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.

Answer: This is essentially a bank-to-bank arrangement similar to correspondent banking arrangement.

• 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.

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

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: 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.

CTS has been implemented in New Delhi, Chennai, and Mumbai with effect from February 1, 2008, September 24, 2011, and April 27, 2013 respectively. After migration of the entire cheque volume to CTS, the traditional mechanisms of cheque clearing have been discontinued across the country. Further, banks have been advised to ensure that all branches are connected to CTS.

Under CTS, cheque processing locations in India are consolidated into the three grids in Chennai, Mumbai and New Delhi.

Each grid provides processing and clearing services to all the banks under its respective jurisdiction. Banks, branches, and customers based at small / remote locations falling under the jurisdiction of a grid would be benefitted, irrespective of whether there exists at present a formal arrangement for cheque clearing or otherwise. The illustrative jurisdiction of the three grids is indicated below:

• Chennai Grid : Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nādu, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
• Mumbai Grid : Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
• New Delhi Grid : National Capital Region of New Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.