NBFCs which are required to comply with Indian Accounting Standards (IndAS) shall, as hitherto, continue to be guided by the guidelines duly approved by their Boards and as per ICAI Advisories for recognition of significant increase in credit risk and computation of Expected Credit Losses. However, the various additional provisions mentioned in the circular dated August 6, 2020 would constitute the prudential floors for the purpose of Paragraph 2 of the Annex to the circular DOR (NBFC).CC.PD.No.109/22.10.106/2019-20 dated March 13, 2020 on Implementation of Indian Accounting Standards.

The aim of introducing 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account' is very much part of the efforts of RBI for furthering Financial Inclusion objectives. All the accounts opened earlier as 'no-frills' account vide  UBD.BPD.Cir.No.19/13.01.000/2005-06 dated  November 24, 2005 should be renamed as BSBDA as per instructions contained in paragraph 2 of our Circular  UBD.BPD.Cir.No.5/13.01.000/2012-13 dated August 17, 2012.

Response

The aim of introducing 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account' is very much part of the efforts of RBI for furthering Financial Inclusion objectives. All the accounts opened earlier as 'no-frills' account vide RPCD Circular dated RPCD.RF.BC.54/07.38.01/2005-06 dated December 13, 2005 and RPCD.CO.No.RRB.BC.58/03.05.33(F)/2005-06 dated December 27, 2005 should be renamed as BSBDA as per the instructions contained in paragraph 2 of our Circular RPCD.CO.RRB.RCB.BC.No.24/07.38.01/2012-13 dated August 22, 2012 and all the new accounts opened since the issue of our circular RPCD.CO.RRB.RCB.BC.No.24 dated August 22, 2012 should be reported under the monthly report of the progress of Financial Inclusion plans submitted by banks to RPCD, CO.

Response: For a typical credit card with billing cycle from October 1, 2023 to October 30, 2023, let’s assume the bill is generated on October 30, 2023 and the due date of payment is November 19, 2023. The different scenarios for adjustment of credit are detailed below:

Note: The card-issuers may put in place a suitable mechanism to prevent evergreening of the credit facility.

Ans. Tokenisation and de-tokenisation can be performed by the authorised card network or by the card issuer. The list of card networks authorised by RBI to operate in India is available on the RBI website at the link /en/web/rbi/-/publications/certificates-of-authorisation-issued-by-the-reserve-bank-of-india-under-the-payment-and-settlement-systems-act-2007-for-setting-up-and-operating-payment-system-in-india-12043.

A.(8 to 13) The requirement is that the companies in the Promoter Group 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) (b) of the guidelines]

A company in which public holds 51 per cent need not necessarily be listed. For the purpose of these guidelines, ‘public shareholding’ implies that no person along with his relatives (as defined in Section 6 of the Companies Act, 1956) and entities in which he and / or his relatives hold not less than 50 per cent of the voting equity shares, by virtue of his shareholding or otherwise, exercises ‘significant influence’ or ‘control’ (as defined in Accounting Standard 23) over the company.

Ans. There are no restrictions on the frequency of remittances under LRS. However, the total amount of foreign exchange purchased from or remitted through, all sources in India during a financial year should be within the cumulative limit of USD 2,50,000.

Once a remittance is made for an amount up to USD 2,50,000 during the financial year, a resident individual would not be eligible to make any further remittances under this scheme, even if the proceeds of the investments have been brought back into the country.

Ans: A CP transaction is a transaction that is carried out through physical presence of card at the point of transaction. It is also known as face-to-face or a proximity payment transaction. An example is a transaction carried out at an ATM or a PoS terminal. A CNP transaction does not require the card to be physically presented at the point of transaction. It is also called as a remote transaction. An example is an online transaction or a mobile banking transaction using the card.

Ans:No, details in the "Guarantor Name (wherever applicable)" column should be limited to guarantors who have created a security interest in favor of the RE and whose assets are possessed under the Act.

Ans.: The submission of Annual Return on FLA is mandatory under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999 [vide the RBI Circular: A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 45 dated March 15, 2011] for all Indian companies which have received foreign direct investment and/or have made direct investment abroad. Entities can submit the annual return on FLA through the online web-based portal having address https://flair.rbi.org.in.

All the steps for online web-based reporting of annual return on FLA, are provided in user manuals. Entity should read the following documents for further guidance:

(a) User manual on “FLA User Registration Form”.

