Ans: If the remitting customer maintains an account with a bank branch in India, there is no need for any additional information, documents or identification. Else, the remitter has to submit documents for proof of identification such as Passport / Permanent Account Number / Driving License / Telephone Bill / Certificate of Identification issued by his employer with photograph and other details. The information will be captured in the NEFT system as part of compliance with Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements. Complete address and telephone / mobile number of the beneficiary in Nepal will also be required.

CTS enables fast and cheap realisation of funds to customers as compared to traditional mechanisms. Under grid-based CTS clearing, all cheques drawn on bank branches falling within in the grid jurisdiction are treated and cleared as local cheques. No outstation cheque collection charges to be levied if the collecting bank and the paying bank are located within the jurisdiction of the same CTS grid even though they are located in different cities.

CTS also benefits issuers of cheques. The Corporates if needed can be provided with images of cheques by their bankers for internal requirements, if any.

Ans : The User intending to effect payments through ECS Credit has to submit details of the beneficiaries (like name, bank / branch / account number of the beneficiary, MICR code of the destination bank branch, etc.), date on which credit is to be afforded to the beneficiaries, etc., in a specified format (called the input file) through its sponsor bank to one of the ECS Centres where it is registered as a User.

The bank managing the ECS Centre then debits the account of the sponsor bank on the scheduled settlement day and credits the accounts of the destination banks, for onward credit to the accounts of the ultimate beneficiaries with the destination bank branches.

Further details about the ECS Credit scheme are contained in the Procedural Guidelines and available on the website of Reserve Bank of India at http://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/ECSUserView.aspx?Id=1

The Banking Ombudsman can receive and consider any complaint relating to the following deficiency in banking services:non-payment or inordinate delay in the payment or collection of cheques, drafts, bills etc.;non-acceptance, without sufficient cause, of small denomination notes tendered for any purpose, and for charging of commission in respect thereof;non-acceptance, without sufficient cause, of coins tendered and for charging of commission in respect thereof;non-payment or delay in payment of inward remittances ;failure to issue or delay in issue of drafts, pay orders or bankers’ cheques;non-adherence to prescribed working hours ;failure to provide or delay in providing a banking facility (other than loans and advances) promised in writing by a bank or its direct selling agents;delays, non-credit of proceeds to parties' accounts, non-payment of deposit or non-observance of the Reserve Bank directives, if any, applicable to rate of interest on deposits in any savings, current or other account maintained with a bank ;complaints from Non-Resident Indians having accounts in India in relation to their remittances from abroad, deposits and other bank related matters;refusal to open deposit accounts without any valid reason for refusal;levying of charges without adequate prior notice to the customer;Non-adherence to the instructions of Reserve Bank on ATM / Debit Card and Prepaid Card operations in India by the bank or its subsidiariesNon-adherence by the bank or its subsidiaries to the instructions of Reserve Bank on credit card operationsNon-adherence to the instructions of Reserve Bank with regard to Mobile Banking / Electronic Banking service in India by the bankNon-disbursement or delay in disbursement of pension (to the extent the grievance can be attributed to the action on the part of the bank concerned, but not with regard to its employees);Refusal to accept or delay in accepting payment towards taxes, as required by Reserve Bank/Government;Refusal to issue or delay in issuing, or failure to service or delay in servicing or redemption of Government securities;Forced closure of deposit accounts without due notice or without sufficient reason;Refusal to close or delay in closing the accounts;Non-adherence to the fair practices code as adopted by the bank;Non-adherence to the provisions of the Code of Bank's Commitments to Customers issued by Banking Codes and Standards Board of India and as adopted by the bank ;Non-observance of Reserve Bank guidelines on engagement of recovery agents by banks;Non-adherence to Reserve Bank guidelines on para-banking activities like sale of insurance / mutual fund /other third party investment products by banksAny other matter relating to the violation of the directives issued by the Reserve Bank in relation to banking or other services.A customer can also lodge a complaint on the following grounds of deficiency in service with respect to loans and advancesnon-observance of Reserve Bank Directives on interest rates;delays in sanction, disbursement or non-observance of prescribed time schedule for disposal of loan applications;non-acceptance of application for loans without furnishing valid reasons to the applicant; andnon-adherence to the provisions of the fair practices code for lenders as adopted by the bank or Code of Bank’s Commitment to Customers, as the case may be;non-observance of any other direction or instruction of the Reserve Bank as may be specified by the Reserve Bank for this purpose from time to time.The Banking Ombudsman may also deal with such other matter as may be specified by the Reserve Bank from time to time.

