RBI increases repo rate by 50 basis points to 4.90%; forecasts 6.7% inflation for 2023; Real GDP growth rate pegged at 7.2 percent

The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday increased the repo rate by 50 basis points to 4.90%. The current repo rate is 4.40% after the rates were increased by 40 basis points at an off-cycle meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee. The central bank forecasts 6.7 percent inflation, while the real GDP growth rate is pegged at 7.2 percent. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor today announced that the Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to hike the benchmark interest rate by 50 bps with i...

RBI asks banks and ATM operators to provide cardless cash withdrawal facility

Reserve Bank of India has directed banks and ATM operators to provide cardless cash withdrawal facilities at all ATMs. In a circular, the RBI said, all banks, automated teller machine (ATM) networks, and White Label ATM Operators (WLAOs) may provide the option of ICCW at their ATMs. The apex bank informed that the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has been advised to facilitate Unified Payments Interface (UPI) integration with all banks and ATM networks. The RBI said, while UPI would...

RBI Board approves nomination of Rajiv Ranjan as ex-officio member of Monetary Policy Committee

The 595th meeting of the Central Board of Directors of Reserve Bank of India was held yesterday. In a statement, RBI said the meeting was held through video conferencing under the Chairmanship of RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. The Board approved the nomination of Executive Director Dr. Rajiv Ranjan as an ex-officio member of the Monetary Policy Committee. In addition to Deputy Governors and other Directors of the Central Board, Department of Economic Affairs, Secretary, Ajay Seth was also present...

RBI bars Paytm Payments Bank from opening new accounts with immediate effect

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has barred Paytm Payments Bank from opening new accounts with immediate effect. RBI has also directed Paytm Payments Bank to appoint an IT audit firm to conduct a comprehensive audit of its IT system. In a statement, RBI said the onboarding of new customers will be subject to specific permission to be granted by it after reviewing the report of the IT auditors. This action is based on certain material supervisory concerns observed in the bank, RBI said. Paytm Payments...

RBI launches UPI123pay and 24×7 helpline for digital payments in Mumbai

RBI today launched UPI for feature phones called UPI123pay. RBI governor Shaktikanta Das launched the UPI123pay and also launched a 24x7 helpline for digital payments in Mumbai. This new initiative by RBI will facilitate use of UPI with text and allow feature phone users to seamlessly perform various financial and non-financial transactions. The 24x7 helpline will give an opportunity to provide solutions to various queries about digital payments. There are more than 40 crore feature phone users ...

RBI warns against forex trading on unauthorized Platforms

Requesting investors to remain vigilant, RBI has said that it has noticed a few misleading advertisements of unauthorized Electronic Trading Platforms (ETPs) offering forex trading facilities to Indian residents. RBI said that these ads are being run on social media platforms, search engines, Over The Top (OTT) platforms, gaming apps, and the like. It added that such entities are also personally contacting people and luring them with promises of disproportionate returns. Reserve Bank said there ...

RBI cancels licence of Nashik based Independence Co-operative Bank Limited

Reserve Bank of India has cancelled the licence of Nashik based Independence Co-operative Bank Limited. The bank will not be allowed to carry out any operations henceforth and a liquidator will be appointed soon. RBI has clarified that the bank does not have adequate capital and earning prospects. It said that the bank's present financial position is such that it will not be able to pay its depositors in full and public interest would be adversely affected if the bank is allowed to carr...

RBI cancels CoA of Muthoot Vehicle, Asset Finance, and Eko India Financial Services for non-compliance with regulatory requirements

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cancelled the authorisation certificates of Muthoot Vehicle and Asset Finance Ltd and Eko India Financial Services Private Ltd for non-compliance with regulatory requirements. Both the Payment System Operators (PSOs) had authorisation for the issuance and operation of prepaid payment instruments. The RBI said that following the cancellation of the Certificate of Authorisation (CoA), these companies cannot transact the business of issuance and operation of prepaid ...

RBI announces bi-monthly Monetary Policy; Key policy rates remain unchanged

RBI directs NBFCs to appoint Internal Ombudsman within 6 months

Reserve Bank of India has directed Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) to appoint an Internal Ombudsman within 6 months. Deposit-taking NBFCs with more than 10 branches and non-deposit-taking NBFCs with an asset size of a minimum of 5 thousand Crore rupees have been asked to appoint an internal ombudsman within 6 months. It will be an apex of their internal grievance redress mechanism. All complaints that are partly or wholly rejected by the NBFC will be reviewed by the Internal Ombudsman befo...