Category: Notifications

April 14, 2015

Dear All

Welcome to the refurbished site of the Reserve Bank of India.

The two most important features of the site are: One, in addition to the default site, the refurbished site also has all the information bifurcated functionwise; two, a much improved search – well, at least we think so but you be the judge.

With this makeover, we also take a small step into social media. We will now use Twitter (albeit one way) to send out alerts on the announcements we make and YouTube to place in public domain our press conferences, interviews of our top management, events, such as, town halls and of course, some films aimed at consumer literacy.

The site can be accessed through most browsers and devices; it also meets accessibility standards.

Please save the url of the refurbished site in your favourites as we will give up the existing site shortly and register or re-register yourselves for receiving RSS feeds for uninterrupted alerts from the Reserve Bank.

Do feel free to give us your feedback by clicking on the feedback button on the right hand corner of the refurbished site.

Thank you for your continued support.

Department of Communication

Reserve Bank of India

Next

RBI/2021-22/21 DOR.CRE.REC.06/04.02.001/2021-22 April 12, 2021 All Scheduled Commercial Banks (excluding RRBs) Small Finance Banks, Primary (Urban) Cooperative Banks and EXIM Bank Dear Sir / Madam, Interest Equalization Scheme on Pre and Post Shipment Rupee Export Credit-Extension Please refer to the instructions issued vide DBR.Dir.BC.No.69/04.02.001/2019-20 dated May 13, 2020. 2. In this connection, Government of India has approved the extension of Interest Equalization Scheme for pre and post shipment Rupee export credit, with same scope and coverage, for three more months i.e., upto June 30, 2021. The extension takes effect from April 01, 2021 and ends on June 30, 2021 covering a period of three months. 3. Consequently, the extant operational instructions issued by the Reserve Bank under the captioned Scheme shall continue to remain in force upto June 30, 2021. Yours faithfully (Manoranjan Mishra) Chief General Manager

April 14, 2015

Dear All

Welcome to the refurbished site of the Reserve Bank of India.

The two most important features of the site are: One, in addition to the default site, the refurbished site also has all the information bifurcated functionwise; two, a much improved search – well, at least we think so but you be the judge.

With this makeover, we also take a small step into social media. We will now use Twitter (albeit one way) to send out alerts on the announcements we make and YouTube to place in public domain our press conferences, interviews of our top management, events, such as, town halls and of course, some films aimed at consumer literacy.

The site can be accessed through most browsers and devices; it also meets accessibility standards.

Please save the url of the refurbished site in your favourites as we will give up the existing site shortly and register or re-register yourselves for receiving RSS feeds for uninterrupted alerts from the Reserve Bank.

Do feel free to give us your feedback by clicking on the feedback button on the right hand corner of the refurbished site.

Thank you for your continued support.

Department of Communication

Reserve Bank of India

Next

RBI/2021-22/18 DGBA.GBD.No.S26/42.01.029/2021-22 April 07, 2021 All Agency Banks Madam/Dear Sir, Reporting and Accounting of Central Government transactions of March 2021 – Change of date of closure Please refer Circular DGBA.GBD.No.S-140/42.01.029/2020-21 dated March 18, 2021 where in the date of closure for reporting residual transactions of March 2021 was fixed as April 10, 2021. 2. On account of holidays on April 10 and 11, 2021 (second Saturday and Sunday respectively), Government of India has now decided that the date of closure of residual transactions for the month of March 2021 be fixed as April 12, 2021. All agency banks may take note of the change of date of closure and ensure that arrangements are put in place to report all the March 2021 residual transactions by 1400 hours of April 12, 2021. 3. All other instructions contained in Circular DGBA.GBD.No.S-140/42.01.029/2020-21 dated March 18, 2021 are operational and may be adhered to, taking into account closure date as April 12, 2021. To sum up, the nodal/Focal Point branches will be required to prepare separate set of scrolls, one pertaining to March 2021 residual transactions and another for April transactions during the first 12 days of April 2021. The Nodal/Focal Point branches should also ensure that the accounts for all transactions (revenues/tax collections/payments) up to March 31, 2021 are effected at the receiving branches in the accounts for financial year 2020-21 itself and are not mixed up with the transactions of April 2021. Also, while reporting transactions pertaining to March 2021 up to April 12, 2021, the transactions of April 2021 should not be mixed up with the residual transactions relating to March 2021. 4. Kindly issue necessary instructions in the matter to your branches concerned immediately. Yours faithfully (R. Kamalakannan) Chief General Manager