Yes. The reserved amount will be within the notified amount.

In terms of GOI notification No.SO.301(E) dated March 30, 2001, banks are free to allow remittance for maintenance of close relatives abroad not exceeding net salary (after deduction of taxes, contribution to provident fund and other deductions) of a person who is resident but not permanently resident in India and is a citizen of a foreign state other than Pakistan. Therefore, independent of QA 22 procedure, they may allow remittance of net salary.

Remittance of partly paid invoices is permissible, subject to total remittance not exceeding the amount indicated in the invoice. In terms of the extant guidelines, although the advertisement charges can be accepted in advance, along with the text of the advertising matter, by the Indian channel agent, the remittance can be made by the AD, only after the advertisements are telecast abroad and invoices raised thereafter, and subject to submission of the requisite documents as stated at (4) above such as invoice, tax declaration/deduction certificate, certificate from Chartered Accountant regarding foreign exchange earning in the past 2 years.

An application for repatriation of balance may be made on plain paper to the concerned Regional Office of Reserve Bank.

1. Any clarification in respect of specific cases could be obtained from the Reserve Bank’s Central office at the following address:

Overseas Investment Division,
Exchange Control Department,
Central office,
Reserve Bank of India,
Mumbai 400001.
or
e-mail: oid@rbi.org.in

Person going abroad for employment can draw foreign exchange upto US$5,000 from any authorised dealer in India.

Answer: A resident individual can open a foreign currency account with a bank outside India in the following cases:

1) A resident student who has gone abroad for studies for the period of stay abroad. All credits to the account from India should be made in accordance with FEMA and the rules and regulations made thereunder. On the student’s return to India after completion of studies, the account will be deemed to have been opened under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS).

2) A resident who is on a visit to a foreign country for the period of stay abroad. The balance in the account should be repatriated to India on return of the account holder to India.

3) A person going abroad to participate in an exhibition/ trade fair for crediting the sale proceeds of goods. The balance should be repatriated to India within one month from the date of closure of the exhibition/ trade fair.

4) The following persons for remitting/ receiving their entire salary payable to them in India:

1. A foreign citizen resident in India, who is an employee of a foreign company and is on deputation to the office/ branch/ subsidiary/ joint venture/ group company in India;

2. An Indian citizen who is an employee of a foreign company and is on deputation to the office/ branch/ subsidiary/ joint venture/ group company in India; and

3. A foreign citizen who is a resident in India and is employed with an Indian company.

5) For the purpose of sending remittances under the Liberalized Remittance Scheme.

The Public Debt Act, 1944 shall cease to apply to the Government securities to which the G S Act applies, while the Indian Securities Act, 1920 has been repealed.

Like in most countries, banks in India also are required to develop their own individual policy / procedures relating to collection of cheques. The customer is entitled to receive due disclosures from the bank on the bank's obligations and the customers' rights.

Broadly, the policies formulated by banks should cover the following areas:

Immediate credit for local / outstation cheques, Time frame for collection of local / outstation instruments and compensation payable for delayed collection.

The CCPs of various banks are made available on the website of respective bank.

Banks are obliged to disclose their liability to customers by way of compensation / interest payments due to delays for non-compliance with the standards set by the banks themselves. The customer has to be compensated by way of compensation/interest payment even if no formal claim is lodged to the effect.

On behalf of GAH, PM needs to submit an access request form to CCIL. The Request would be formally addressed to RBI. However, CCIL has been authorized to directly receive and process Access Request Form from PM for operational convenience. A detailed operation flow is contained in Annexure I.

The term ‘credit facility’ means a term loan, project loan subscription to bonds/ debentures/ preference shares/ equity shares in a project company acquired as a part of project finance package such that such subscription amounts to be “in the nature of advance” or any other form of long term funded facility provided to a borrower company engaged in developing/ operating and maintaining/ developing, operating and maintaining infrastructure facilities, that is a project in any of the sub-sectors as specified in the definition of infrastructure loan.

Ans : NBFCs desirous of sponsoring IDF-MFs are required to comply with the following requirements :

• The NBFC should have a minimum Net Owned Funds (NOF) of Rs.300 crore; and Capital to Risk Weighted Assets (CRAR) of 15%;

• its net NPAs should be less than 3% of net advances;

• it should have been in existence for at least 5 years;

• it should be earning profits for the last three years and its performance should be satisfactory;

• the CRAR of the NBFC post investment in the IDF-MF should not be less than the regulatory minimum prescribed for it;

• The NBFC should continue to maintain the required level of NOF after accounting for investment in the proposed IDF and

• There should be no supervisory concerns with respect to the NBFC.

