MONETARY & CREDIT

MCIR
INFORMATION REVIEW
Volume XIX Issue 12 March 2024

I. Monetary Policy
Meeting Schedule of the Monetary Policy Committee
The Reserve Bank on March 27, 2024 decided as per Section 45ZI of Reserve Bank of
India Act, 1934, Monetary Policy Committee will meet during 2024-25 on the dates
mentioned below:
Contents
Dates of Meetings of Monetary Policy Committee for 2024-25
Sections Page
I. Monetary Policy 1 1st April 3-5, 2024
II. Regulation 1-3 2nd June 5-7, 2024
III. Payment and Settlement 3
3rd August 6-8, 2024
System
4th October 7-9, 2024
IV. Foreign Exchange 3
5th December 4-6, 2024
Management
V. Debt Management 3 6th February 5-7, 2025
VI. Currency Management 3
VII. Banker to Government II. Regulation
& Banks 3
Progress of NEFT and RTGS Systems
VIII. Consumer Education 4
The Reserve Bank on March 1, 2024 released information on the progress of its retail and
And Protection wholesale payment settlement systems National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) and Real Time
Gross Settlement (RTGS), respectively. The Bank released that NEFT system achieved a
IX. Publications 4
milestone on February 29, 2024 by processing 4,10,61,337 transactions, the highest number
X. Data Release 4 of transactions processed in a day so far. The Bank stated that during 2014-23, NEFT and
RTGS systems registered growth of 700 per cent and 200 per cent, respectively in terms of
XI. Form IV 4
volume and 670 per cent and 104 per cent, respectively in terms of value. The RTGS system
processed its highest ever volume of 16.25 lakh transactions in a day on March 31, 2023. To
Note from the Editor read more, please click here.

Welcome to another edition of the Amalgamation

Monetary and Credit Information The Reserve Bank on March 4, 2024 sanctioned the Scheme of Amalgamation of Fincare
Review (MCIR). This monthly Small Finance Bank Ltd. (Transferor Bank) with AU Small Finance Bank Ltd. (Transferee Bank).
periodical of the Reserve Bank helps The Scheme had been sanctioned in exercise of the powers contained in sub-section (4) of
keep abreast with new developments Section 44A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. The effective date of the amalgamation shall
and important policy initiatives taken be April 1, 2024. All the branches of Fincare Small Finance Bank Ltd. will function as branches
by the Reserve Bank during the month of AU Small Finance Bank Ltd. with effect from April 1, 2024. To read more, please click here.
of March 2024 in the world of money
and credit. MCIR can be accessed at Action against Two Finance Companies
https://mcir.rbi.org.in as well as by
scanning the QR code. The Reserve Bank on March 4, 2024 in exercise of its powers under Section 45L(1)(b) of
the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 directed IIFL Finance Ltd. to cease and desist, with
Through this communication tool,
immediate effect, from sanctioning or disbursing gold loans or assigning/securitising/selling any
we aim to share information, educate
of its gold loans. However, the company was allowed to continue to service its existing gold loan
and stay in touch while ensuring
factual accuracy and consistency in
portfolio through usual collection and recovery processes.
disseminating the information. An inspection of the company was carried out by the Bank with reference to its financial
position as on March 31, 2023. Certain material supervisory concerns were observed in the
We welcome your feedback at gold loan portfolio of the company, including serious deviations in assaying and certifying purity
[email protected] and net weight of the gold at the time of sanction of loans and at the time of auction upon
Yogesh Dayal default, breaches in Loan-to-Value ratio, significant disbursal and collection of loan amount in
Editor cash far in excess of the statutory limit, non-adherence to the standard auction process and lack

Volume XIX 1 MCIR

Issue 12 March 2024
 607th Meeting of Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India
The Reserve Bank on March 22, 2024 conducted the 607th meeting of the Central Board of Directors at Nagpur
under the Chairmanship of Shri Shaktikanta Das, Governor.
The Board reviewed the global and domestic economic situation and outlook, including the challenges posed by
geopolitical developments and global financial market volatility. Further, the Board also discussed the Reserve Bank’s
activities including the progress made in digital payments, consumer education and awareness during the accounting
year 2023-24. The Board also approved the Bank’s budget for the accounting year 2024-25.
Deputy Governors Dr. Michael Debabrata Patra, Shri M. Rajeshwar Rao, Shri T. Rabi Sankar, Shri Swaminathan
J. and other Directors of the Central Board, Shri Satish K. Marathe, Smt. Revathy Iyer, Prof. Sachin Chaturvedi, Shri
Venu Srinivasan and Dr. Ravindra H. Dholakia attended the meeting. Shri Ajay Seth, Secretary, Department of
Economic Affairs and Dr. Vivek Joshi, Secretary, Department of Financial Services also attended the meeting.