RBI/2021-22/17 DOR.STR.REC.4/21.04.048/2021-22 April 7, 2021 All Commercial Banks (including Small Finance Banks, Local Area Banks and Regional Rural Banks) All Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks/State Co-operative Banks/ District Central Co-operative Banks All All-India Financial Institutions All Non-Banking Financial Companies (including Housing Finance Companies) Madam / Dear Sir, Asset Classification and Income Recognition following the expiry of Covid-19 regulatory package The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has pronounced its judgement in the matter of Small Scale Industrial Manufacturers Association vs UOI & Ors. and other connected matters on March 23, 2021. In this connection, it is advised hereunder: I. Refund/adjustment of ‘interest on interest’ 2. All lending institutions1 shall immediately put in place a Board-approved policy to refund/adjust the ‘interest on interest’ charged to the borrowers during the moratorium period, i.e. March 1, 2020 to August 31, 2020 in conformity with the above judgement. In order to ensure that the above judgement is implemented uniformly in letter and spirit by all lending institutions, methodology for calculation of the amount to be refunded/adjusted for different facilities shall be finalised by the Indian Banks Association (IBA) in consultation with other industry participants/bodies, which shall be adopted by all lending institutions. 3. The above reliefs shall be applicable to all borrowers, including those who had availed of working capital facilities during the moratorium period, irrespective of whether moratorium had been fully or partially availed, or not availed, in terms of the circulars DOR.No.BP.BC.47/21.04.048/2019-20 dated March 27, 2020 and DOR.No.BP.BC.71/21.04.048/2019-20 dated May 23, 2020 (“Covid-19 Regulatory Package”). 4. Lending institutions shall disclose the aggregate amount to be refunded/adjusted in respect of their borrowers based on the above reliefs in their financial statements for the year ending March 31, 2021. II. Asset Classification 5. Asset classification of borrower accounts by all lending institutions following the above judgment shall continue to be governed by the extant instructions as clarified below. In respect of accounts which were not granted any moratorium in terms of the Covid19 Regulatory Package, asset classification shall be as per the criteria laid out in the Master Circular – Prudential norms on Income Recognition, Asset Classification and Provisioning pertaining to Advances dated July 1, 2015 or other relevant instructions as applicable to the specific category of lending institutions (IRAC Norms). In respect of accounts which were granted moratorium in terms of the Covid19 Regulatory Package, the asset classification for the period from March 1, 2020 to August 31, 2020 shall be governed in terms of the circular DOR.No.BP.BC.63/21.04.048/2019-20 dated April 17, 2020, read with circular DOR.No.BP.BC.71/21.04.048/2019-20 dated May 23, 2020. For the period commencing September 1, 2020, asset classification for all such accounts shall be as per the applicable IRAC Norms. Yours faithfully, (Manoranjan Mishra) Chief General Manager

RBI/2021-22/16
A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 01

April 07, 2021

To

All Category-I Authorised Dealer Banks

Madam / Sir,

External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) Policy – Relaxation in the period of parking of unutilised ECB proceeds in term deposits

Please refer to paragraph 12 of the Governor’s Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies dated April 07, 2021. In this connection, attention of Authorized Dealer Category-I (AD Category-I) banks is invited to paragraph 4.2 of the of Master Direction No.5 dated March 26, 2019, on “External Commercial Borrowings, Trade Credits and Structured Obligations”, in terms of which ECB borrowers are allowed to park ECB proceeds in term deposits with AD Category-I banks in India for a maximum period of 12 months cumulatively.