The charges levied by banks for collection of such USD denominated cheques are dependent on the type of collection arrangement chosen by customers and the number of intermediaries (correspondent banks) involved in the collection process. Each of the CBs will levy their own charges for facilitating the process of collection. All these charges will be in turn levied by the collecting banks in India from the customers. The customer’s account is credited net of collection charges (proceeds minus collection charges)

No, SEZ Units cannot open EEFC Accounts. However, a unit located in a Special Economic Zone can open a Foreign Currency Account with an Authorised Dealer in India subject to conditions stipulated in Regulation 4 (D) of Foreign Exchange Management (Foreign Currency Accounts by a person Resident in India) Regulations dated January 21, 2016.

جواب. نقد رقم کی فراہمی کے علاوہ، اے ٹی ایم / ڈبلیو ایل ایل صارفین کو بہت سی دیگر خدمات / سہولیات بھی پیش کرسکتے ہیں۔ ان میں سے کچھ خدمات یہ ہیں :

• اکاؤنٹ کی معلومات
• نقد ڈپازٹ (ڈبلیو ایل اے میں اجازت نہیں ہے)
• باقاعدہ بلوں کی ادائیگی (ڈبلیو ایل اے میں اجازت نہیں)
• موبائیلوں کیلئے دوبارہ لوڈ واؤچر کی خریداری (ڈبلیو ایل اے میں اجازت نہیں)
• مِنی / مختصر اسٹیٹمنٹ نکالنا
• پن تبدیل کرنا
• چیک بُک کی درخواست

All loans meeting the eligibility criteria, unless covered by the specific exclusions listed in Paragraph 2 of the Annex to the Resolution Framework subject to the clarification at Sl. No. 2 above fall within the scope of resolution under the framework. These loans, if not falling under any of the categories mentioned in Paragraph 2 of the Annex to the Resolution Framework, is eligible for resolution under Part A of the Annex if they fall within the purview of “personal loans” as defined in the Circular DBR.No.BP.BC.99/08.13.100/2017-18 dated January 4, 2018 on “XBRL Returns – Harmonization of Banking Statistics”, even if they are not explicitly classified as so in any regulatory / supervisory reporting, or under Part B of the Annex otherwise.

جواب. این ای ایف ٹی ایک الیکٹرانک فنڈ کی منتقلی کا نظام ہے جس میں ایک خاص وقت تک موصول ہونے والی لین دین کا عمل بیچوں میں ہوتا ہے۔ اس کے برعکس ، آر ٹی جی ایس میں، لین دین پر لین دین کی بنیاد پر آر ٹی جی ایس کاروباری اوقات میں مسلسل کارروائی کی جاتی ہے۔

Ans. The monies so collected by the PPI issuers are to be used to make payments to merchants who are part of the acceptance arrangement and for facilitating funds transfer / remittance services on behalf of the PPI holders.

بے شک، کوئی بھی فرد جس بینک میں اُس کا 'بنیادی بچت بینک جمع کھاتہ'ہے وہاں معیادی/فکسڈ جمع ریکرنگ جمع وغیرہ کھاتے رکھ سکتا / سکتی ہے۔

All loans meeting the eligibility criteria, unless covered by the specific exclusions listed in Paragraph 2 of the Annex to the Resolution Framework subject to the clarification at Sl. No. 2 above fall within the scope of resolution under the framework. These loans, if not falling under any of the categories mentioned in Paragraph 2 of the Annex to the Resolution Framework, is eligible for resolution under Part A of the Annex if they fall within the purview of “personal loans” as defined in the Circular DBR.No.BP.BC.99/08.13.100/2017-18 dated January 4, 2018 on “XBRL Returns – Harmonization of Banking Statistics”, even if they are not explicitly classified as so in any regulatory / supervisory reporting, or under Part B of the Annex otherwise.

Banks generally offer either of the following loan options: Floating Rate Home Loans and Fixed Rate Home Loans. For a Fixed Rate Loan, the rate of interest is fixed either for the entire tenure of the loan or a certain part of the tenure of the loan. In case of a pure fixed loan, the EMI due to the bank remains constant. If a bank offers a Loan which is fixed only for a certain period of the tenure of the loan, please try to elicit information from the bank whether the rates may be raised after the period (reset clause). You may try to negotiate a lock-in that should include the rate that you have agreed upon initially and the period the lock-in lasts.

