, late payment fee and other charges relating to delay in payment shall be levied only on the outstanding amount (adjusted for payments/refunds/reversed transactions as and when credited) after the payment due date and not on the total amount due.

Ans: There is no specific time limit prescribed in the Scheme for claiming a refund from the DEA Fund by the customer/ depositor. However, customer/ depositor or the legal heirs (in case of deceased depositor) are encouraged to claim such amounts as soon as they become aware of unclaimed amounts.

ANS: UDRN is a unique number generated through Core Banking Solution (CBS) by banks and assigned to each Unclaimed account/ deposit transferred to Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund of RBI. This number is used so that the account holder or the bank branch where account is maintained, cannot be identified by any third party. The UDRN enables the bank branches to seamlessly settle claims received from the customers/depositors, who have made successful search in UDGAM portal. All the 30 banks on-boarded to the UDGAM portal have put in place necessary requirements to generate UDRN during the development of the portal.

Yes.  Relief/Savings Bonds are also Government securities. They are issued in the form of Stock Certificate and BLA by the RBI and in the form of BLA by the Agency Banks. All the provisions of the G S Act and the G S Regulations apply to them as well. However, Relief/Savings Bonds may have certain features of their own as per the specific Government Loan Notification announcing their issue. For example, Savings Bonds are not transferable except as explained at Question No. 46 below.

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]

Ans:No. The ‘outstanding balance’, ‘asset classification’ and ‘date of asset classification’ of the secured assets possessed under Section 13 (4) of the SARFAESI Act, 2002, shall be as per the information published in the newspapers in terms of Rule 3 (1) or Rule 6 (2) of the Security (Enforcement) Rules of 2002 in case of movable property, and Rule 8 (2) in case of immovable property.

Answer: No. Remittances under LRS can be made only for permissible current and capital account transactions. All other transactions which are otherwise not permissible under FEMA and those in the nature of remittance for margins or margin calls to overseas exchanges / overseas counterparty are not allowed under the Scheme.

Presently, the UPI ID registered with the same bank where account is held can only be used.

Deposit into bank accounts can be made without restrictions subject to compliance with extant Know Your Customer (KYC) norms and other applicable statutory / regulatory requirements.

Ans: No.

Ans: Remittances under the Scheme for transfer of funds from India to Nepal can be originated from any of the NEFT-enabled bank-branches in India. List of bank-wise branches participating in the NEFT system is available on the website of RBI at http://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/bs_viewcontent.aspx?Id=2009.

The bank branches originating the Indo-Nepal remittance transactions under the NEFT will process it like any other NEFT transaction, the only difference being that these transactions will subsequently be pooled / collected at the designated branch of State Bank of India (SBI) in India. At the end of the day, the remittance information is conveyed electronically by SBI in a secure mode to NSBL. NSBL then makes arrangements for credit to the bank account of the beneficiary if the beneficiary is an account holder of NSBL. Else, NSBL disburses funds in cash to the beneficiary through the authorised money transfer company (Prabhu Money Transfer). The beneficiary has to approach the local branch of the money transfer company, furnish the UTR number (also called as the Unique Transaction Reference number that uniquely identifies a transaction in the NEFT system that can be obtained from the remitter), and produce a photo identity document (generally Nepal Citizenship Certificate) to prove his identity.

If the beneficiary does not approach the money transfer company within a week from the date of the transaction, the money transfer company would make arrangements for return of the remittance to the originator.

Ans. Each leg of remittance would have only two parties and hence, the AD bank should obtain the LEI accordingly as per the circular.

Banks are allowed to offer overdraft facility to customers against Green Deposits subject to the instructions contained in the Consolidated Circular on Opening of Current Accounts and CC/OD Accounts by Banks dated April 19, 2022, as amended from time to time.

Ans. Tokenisation has been allowed through mobile phones and / or tablets for all use cases / channels (e.g., contactless card transactions, payments through QR codes, apps etc.)

These limits are applicable in respect of audit of all RBI Regulated Entities, irrespective of the asset size.

Yes. The application on behalf of the minor has to be made by his/her guardian.

Ans. AD will be guided by the nature of transaction as declared by the remitter in Form A2 and will thereafter certify that the remittance is in conformity with the instructions issued by the Reserve Bank in this regard from time to time. However, the ultimate responsibility is of the remitter to ensure compliance to the extant FEMA rules/regulations.

Ans: A card can be dipped (Chip based card), tapped (Contactless Near Field Communication {NFC} Card) or swiped (Magnetic-Stripe card) at a PoS terminal.

