Recent Current Affairs related to RBI

The RBI has deferred the implementation of the revised Basel Pillar III disclosure framework for banks by 6 months, setting the new effective date for April 1, 2027. The decision was taken in response to implementation challenges raised by stakeholders.

The revised framework, applicable to Commercial Banks (CB), Small Finance Banks (SFB), and Payments Banks (PB), was initially scheduled for implementation by the quarter ending September 30, 2026. The RBI has aligned these disclosure requirements with the Expected Credit Loss (ECL) framework for capital charge for credit risk under the standardised approach, which is also effective from April 2027.

According to the report titled "Prelude to Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Meeting: August 3-5, 2026 Peace in a piecemeal manner" released by the Economic Research Department of the SBI, India's GDP growth for Q1 FY27 is projected at 7%.

The report stated that inflation stood at 3.9% during Q1 FY27. It further projects that the Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) will remain above 5% during the next two quarters of FY27, with an overall inflation projection of 5% for the full financial year.

The Government of India has approved the RBI proposal to conduct field trials of polymer banknotes in ₹10 and ₹20 denominations. The trial involves introducing 100 crore banknotes of each denomination, amounting to a total value of ₹3,000 crore.

This proposal was submitted by the RBI, upon the recommendation of its Central Board, in accordance with Section 25 of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. It is to be noted that polymer banknotes are printed on non-fibrous and non-porous polymer material.

Eroute Technologies Pvt Ltd has launched India's first 'Flexi Benefits Basket' on the UPI via its OmniCard platform.

It is an employee-controlled digital wallet designed for tax-efficient spending across multiple benefit categories. The platform is built on a RBI-licensed Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) infrastructure and is accepted at 60 million UPI-enabled merchant outlets.

Hyderabad-based VIYONA Fintech, a fintech infrastructure startup, has received approval from the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), now rebranded as Bharat Connect, to operate as a Customer Operating Unit (COU).

This authorization enables the startup to provide interoperable digital bill payment services across India.

Union Minister Amit Shah virtually inaugurated 'Sahakar Bhavan', the new headquarters of the Jamnagar District Cooperative Bank in Jamnagar, Gujarat. The project was completed at a cost of Rs 25 crore.

EbixCash World Money Ltd has become the first Authorised Dealer Category-II (AD-II) entity in India to receive authorization from the RBI to facilitate trade and family maintenance remittances, a domain previously dominated by banks.

The enhanced licence permits EbixCash to process trade remittances up to ₹25 lakh per transaction. Furthermore, the entity has received authorization to maintain Nostro accounts, enabling the direct settlement of international transactions without routing them through intermediary correspondent banks.

RBI has approved the acquisition of the fraud-hit Aviom India Housing Finance by the Areion Group for ₹936 crore, marking a milestone in the company's insolvency resolution process.

The RBI has also granted 'fit-and-proper' approval to Manish Lalwani, the promoter of the Areion Group. It is to be noted that this approval is mandatory for changing the control of a regulated financial institution.

According to provisional data released by the RBI, India's outward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) declined by 47.9% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to $3 billion in June 2026, compared to $5.74 billion in June 2025.

The decline was observed across all three components of outward FDI commitments: equity, debt, and guarantees. In June 2026, equity commitments stood at $738 million, debt at $469.87 million, and guarantees at $1.78 billion. The largest FDI equity commitments were recorded by ONGC Videsh Rovuma Ltd (OVRL), followed by Lenskart and GFCL EV products.

RBI has released the composite Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index) for FY26, which increased to 70 in March 2026 from 67 in March 2025.

RBI has also issued new "Prudential Norms on Specified Non-Financial Asset (SNFA) acquired by Regulated Entities" to tighten regulations governing the resolution of distressed loans. This framework will come into effect on October 1, 2026.

Delhivery Financial Services Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Delhivery Ltd, has received the Certificate of Registration (CoR) from the RBI to operate as a Type-II Non-Banking Financial Company-Non-Deposit Taking (NBFC-ND).

RBI has launched the July 2026 round of three household surveys to gather inputs for the upcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. The Inflation Expectations Survey of Households (IESH) collects data on price movements from 19 major cities, covering current, 3-month-ahead, and 1-year-ahead inflation expectations.

The Urban Consumer Confidence Survey (UCCS) monitors qualitative responses from urban households in 19 cities regarding economic sentiment, including employment, income, spending, and the general economic situation.

The Rural Consumer Confidence Survey (RCCS) assesses economic confidence and expectations for rural and semi-urban households across 31 States and Union Territories (UTs).

The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has mandated that all Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) must route the settlement of invoices related to procurement from MSMEs through the Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS).

The TReDS mechanism has been progressively expanded, starting with mandatory onboarding for CPSEs and companies with a turnover above ₹500 crore in 2018. The threshold was lowered to ₹250 crore in 2024, and mandatory TReDS settlement will be implemented from June 30, 2026.

According to the Ministry of MSME, invoice financing through the TReDS platform has grown from ₹40,000 crore in FY22 to ₹3.47 trillion in FY26. It is to be noted that the TReDS is an electronic platform regulated by the RBI that facilitates the financing and discounting of trade receivables of MSMEs by multiple financiers.

The RBI has approved the appointment of Mahesh Muralidhar Pai as the MD & CEO of the South Indian Bank (SIB) for a 3-year term, effective from October 2026. He succeeds PR Seshadri.

RBI has imposed a monetary penalty of ₹63.6 lakh on the Bank of Baroda (BoB) for charging interest rates higher than the contracted rates, failing to upload Know Your Customer (KYC) records to the Central KYC Records Registry (CKYCR) within the stipulated timelines, and non-compliance with the 'Fair Practices Code'.

The central bank has also imposed a penalty of ₹3.1 lakh on GIC Housing Finance due to deficiencies in compliance with KYC guidelines.

Bank of Baroda has signed a strategic partnership with Mizuho Bank, the banking arm of the Japanese Mizuho Financial Group, to enhance cooperation in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) financing and other financial services.

PayGlocal, an Indian cross-border payments platform, has integrated Google Pay Card Payments into its International Payment Gateway.

This integration enables Indian merchants to access a customer base of over 1 billion users across more than 90 countries through a single integration.

The Kakinada Cooperative Town Bank, an Urban Cooperative Bank (UCB) in Andhra Pradesh, has secured Tier-III status under RBI norms. The bank achieved this status after its deposits crossed the ₹2,000 crore mark while maintaining zero net Non-Performing Assets (NPAs).

It is to be noted that the RBI classifies UCBs into three categories based on deposits: Tier-I (deposits below ₹100 crore), Tier-II (deposits up to ₹1,000 crore), and Tier-III (deposits between ₹1,000 crore and ₹10,000 crore).

Bengaluru-based Skydo, a cross-border payments platform, has secured an international payment license in Canada. With this, it has become the first Indian cross-border company to obtain regulatory approval overseas.

RBI has issued the ‘RBI (Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFC) – Registration, Exemptions and Framework for Scale Based Regulation) Second Amendment Directions, 2026’ to revise the framework for identifying Upper Layer Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFC-ULs).

Under the new rules, effective from June 24, 2026, any NBFC with an asset size of ₹1 lakh crore or more will be automatically classified as an NBFC-UL. This replaces the previous parameter-based assessment model with an absolute asset-size criterion.

The asset size threshold will be reviewed every 3 years, instead of the 5-year cycle proposed in the draft. Additionally, government-owned NBFCs that meet the eligibility criteria will now be considered for inclusion in the UL category.