of transparency in charges being levied to customer economic and financial transactions as agreed upon by
accounts, etc. Over the last few months, the Bank had both countries. This framework would enable exporters
tried to address operational deficiencies with the and importers to invoice and pay in their respective
company's management and auditors but didn’t notice domestic currencies, which in turn would enable the
any meaningful corrective action. To read more, please development of an INR-IDR foreign exchange market. To
click here. read more, please click here.
Furthermore, the Reserve Bank on March 5, 2024 in
exercise of its powers under Section 45L(1)(b) of the
Certificate of Registration
Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 directed JM Financial The Reserve Bank on March 11, 2024 under Section
Products Ltd. to cease and desist, with immediate effect, 45-IA (6) of Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 cancelled
from doing any form of financing against shares and Certificate of Registration (CoR) of seven Non-Banking
debentures, including sanction and disbursal of loans Financial Companies (NBFC) that had surrendered their
against Initial Public Offering (IPO) of shares as well as CoRs. To read more, please click here.
against subscription to debentures. However, the company The Bank on March 11, 2024 also cancelled CoR of
was allowed to continue to service its existing loan four NBFCs under the same Section of RBI Act, 1934. To
accounts through the usual collection and recovery read more, please click here.
process. This action was necessitated due to certain Reconstitution of Committee of Advisors
serious deficiencies observed in respect of loans The Reserve Bank on March 14, 2024 reconstituted
sanctioned by the company for IPO financing as well as the ‘Committee of Advisors’ of Abhyudaya Cooperative
NCD subscriptions. The Bank carried out a limited review Bank Ltd. and appointed Shri Devendra Kumar as a
of the books of the company on the basis of the member of the committee in place of Shri Mahendra
information shared by the Securities and Exchange Board Chhajed with immediate effect. The reconstituted
of India. To read more, please click here. ‘Committee of Advisors’ now comprise of following
members:
Credit Card and Debit Card
i) Shri Devendra Kumar (former Chief General Manager,
The Reserve Bank on March 7, 2024 amended the
SBI),
Master Direction (MD) on ‘Credit Card and Debit Card–
ii) Shri Venkatesh Hegde (former General Manager, SBI)
Issuance and Conduct Directions, 2022’, asking card
and
issuers to put in place an effective mechanism to monitor
iii) Shri Suhas Gokhale (former MD, COSMOS Co-
end use of funds.
operative Bank Limited). To read more, please click here.
Further, the Bank stated for the purpose of cardholder’s
convenience, card transaction related data may be drawn Omnibus Framework for SROs
directly from the card issuer’s system in an encrypted form The Reserve Bank on March 21, 2024 finalised the
and displayed in the co-branding partner (CBP) platform Omnibus Framework for recognising Self-Regulatory
with robust security. Organisations (SRO) for its regulated entities.
The amended provisions of the MD are applicable to: The framework contains broad parameters, viz.,
i) All credit card issuing Banks and Non-Banking objectives, responsibilities, eligibility criteria, governance
Financial Companies (NBFCs). standards, application process and other basic conditions
ii) Every bank operating in India. To read more, please for grant of recognition, which will be common for any
click here. SRO proposed to be recognised by the Reserve Bank.
Other sector-specific guidelines like number of SROs,
MoU between RBI and Bank Indonesia membership, etc., shall be issued separately by the
The Reserve Bank and the Bank Indonesia on March 7, respective departments of the Reserve Bank wherever a
2024 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in sectoral SRO is intended to be set up. To read more,
Mumbai for establishing a framework to promote the use please click here.
of local currencies, viz., the Indian Rupee (INR) and the
Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) for cross-border transactions. The Investments in AIFs
MoU was signed by Shri Shaktikanta Das, Governor, The Reserve Bank on March 27, 2024 in reference to
Reserve Bank of India, and Mr. Perry Warjiyo, Governor, the Banks’s Circular dated December 19, 2023, with a view
Bank Indonesia. to ensure uniformity in implementation among the regulated
The MoU covers all current account transactions, entities (REs) and to address the concerns flagged in various
permissible capital account transactions and any other representations received from stakeholders, advised that:

Volume XIX
2
MCIR
Issue 12 March 2024
 i) Downstream investments referred to in paragraph 2(i) of Leveraging Use of Technology
the Circular shall exclude investments in equity shares of The Reserve Bank on January 31, 2024 advised the
the debtor company of the RE, but shall include all other regulated entities to carry out a comprehensive review of
investments, including investment in hybrid instruments. the existing internal compliance tracking and monitoring
ii) Provisioning in terms of paragraph 2(iii) of the Circular processes and institute necessary changes to existing
shall be required only to the extent of investment by the systems or implement new systems latest by June 30,
RE in the AIF scheme which is further invested by the AIF 2024. To read more, please click here.
in the debtor company, and not on the entire investment
of the RE in the AIF scheme. V. Debt Management
iii) Paragraph 3 of the Circular shall only be applicable in
cases where the AIF does not have any downstream WMA Limit for Government of India
investment in a debtor company of the RE. If the RE has The Reserve Bank on March 27, 2024 in consultation
investment in subordinated units of an AIF scheme, which with the Government of India, decided that the limit for
also has downstream exposure to the debtor company, Ways and Means Advances (WMA) for the first half of the
then the RE shall be required to comply with paragraph 2 financial year 2024-25 (April to September 2024) will be
of the Circular. ₹1,50,000 crore.
iv) Further with regard to paragraph 3 of the Circular: The Bank may trigger fresh floatation of market loans
a) proposed deduction from capital shall take place when the Government of India utilises 75 per cent of the
equally from both Tier-1 and Tier-2 capital. WMA limit. The interest rate on WMA/Overdraft will be:
b) reference to investment in subordinated units of AIF i) WMA: Repo Rate
Scheme includes all forms of subordinated exposures, ii) Overdraft: Two percent above the Repo Rate. To
including investment in the nature of sponsor units. read more, please click here.
v) Investments by REs in AIFs through intermediaries such
as fund of funds or mutual funds are not included in the Marketable Dated Securities
scope of the Circular. To read more, please click here. The Reserve Bank on March 27, 2024 in consultation
with the Government of India, notified the indicative
III. Payment and Settlement Systems calendar for issuance of Government dated securities,
including Sovereign Green Bonds (SGrB), for the first half
Arrangements with Card Networks of the fiscal year 2024-25 (April 1, 2024 to September
The Reserve Bank on March 6, 2024 based on a 30, 2024). Based on market feedback and in line with
review on some arrangements existing between card global market practices, it was also decided to introduce a
networks and card issuers, directed that new dated security of 15-year tenor. To read more, please
i) Card issuers shall not enter into any arrangement or click here.
agreement with card networks that restrain them from Calendar of Market borrowings
availing the services of other card networks. The Reserve Bank on March 28, 2024 in consultation
ii) Card issuers shall provide an option to their eligible with the State Governments/Union Territories, announced
customers to choose from multiple card networks at the that the quantum of total market borrowings by the State
time of issue. For existing cardholders, this option may be Governments/UTs for the quarter April–June 2024, is
provided at the time of the next renewal. To read more, expected to be ₹2,54,040 crore. To read more, please
please click here. click here.

IV. Foreign Exchange Management VI. Currency Management

Money Transfer Service Scheme ₹2,000 Denomination Banknotes
The Reserve Bank on March 5, 2024 with the launch The Reserve Bank on April 1, 2024 released the
of the Bank’s next generation data warehouse, viz., the status of withdrawal of ₹2,000 denomination banknotes.
Centralised Information Management System (CIMS), As per the data, the total value of ₹2,000 banknotes in
decided that the reporting of the quarterly statement of circulation was declined to ₹8,202 crore at the close of
Money Transfer Service Scheme will be done on CIMS business on March 29, 2024. Thus, 97.69 percent of the
portal (https://sankalan.rbi.org.in/) with effect from the ₹2,000 banknotes in circulation as on May 19, 2023,
quarter-ending March 2024. To read more, please click has since been returned. To read more, please click here.
here.
Financial Literacy Ideathon – Extension of deadline VII. Banker to Governments and Banks
The Reserve Bank on March 21, 2024 extended the
deadline of submission for entries of Financial Literacy GST, ICEGATE and TIN 2.0
Ideathon for post graduate students to April 15, 2024. The Reserve Bank on March 13, 2024 stated that no
Additionally, to streamline the submission process extension will be granted by the Bank for submission
and maintain consistency, participants are advised that: of GST, ICEGATE and TIN 2.0 luggage files beyond the
i) The submissions should be in typed form and can cut-off time of 1800 hours prescribed by O/o Principal
Chief Controller of Accounts, Central Board of Indirect
be submitted online or by post.
Taxes & Customs and O/o Principal Chief Controller of
ii) Each entry must be accompanied by the respective
Accounts, Central Board of Direct Taxes. To read more,
college/institution's ID card.
click here.

