India’s banking and financial sector is highly regulated under the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the central bank established under the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (RBI Act).
The RBI’s jurisdiction extends to banks, non-banking financial institutions (NBFCs), and other entities offering financial services in and from India. Its role includes:
- Formulating and implementing the monetary policy;
- Regulating and supervising India’s financial systems including payment and settlement systems; and
- Regulating and managing foreign exchange transactions.
One of the RBI’s key roles is prescribing the instructions, directions and overall framework within which banks and financial institutions are required to operate, coupled with various supervisory and audit powers to monitor such compliance.
That being said, companies that do financial business but are regulated by other regulators, such as insurance companies and stock brokers, are specifically exempted from the RBI’s regulatory requirements to avoid duality of regulation.