(b) User manual on reporting of “Annual Return on FLA” for all sections for step-by-step procedure for filing the FLA return.

(c) FAQs for FLA.

Ans: The declaration has to be certified by the statutory auditor of the DLG provider.

REs can engage with any appropriate and reputed domestic/ international agency for external review of the Financing Framework, Third-party Verification/ Assurance and Impact Assessment of the green activities/ projects.

Answer: Forex cash, tom and spot transactions can be undertaken for the purpose of buying/selling foreign exchange for permitted current/capital account transactions.

Ans: The principle underlying the Digital Lending Guidelines is that a LSP should not be involved in handling of funds flowing from the lender to the borrower or vice versa. While entities offering only PA services shall remain out of the ambit of ‘Guidelines on Digital Lending’, any PA also performing the role of an LSP must comply with the Digital Lending Guidelines.

Ans: Valuation and accounting methodology as given in the answers to above questions.

Trade transactions with ACU countries are governed by Regulation 3(1)(A) and Regulation 5(1)(A) of Notification FEMA 14 (R), as amended from time to time and are to be settled under ACU mechanism or as defined therein. Therefore, transactions between ACU countries shall be kept distinct and separate and settled as per extant instructions outside the SNRR arrangement.

Answer: Persons resident in Nepal and Bhutan can open Indian rupee accounts with an authorised dealer in India.

The instructions issued vide the circular are applicable to all credit facilities except those specifically exempted in the circular.

Ans: The options prescribed vide circular on ‘Reset of Floating Interest Rate on Equated Monthly Instalments (EMI) based Personal Loans’ dated August 18, 2023 shall be allowed for housing loans extended by UCBs, subject to the regulations prescribed vide Master Circular on ‘Housing Finance for UCBs’ dated April 11, 2023 or as amended in the future.

Ans. No. In terms of paragraph 29.8 read with item (vii) of Schedule-I of these Directions, savings bank account cannot be opened in the name of a private entity for implementation of the Government funding schemes.

Ans: Since the access to the submission portal is CIN based, any LLP/proprietorship firm that have computer software exports as on end-March of the financial year needs to obtain a dummy CIN Number by sending a request mail on itesquery@rbi.org.in. Once the firm obtains this dummy CIN number from RBI, it can be used to submit the excel (*.xls) file for ITES survey.

However, if any entity has already got the dummy CIN number from the previous survey round, they should use the same CIN number in the current survey round also.

(It is also informed that these dummy CIN numbers are provided by RBI for filling the ITES survey schedule only and should not be used for any other purpose).

Ans. The cardholder can lodge grievance(s) with his / her card issuer. In case the card issuer does not respond within the stipulated time, or the reply so received is not satisfactory, the cardholder shall have recourse to the Reserve Bank - Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021 (as amended from time to time) for redressal.

Answer: No

Ans. Yes. The customer can open an account with a RE by submitting a deemed to be OVD for the purpose of proof of address. However, as mentioned in reply to Q 7 above, he is required to submit OVD with current address within a period of three months.

In terms of the Master Direction on lending to the MSME sector dated July 24, 2017, a cluster has been defined as identified by the Ministry of MSME, Government of India or the respective State /UT Governments. SLBC/UTLBC Convenor banks shall display the list of these clusters on their portals and update them semi-annually as at end-March and end-September. The updated list of clusters identified by Ministry of MSME may be accessed from Ministry's official website, while information on clusters recognized by State Governments/Union Territories shall be obtained directly from the respective authorities.

The lead banks of districts have been advised to promote 'credit-linkage' in all clusters located within the district. The initiatives under promotion of the credit-linkage, include addressing credit needs of MSE units in the clusters, creating awareness among MSE units through financial literacy initiatives, enabling coverage under skill development initiatives and undertaking proactive measures in underbanked clusters.

The banks have also been advised to ensure that the credit needs of clusters are appropriately included in the exercise of preparation of branch/block level credit plans so that the same can be aggregated by lead banks to form the District Credit Plan (DCP) and subsequently by SLBC /UTLBC Convenor banks to prepare the Annual Credit Plan (ACP).

IoRS allows the testing of financial products or services whose features fall within the remit of more than one financial sector regulator (RBI, SEBI, IRDAI, PFRDA and IFSCA). Some of such innovative solutions include, the areas of RegTech and SupTech, Digital Payment Solutions, Cross-sectoral products for e.g. insurance products linked to banking services InsurTech, WealthTech, Cross-border payment solutions etc.