Ans: The insurance charges shall be included in the computation of APR only for the insurance which is linked/integrated in loan products as these charges are intrinsic to the nature of such digital loans.

Ans: The treatment in clause 36 is only to facilitate transfer of loans where due to operational or other constraints, the transferee does not conduct a loan level due diligence. This is without prejudice to the requirement under Clause 46 to apply prudential norms at the individual loan level.

Ans: Answers as given in Q 1 and Q 3.

Ans: No.

Yes, instructions have been issued by RBI to pension disbursing banks to allow withdrawal of pension by following certain procedures which are given below:

Withdrawal of pension by old/ sick/ disabled/ incapacitated pensioners

(i) In order to take care of problems/ difficulties faced by sick and disabled pensioners in withdrawal of pension / family pension from the banks, agency banks may categorise such pensioners as under:

(a) Pensioner who is too ill to sign a cheque / unable to be physically present in the bank.

(b) Pensioner who is not only unable to be physically present in the bank but also not even able to put his/her thumb impression on the cheque/ withdrawal form due to certain physical defect / incapacity.

(ii) With a view to enabling such old/sick/incapacitated pensioners to operate their accounts, banks may follow the procedure as under:

(a) Wherever thumb or toe impression of the old/sick pensioner is obtained, it should be identified by two independent witnesses known to the bank, one of whom should be a responsible bank official.

(b) Where the pensioner cannot even put his/her thumb/ toe impression and also would not be able to be physically present in the bank, a mark can be obtained on the cheque/withdrawal form, which should be identified by two independent witnesses, one of whom should be a responsible bank official.

The responsible bank official has to be from the same bank, preferably from the same branch, where the pensioner is having his/her pension account.

Agency banks have been asked to display the instructions issued in this regard on their notice board at the branches so that sick and disabled pensioners can make full use of these facilities.

Answer: A person resident outside India, having business interest in India, may open a Special Non-Resident Rupee Account (SNRR account), with an authorised dealer in India or its branch outside India for the purpose of putting through permissible current and capital account transactions with a person resident in India in accordance with the Act, rules and regulations framed under the Act, and for putting through any transaction with a person resident outside India.

The differences between SNRR account and NRO account are:

Feature	SNRR Account	NRO Account
Who can open	Any person resident outside India, having a business interest in India for putting through bona fide transactions in rupees. Opening of SNRR accounts by Pakistan and Bangladesh nationals and entities incorporated in Pakistan and Bangladesh requires prior approval of Reserve Bank.	Any person resident outside India for putting through bonafide transactions in rupees. Individuals/ entities of Pakistan nationality/ origin and entities of Bangladesh origin require the prior approval of the Reserve Bank of India. However, a citizen of Bangladesh/Pakistan belonging to minority communities in those countries i.e. Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians residing in India and who has been granted LTV or whose application for LTV is under consideration, can open one NRO account with an AD bank subject to the conditions mentioned in Notification No. FEMA 5(R)/2016-RB dated April 01, 2016, as updated from time to time.
Type of Account	Non-interest bearing	Current, Savings, Recurring or Fixed Deposit; Rate of interest – as per guidelines issued by Department of Regulation.
Permissible Transactions	Debits and credits specific/ incidental to the business proposed to be done by the account holder	Credits: Inward remittances, legitimate dues in India, transfers from other NRO accounts and any amount received in accordance with the Rules/Regulations/Directions under FEMA, 1999. Debits: Local payments, transfer to other NRO accounts, remittance of current income, settlement of charges on International Credit Cards.
Tenure	Concurrent to the tenure of the contract / period of operation / the business of the account holder.	No such restrictions on tenure.
Repatriability	Repatriable	Not repatriable except for current income; and remittances by NRIs/ PIOs up to USD 1 million per financial year in accordance with the provisions of FEMA 13(R).

Banks have been advised to put in place loan policies governing extension of credit facilities for the MSE sector duly approved by their Board of Directors (Refer circular RPCD.SME & NFS.BC.No.102/06.04.01/2008-09 dated May 4, 2009). Banks have, however, been advised to sanction limits after proper appraisal of the genuine working capital requirements of the borrowers keeping in mind their business cycle and short-term credit requirement. As per Nayak Committee Report, working capital limits to SSI units is computed on the basis of minimum 20% of their estimated turnover up to credit limit of Rs.5 crore.

Ans: It is clarified that the circular covers all equated installment based personal loans, irrespective of whether they are linked to an external benchmark or an internal benchmark.