Volume XIX MCIR

Issue 12 3 March 2024
 VIII. Consumer Education And X. Data Releases
Protection
Important data released by the Reserve Bank during the
Annual Conference month of March 2024 are as follows:
The Reserve Bank on March 15, 2024 organised the S/N Title
Annual Conference of RBI Ombudsmen in Mumbai. The
theme of the conference was ‘Protecting the Consumers – 1 Bank-wise ATM/POS/Card Statistics - February
Building Robust Systems and Procedures’. 2024
Shri Shaktikanta Das, Governor, inaugurated the
conference. Shri Dipak Misra, former Chief Justice of the 2 Overseas Direct Investment for February 2024
Supreme Court of India graced the programme with his
esteemed presence and delivered the keynote address. The 3 Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit – February
Conference was also attended by Shri M Rajeshwar Rao 2024
and Shri Swaminathan J, Deputy Governors, Reserve Bank
4 Entity-wise PPI Statistics - February 2024
of India, Chairman/Managing Director and CEOs of
regulated entities, RBI Ombudsmen and Deputy RBI 5 Monthly Data on India’s International Trade in
Ombudsmen. To read more, please click here. Services for the Month of January 2024
Annual Report of Ombudsman 6 Lending and Deposit Rates of Scheduled
Scheme, 2022-23 Commercial Banks – March 2024
The Reserve Bank on March 11, 2024 released the
Annual Report of the Ombudsman Scheme for the period 7 India’s International Investment Position (IIP),
April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023. This is the first full-year December 2023
report after the launch of Reserve Bank–Integrated
8 Scheduled Commercial Banks' Investments
Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS), 2021 in November 2021.
The Annual Report covers the activities under the RB-IOS, 9 Consumer Price Index (Base: 2012=100)
2021 as well as major developments during the year in
consumer education and protection and the way forward. 10 Wholesale Price Index
Under the RB-IOS, 2021, 7,03,544 complaints were
received at the ORBIOs and the CRPC between April 1, 11 Union Government Accounts at a Glance
2022 and March 31, 2023, showing an increase of 68.24
per cent over last year. Of these, 2,34,690 complaints Statement about ownership and other particulars
were allocated to and handled by the 22 ORBIOs, concerning Monetary and Credit Information Review
whereas 4,68,270 complaints were closed by CRPC as Form IV
non-complaints/non-maintainable complaints. Around
Place of Publication Mumbai
85.64 per cent of the total complaints were received
through digital modes, including on the online Complaint Periodicity of Monthly
Management System (CMS) portal, email and Centralised Publication
Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System
(CPGRAMS). The overall disposal rate for the year at the Editor, Publisher
Yogesh Dayal
ORBIOs stood at 97.99 per cent with an average Turn and Printer’s Name
Around Time (TAT) of 33 days. RB-IOS, 2021 envisages
settlement of complaints through facilitation/conciliation/ Nationality Indian
mediation and thereby, majority of the maintainable
complaints (57.48 per cent) disposed by ORBIOs were Address Reserve Bank of India
resolved through mutual settlement/conciliation/mediation. Department of
During the year, a total of 122 Appeals were received Communication,
against the decisions of the RBI Ombudsmen, of which Central Office,
119 Appeals were received under the RB-IOS, 2021 and Shahid Bhagat Singh Road,
the remaining three were received under the erstwhile Mumbai 400001
Ombudsman Schemes. To read more, please click here.
Names Reserve Bank of India
IX. Publication and addresses Department of
of Individuals who Communication, Central
RBI Bulletin own the Newspaper Office, Shahid Bhagat Singh
The Reserve Bank on March 19, 2024 published the Road, Mumbai 400001
March 2024 issue of its monthly Bulletin. The Bulletin I, Yogesh Dayal, hereby declare that the particulars
includes four speeches, three articles, and current given above are true to the best of my knowledge and
statistics. The three articles covered are: belief.
i) State of the Economy, Sd/-
ii) Pandemic-induced Policy Stimulus and Inflation: A Yogesh Dayal
Cross-Country Perspective and Signature of Publisher
iii) Seasonality in India’s Key Economic Indicators. To March 1, 2024
read more, please click here.

Edited and published by Yogesh Dayal for Reserve Bank of India, Department of Communication, Central
Office, Shahid Bhagat Singh Marg, Mumbai - 400 001. MCIR can be also accessed at https://mcir.rbi.org.in.