Hence, the EMI of a fixed rate loan is known in advance. This is the cash outflow that can be planned for at the outset of the loan. If the inflation and the interest rate in the economy move up over the years, a fixed EMI is attractively stagnant and is easier to plan for. However, if you have fixed EMI, any reduction in interest rates in the market, will not benefit you.

Determinants of floating rate:

The EMI of a floating rate loan changes with changes in market interest rates. If market rates increase, your repayment increases. When rates fall, your dues also fall. The floating interest rate is made up of two parts: the index and the spread. The index is a measure of interest rates generally (based on say, government securities prices), and the spread is an extra amount that the banker adds to cover credit risk, profit mark-up etc. The amount of the spread may differ from one lender to another, but it is usually constant over the life of the loan. If the index rate moves up, so does your interest rate in most circumstances and you will have to pay a higher EMI. Conversely, if the interest rate moves down, your EMI amount should be lower.

Also, sometimes banks make some adjustments so that your EMI remains constant. In such cases, when a lender increases the floating interest rate, the tenure of the loan is increased (and EMI kept constant).

Some lenders also base their floating rates on their Benchmark Prime Lending Rates (BPLR). You should ask what index will be used for setting the floating rate, how it has generally fluctuated in the past, and where it is published/disclosed. However, the past fluctuation of any index is not a guarantee for its future behavior.

Flexibility in EMI:

Some banks also offer their customers flexible repayment options. Here the EMIs are unequal. In step-up loans, the EMI is low initially and increases as years roll by (balloon repayment). In step-down loans, EMI is high initially and decreases as years roll by.

Step-up option is convenient for borrowers who are in the beginning of their careers. Step-down loan option is useful for borrowers who are close to their retirement years and currently make good money.

Ans: Bonds subscribed by banks and which meet the criteria specified in circular dated April 23, 2010 will continue to be classified under HTM category.

Yes, joint holding is allowed.

In terms of para 2 of the circular, CCO is to be selected through a suitable process with an appropriate ‘Fit and Proper’ evaluation/selection criteria. ‘Fit and Proper’ criteria may be examined and reported from the perspectives of competency, integrity and conflict of interest, among others.

For redressal of grievance, the complainant must first approach the System Participant (as defined in the Scheme) concerned. If the System Participant does not reply within a period of one month after receipt of the complaint, or rejects the complaint, or if the complainant is not satisfied with the reply given, the complainant can file the complaint with the Ombudsman for Digital Transactions within whose jurisdiction the branch or office of the System Participant complained against, is located. For complaints arising out of services with centralized operations, the same shall be filed before the Ombudsman for Digital Transactions within whose territorial jurisdiction the billing / declared address of the customer is located.

SNRR A/c can be used for transactions as permitted under A.P.(DIR Series) Circular No.09 dated November 22, 2019. These transactions should be carried out only if recording and reporting of such transactions under FETERS can be undertaken apart from other FEMA compliances. It may be noted that the transactions under the Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS) are not permitted to be routed through the SNRR account.

The Circular does not prohibit an audit firm from doing audit of any Company/Entity with Large Exposure to the Entity from being appointed as SCA/SA of the Entity. It only stipulates that this aspect should also be explicitly factored while assessing independence of the auditor. In this regard, the Board/ACB/LMC shall see that there is no conflict of interest and the independence of auditors is ensured.

1. A first time user should register through ATS using his/her valid email id.

2. A system generated Password will be forwarded to the applicant’s email id.

3. Thereafter, the applicant can login and submit his/her application and track the same.

4. As soon as an application is submitted through ATS, a unique application number is generated and forwarded to the applicant by the system.

5. A mail is sent by the system automatically when the application is disposed of or transferred from one office / department / section to another.

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]

Application for the deposit will be available at branches of Authorised Banks. It is also available in the Reserve Bank of India website.

Response: The deposit under STBD (1-3 years), MTGD (5-7 years), and LTGD (12-15 years) can be made for only specified timeframe. These deposits can be subsequently renewed upon maturity.

Response

No. An individual is eligible to have only one 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account' in one bank.

Yes. One can have Term/Fixed Deposit, Recurring Deposit etc., accounts in the bank where one holds 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account'.

The components of the spread i.e. business strategy and Credit risk premium shall have either a positive value or be zero. In other words, the spread components cannot be negative.