Ans. No. All requisite approvals should be obtained, and compliances should be completed before seeking compounding of contravention. Compounding can be done only after all the necessary administrative action is complete as mentioned in Paragraph 4.2 of Directions – Compounding of contraventions under FEMA, 1999, Copies of approvals and other compliances should be enclosed along with the application.

Ans: Currently, users and merchants of identified pilot banks and non-banks across the country can use e₹. These customers can download the e₹ app of the bank or non-bank, register themselves, and start using the e₹ wallet to participate in the pilot.

Positive Pay System (PPS) for CTS is an additional indicator provided by NPCI to all banks to facilitate the clearing process and pre-empt cheque-related frauds and shall form part of prudent practices followed by banks for payment processing. It has been introduced to augment customer safety in cheque payments and reduce instances of fraud occurring on account of tampering of cheque leaves.

Under Positive Pay, the issuer of the cheque submits electronically, through channels like SMS, mobile app, internet banking, ATM, etc., certain minimum details of that cheque (like date, name of the beneficiary / payee, amount, etc.) to his bank, details of which are cross checked with the presented cheque by CTS. Any discrepancy is flagged by CTS to the drawee bank and presenting bank, who would take redressal measures.

Banks have been advised to enable PPS facility for all account holders issuing cheques for amount of ₹ 50,000 and above. While availing of this facility is at the discretion of the account holder, banks may consider making it mandatory in case of cheques for amounts of ₹ 5,00,000 and above.

Ans. Small PPIs can be of two types:

1. PPIs upto ₹10,000/- (with cash loading facility). These PPIs shall be converted into full-KYC PPIs within 24 months.

2. PPIs upto ₹10,000/- (with no cash loading facility).

Ans : Yes. In case the information / account particulars contained in the mandate undergo any change, the beneficiary has to notify the changes to the User Institution so that the correct information can be incorporated in its records. This will ensure that transactions do not get rejected at the beneficiary’s bank branch due to inconsistencies/ mismatch in the data sent by the user institution.

Yes. ATS is also available for all applications / letters, etc. submitted physically at the counters of RBI or received through post/courier, provided a valid email id is given in the document. Receipt of all such applications as also its disposal will be advised to the applicant through email.

Additionally, the status of such applications can also be tracked through the ATS number and the password sent to the valid email id of the applicant.

GAH accesses the trading platform through URL, ‘https://www.ndsind.com’. This is common URL for web based NDS-OM as well as for web based Auction. Users of GAH need to select NDS-OM in the option after logging on to the URL. PM will need to arrange for login/password from the CCIL and Digital Certificates from any Government Recognized Certifying Authority designated by RBI, on behalf of GAH. For added security, the digital certificates need to be installed in an e-token as per specifications approved. Without the digital certificate, e-token and the password, the GAH cannot log in to the NDS OM web based module. The Primary member will be responsible for obtaining/renewal and intimating revocation to RBI/CCIL of the Digital Certificate for such GAH users.

Tripartite Agreement is an agreement between three parties, namely, the Concessionaire (such as the project which is developing the infrastructure), the Project Authority (such as NHAII or a statutory body set up to develop infrastructure) and IDF-NBFC which binds all the parties collectively and provide, for the following :

1. Take-over of a portion of the debt of the Concessionaire availed from Senior Lenders;

2. a default by the Concessionaire, shall trigger the process for termination of the agreement between Project Authority and Concessionaire;

3. the Project Authority shall redeem the bonds issued by the Concessionaire which have been purchased by IDF-NBFC, from out of the termination payment as per the Tripartite Agreement and other Agreements referred to therein (compulsory buyout),

4. the fee payable by IDF-NBFC to the Project Authority as mutually agreed upon between the two.

Ans: The outbound remittances through NEFT system are permitted only to Nepal under Indo-Nepal Remittance Facility (INRF) Scheme. Under this Scheme, the remitter can transfer funds from any of the NEFT-enabled bank branches in India to Nepal, irrespective of whether the beneficiary in Nepal maintains an account with a bank branch in Nepal or not. The beneficiary would receive funds in Nepalese Rupees. The details of the INRF Scheme are available on the website of RBI at /en/web/rbi/faq-page-2?ddm__keyword__26256231__FaqDetailPage2Title_en_US=Indo-Nepal Remittance Facility scheme.