2. Based on requests from stakeholders, including Industry associations, and with a view to providing relief to the ECB borrowers affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, it has been decided to relax the above stipulation as a one-time measure. Accordingly, unutilised ECB proceeds drawn down on or before March 01, 2020 can be parked in term deposits with AD Category-I banks in India prospectively for an additional period up to March 01, 2022.

3. All other provisions of the ECB policy remain unchanged. AD Category-I banks should bring the contents of this circular to the notice of their constituents/ customers.

4. The aforesaid Master Direction No. 5 dated March 26, 2019, is being updated to reflect the changes.

5. The directions contained in this circular have been issued under section 10(4) and 11(2) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999) and are without prejudice to permissions/ approvals, if any, required under any other law.

Yours faithfully

Ajay Kumar Misra
Chief General Manager-in-Charge

RBI/2021-22/15 FIDD.CO.Plan.BC.No.8/04.09.01/2021-22 April 7, 2021 The Chairman/ Managing Director Chief Executive Officer All Scheduled Commercial Banks (Excluding Regional Rural Banks, Small Finance Banks, Urban Co-operative Banks and Local Area Banks) Dear Sir/Madam Priority Sector Lending (PSL) – Lending by banks to NBFCs for On-Lending Please refer to our Circular No. RBI/2019-20/179 FIDD.CO.Plan.BC.No.19/04.09.01/2019-20 dated March 23, 2020 advising, inter alia, that the bank loans to registered NBFCs (other than MFIs) for on-lending will be eligible for classification as priority sector under Agriculture and Micro & Small Enterprises up to March 31, 2021 and will be reviewed thereafter. 2. As announced in the Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies dated April 7, 2021, with a view to ensure continued availability of credit to these sectors to aid faster economic recovery, it has been decided to extend the PSL classification for lending by banks to NBFCs for on-lending by six months i.e. up to September 30, 2021. However, bank loans to HFCs for on-lending for the purpose of housing, as prescribed in para 23 of our Master Direction on PSL dated September 4, 2020, will continue on an on-going basis. Further, existing loans disbursed under the on-lending model will continue to be classified under Priority Sector till the date of repayment/maturity. 3. All other guidelines as issued vide circulars FIDD.CO.Plan.BC.7/04.09.01/2019-20 dated August 13, 2019, FIDD.CO.Plan.BC.No.19/04.09.01/2019-20 dated March 23, 2020 and Master Directions on PSL dated September 4, 2020 will continue to apply. Yours faithfully (Sonali Sen Gupta) Chief General Manager-in-Charge

RBI/2021-22/14
FIDD.CO.Plan.BC.No.7/04.09.01/2021-22

April 7, 2021

The Chairman / Managing Director/
Chief Executive Officer
[All Commercial Banks including Regional Rural Banks,
Small Finance Banks, Local Area Banks and
Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks other than Salary Earners’ Banks]

Dear Sir/Madam

Priority Sector Lending (PSL) – Increase in limits for bank lending against Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (NWRs) / electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (eNWRs)

Please refer to the Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies dated April 7, 2021, wherein Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had announced increase in loan limits for bank lending against NWRs/eNWRs.

2. In terms of paras 8.1 (vii) and 8.2 (b) of the “Master Direction on Priority Sector Lending – Targets and Classification” dated September 4, 2020, bank loans against pledge/ hypothecation of agricultural produce (including warehouse receipts) for a period not exceeding 12 months are eligible for classification under PSL, subject to a limit up to ₹50 lakh per borrower.

3. With a view to ensure greater flow of credit to the farmers against pledge/hypothecation of agricultural produce, and to encourage use of NWR/eNWR issued by regulated warehouses as a preferred instrument for availing such finance by the farmers, it has been decided to enhance the PSL limit for loans against NWRs/eNWRs from ₹50 lakh to ₹75 lakh per borrower. The PSL limit backed by the warehouse receipts other than NWR/eNWR will continue to be ₹50 lakh per borrower.