Ans: The applicant should give the list of promoters and the source of funds for the minimum capital of Rs 2 crore. The capital should be infused before issue of CoR. No change in promoters will be allowed in the interregnum.

For redressal of grievance, the complainant must first approach the concerned NBFC. If the NBFC does not reply within a period of one month after receipt of the complaint, or the NBFC rejects the complaint, or if the complainant is not satisfied with the reply given by the NBFC, the complainant can file the complaint with the NBFC Ombudsman under whose jurisdiction the branch/ registered office of the NBFC falls.

• Index ratio (IR) will be calculated by dividing the reference WPI on the settlement date with the reference WPI on the issue date.

• The formula for the same is as under:

A sub-target of 7.5% of Adjusted Net Bank Credit (ANBC) or Credit Equivalent of Off-Balance Sheet Exposure (CEOBE), whichever is higher, towards lending to the Micro-enterprises under overall Priority Sector Lending has been prescribed for Domestic commercial banks, Foreign banks with 20 branches and above, Regional Rural Banks and Small Finance Banks.

Ans. Yes.  An entity not registered with the Bank may not conduct the business of factoring unless it is an entity mentioned in Section 5 of the Act i.e. a bank or any corporation established under an Act of Parliament or State Legislature, or a Government Company as defined under section 617 of the Companies Act, 1956.

Ans. Yes. The application in the prescribed format along with necessary documents and a demand draft for Rs. 5000/- (Rupees five thousand only) drawn in favour of the “Reserve Bank of India” should be sent to the Reserve Bank of India while sending the request for compounding.

No specific Technology, Vendor, Service Provider or Process has been recommended for achieving ADF and it has been left to the banks to decide on these issues on the basis of internal requirements.

Answer: An NRO (current/ savings) account can be opened by a foreign national of non-Indian origin visiting India, with funds remitted from outside India through banking channel or by sale of foreign exchange brought by him to India. The balance in the NRO account may be paid to the account holder at the time of his departure from India provided the account has been maintained for a period not exceeding six months and the account has not been credited with any local funds, other than interest accrued thereon.

Ans: Bank-wise list of IFSCs is available with all the bank-branches participating in NEFT scheme. List of bank-wise branches participating in NEFT and their IFSCs is also available on the website of RBI at /en/web/rbi/-/list-of-neft-enabled-bank-branches-bank-wise-indian-financial-system-code-updated-as-on-june-30-2023-2009-1. All member banks have also been advised to print the IFSC of the branch on cheques issued to their customers.

Application in the prescribed form (as given in Part I: Annex-I of the FED Master Direction No.18/2015-16 on Reporting under FEMA 1999), along with the required documents should be submitted to the respective Regional Office of the Foreign Exchange Department of the Reserve Bank under whose jurisdiction the registered office of the applicant company falls.

Ans. A person coming into India from abroad can bring with him foreign exchange without any limit. However, if the aggregate value of the foreign exchange in the form of currency notes, bank notes or travellers cheques brought in exceeds USD 10,000 or its equivalent and/or the value of foreign currency alone exceeds USD 5,000 or its equivalent, it should be declared to the Customs Authorities at the Airport in the Currency Declaration Form (CDF), on arrival in India.

Answer: RBI approval is required if:

(i) Remittance is in excess of USD 1,000,000 (US Dollar One million only) per financial year:

1. on account of legacy, bequest or inheritance to a citizen of foreign state, resident outside India; and
2. by NRIs/ PIOs out of the balances held in NRO accounts/ sale proceeds of assets/ the assets acquired by way of inheritance/ legacy.

(ii) Hardship will be caused to a person if remittance from India is not made to such a person.

Ans The primary modes of funds transfer at present are demand draft, mail transfer and telegraphic transfer. The demand draft facility is paper based. The remitter, after purchasing demand draft from a bank branch, dispatches the same by post/courier to the beneficiary. The beneficiary, in turn, lodges the draft to his/her bank for collection and clearing. The time taken for completing the process is about 10 days. In the case of telegraphic transfer, fund reaches the beneficiary either on the same day or the next; but both the remitter and the beneficiary would have to be account holders of the same bank. If they are customers of different banks, a good deal of paper processing is required. On the other hand, RBI EFT system is an inter-bank oriented system. RBI acts as an intermediary between the remitting bank and the receiving bank and effects inter-bank funds transfer. The customers of banks can request their respective branches to remit funds to the designated customers irrespective of bank affiliation of the beneficiary.