NBFC Regulation turned sixty
Vinod Kothari, finserv@vinodkothari.com
Not sure if any cake was cut[1], but NBFC regulation turned 60, on 1st Feb., 2024. It was on 1st Feb., 1964 that the insertion of Chapter IIIB in the RBI Act was made effective. This is the chapter that gave the RBI statutory powers to register and regulate NBFCs.
1964: Insertion of regulatory power
What was the background to insertion of this regulatory power? Chapter IIIB was inserted by the Banking Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1963. The text of the relevant Bill, 1963 gives the object of the amendment: “The existing enactments relating to banks do not provide for any control over companies or institutions, which, although they are not treated as banks, accept deposits from the general public or carry other business which is allied to banking. For ensuring more effective supervision and management of the monetary and credit system by the Reserve Bank, it is desirable that the Reserve Bank should be enabled to regulate the conditions on which deposits may be accepted by these non-banking companies or institutions. The Reserve Bank should also be empowered to give to any financial institution or institutions directions in respect of matters, in which the Reserve Bank, as the central banking institution of the country, may be interested from the point of view of the control of credit policy.”
Therefore, there were 2 major objectives – regulation of deposit-taking companies, and giving credit-creation connected directions, as these entities were engaged in quasi-banking activities.
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