4. Consequent to the above change, para 8.1(vii) and 8.2(b) of the Master Direction on Priority Sector Lending – Targets and Classification dated September 4, 2020 will stand modified as follows:

Para 8.1 – Farm Credit – Individual farmers

vii. Loans against pledge/hypothecation of agricultural produce (including warehouse receipts) for a period not exceeding 12 months subject to a limit up to ₹75 lakh against NWRs/eNWRs and up to ₹50 lakh against warehouse receipts other than NWRs/eNWRs.

Para 8.2 Farm Credit – Corporate farmers, Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs)/(FPC) Companies of Individual Farmers, Partnership firms and Co-operatives of farmers engaged in Agriculture and Allied Activities

(b) Loans up to ₹75 lakh against pledge/hypothecation of agricultural produce (including warehouse receipts) for a period not exceeding 12 months against NWRs/eNWRs and up to ₹50 lakh against warehouse receipts other than NWRs/eNWRs.

Yours faithfully

(Sonali Sen Gupta)
Chief General Manager-in-Charge

RBI/2021-22/13
DoR.AUT.REC.2/23.67.001/2021-22

April 5, 2021

All Scheduled Commercial Banks
(excluding Regional Rural Banks)

Dear Sir/Madam

Gold Monetization Scheme (GMS), 2015

In exercise of the powers conferred on the Reserve Bank of India under Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, the RBI makes the following amendments in the Reserve Bank of India (Gold Monetization Scheme, 2015) Master Direction No.DBR.IBD.No.45/23.67.003/2015-16 dated October 22, 2015, with immediate effect.

2. A new sub-paragraph 1.3 (iii) has been inserted to read as follows:

“GMS Mobilisation, Collection & Testing Agent (GMCTA) – Jewellers/Refiners certified as CPTCs by BIS and meeting additional eligibility conditions set by IBA will be recognised as GMCTA by designated banks.”

3. The existing sub-paragraph 2.1.1 (iii) has been amended to read as follows:

“The Principal on STBD and MLTGD shall be denominated in gold. However, the interest on STBD and MLTGD shall be calculated in Indian Rupees with reference to the value of gold at the time of deposit.”

4. The existing sub-paragraph 2.1.1 (v) has been amended to read as follows:

“All deposits under the scheme shall be made at the CPTC/GMCTA. Provided that, at their discretion, banks may accept the deposit of gold at the designated branches, especially from the larger depositors. Banks shall have a Board approved policy to identify the branches that can accept the deposits under the scheme. The policy shall inter-alia cover the processes involved in the identification of such branches and skill development of the dealing employees. The policy shall also identify the minimum number of branches as designated branches in every State/UT where the bank has a presence. Provided further that banks may, at their discretion, also allow the depositors to deposit their gold directly with the refiners that have facilities to carry out final assaying and to issue the deposit receipts of the standard gold of 995 fineness to the depositor.”

5. The existing sub-paragraph 2.1.1 (viii) has been amended to read as follows:

“On the day the gold deposited under the scheme starts accruing interest, the designated banks shall translate the gold liabilities and assets in Indian Rupees by crossing the London AM fixing for Gold / USD rate with the Rupee-US Dollar reference rate announced by Financial Benchmarks India Private Limited (FBIL) on that day. The prevalent custom duty for import of gold will be added to the above value to arrive at the final value of gold. This approach will also be followed for valuation of gold at any subsequent valuation dates and for the conversion of gold into Indian Rupees under the Scheme.”

6. The existing sub-paragraph 2.1.1 (ix) has been amended to read as follows:

“Designated banks shall inform the RBI of their decision to participate in the Scheme as soon as the policy to implement the scheme is approved by their Board. They shall also report to the RBI the gold mobilized under the scheme by all branches in a consolidated manner on a monthly basis as per the format given in the Annex-2. Designated banks shall furnish the statement giving details of redemption due in next three months, as per format given in the Annex-3. The information in Annex 2 and 3 shall be furnished to Department of Regulation, Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai by 7th day of the month.”

7. The existing sub-paragraph 2.1.2 (i) has been amended to read as follows:

“The minimum deposit at any one time shall be 10 grams of raw gold (bars, coins, jewellery excluding stones and other metals). There is no maximum limit for deposit under the Scheme.”

8. The existing sub-paragraph 2.2.1 (iii) has been amended to read as follows:

“The deposit will attract CRR and SLR requirements as per applicable instructions of RBI from the date of credit of the amount to the deposit account. However, the stock of gold held by banks in their books will be an eligible asset for meeting the SLR requirement in terms of RBI Master Circular – Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) and Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) dated 1 July 2015. Further, borrowing of gold by designated banks (from gold mobilised under STBD by other designated banks) will be treated as interbank liabilities and hence exempted from CRR and SLR.”

9. The existing sub-paragraph 2.2.1 (vi) has been amended to read as follows:

“From the date of issue of this circular, interest in respect of STBD shall be denominated and paid in Indian Rupee only. Redemption of principal at maturity will, at the option of depositor, be either in Indian Rupee equivalent of the deposited gold based on the prevailing price of gold at the time of redemption, or in gold. The option in this regard shall be obtained in writing from the depositor at the time of making the deposit and shall be irrevocable. Any premature redemption shall be in Indian Rupee equivalent or gold at the discretion of the designated banks. All STBDs made prior to the issue of this circular will continue to be governed by their existing terms and conditions”

10. The existing sub-paragraph 2.2.2 (vii) stands deleted

“Reserve Bank of India will maintain the Gold Deposit Accounts denominated in gold in the name of the designated banks that will in turn hold sub-accounts of individual depositors.”

11. The new sub-paragraph 2.4 (iii) has been inserted to read as follows:

“The designated banks shall take steps to enter into agreement with sufficient number of CPTCs.”

12. The new paragraph 2.5 on GMS Mobilisation, Collection & Testing Agent (GMCTA) has been inserted to read as follows:

i. Jewellers/Refiners certified as CPTCs by BIS and meeting additional eligibility conditions set by IBA may be recognised by designated banks as GMCTA.

ii. Jewellers or refiners functioning as GMCTA shall assay and refine gold received from depositors; undertake vaulting and movement of refined gold to banks as per bi-partite agreement with the designated banks.

iii. As GMCTAs will carry out functions of CPTC, the instructions applicable to CPTCs as mentioned at para 2.4 above shall also be applicable to GMCTA.

iv. The designated banks shall pay a maximum of 1.5% as incentive/handling charges to the gold handling/ mobilizing functions performed by GMCTAs.

13. The new sub-paragraph 2.8.1 (iii) has been inserted to read as follows:

“Lend the gold to other designated banks participating in the Scheme for granting GML subject to following conditions:

(a) Interest Rate: The interest rate to be charged on interbank lending of gold mobilised from these deposits shall be decided by banks.

(b) Repayment: The repayment shall be in INR or in locally sourced (India Good Delivery Standard) IGDS/ LGDS (LBMA’s Good Delivery Standards) gold as agreed by the participating banks.

(c) Tenor: As the purpose for interbank lending is to provide gold to jewellery manufacturers/ jewellery exporters under GML, the tenor of interbank lending of gold shall be as per our circular DBOD.No.IBD.BC.71/23.67.001/2006-07 dated April 3, 2007 and the Foreign Trade Policy and the Handbook of Procedures issued by DGFT, as amended from time to time.”

14. The Reserve Bank of India Master Direction No.DBR.IBD.45/23.67.003/2015-16 dated October 22, 2015 on Gold Monetization Scheme, 2015 has been updated incorporating the above changes.

15. The reporting format given at Annex-2 of the Master Direction has been revised and Annex-3 has been added.

Yours faithfully

(Prakash Baliarsingh)
Chief General Manager