| Reserve Bank of India Act | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Imperial Legislative Council | |
| |
| Citation | Act No. 2 of 1934 |
| Territorial extent | Whole of India |
| Enacted by | Imperial Legislative Council |
| Enacted | 6 March 1934 |
| Commenced | 1 April 1935 |
| Status: In force | |
Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 is the legislative act under which the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was formed. This act along with the Companies Act, which was amended in 1936, were meant to provide a framework for the supervision of banking firms in India. [1]
The Act contains the definition of the so-called scheduled banks, as they are mentioned in the 2nd Schedule of the Act. These are banks which were to have paid up capital and reserves above 5 lakh. [2]
There are various section in the RBI Act but the most controversial and confusing is Section 7. Although this section has been used only once by the central govt, [3] it puts a restriction on the autonomy of the RBI. Section 7 states that the central government can legislate the functioning of the RBI through the RBI board, and the RBI is not an autonomous body.
Section 17 of the Act defines the manner in which the RBI can conduct business as the central bank of India. The RBI can accept deposits from the central and state governments without interest. It can purchase and discount bills of exchange from commercial banks. It can purchase foreign exchange from banks and sell it to them. It can provide loans to banks and state financial corporations. It can provide advances to the central government and state governments. It can buy or sell government securities. It can deal in derivative, repo and reverse repo. [2]
Section 18 deals with emergency loans to banks. Section 21 states that the RBI must conduct banking affairs for the central government and manage public debt. Section 22 states that only the RBI has the exclusive rights to issue currency notes in India. Section 24 states that the maximum denomination a note can be is ₹10,000 (US$120).
Section 26 of Act describes the legal tender character of Indian bank notes.
Section 28 allows the RBI to form rules regarding the exchange of damaged and imperfect notes. [2]
Section 31 states that in India, only the RBI or the central government can issue and accept promissory notes that are payable on demand. However, cheques, that are payable on demand, can be issued by anyone. [2]
Section 42(1) says that every scheduled bank must have an average daily balance with the RBI. The amount of the deposit shall be more than a certain percentage of its net time and demand liabilities in India. [2]
In macroeconomics, money supply refers to the total volume of money held by the public at a particular point in time. There are several ways to define "money", but standard measures usually include currency in circulation and demand deposits. Money supply data is recorded and published, usually by the national statistical agency or the central bank of the country. Empirical money supply measures are usually named M1, M2, M3, etc., according to how wide a definition of money they embrace. The precise definitions vary from country to country, in part depending on national financial institutional traditions.
A commercial bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make a profit.
The money market is a component of the economy that provides short-term funds. The money market deals in short-term loans, generally for a period of a year or less.
The Reserve Bank of India, abbreviated as RBI, is India's central bank and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system. Owned by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, it is responsible for the control, issue and maintaining supply of the Indian rupee. It also manages the country's main payment systems and works to promote its economic development. Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran (BRBNM) is a specialised division of RBI through which it prints and mints Indian currency notes (INR) in two of its currency printing presses located in Mysore and Salboni. The RBI, along with the Indian Banks' Association, established the National Payments Corporation of India to promote and regulate the payment and settlement systems in India. Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation was established by RBI as one of its specialized division for the purpose of providing insurance of deposits and guaranteeing of credit facilities to all Indian banks.
Fractional-reserve banking is the system of banking in all countries worldwide, under which banks that take deposits from the public keep only part of their deposit liabilities in liquid assets as a reserve, typically lending the remainder to borrowers. Bank reserves are held as cash in the bank or as balances in the bank's account at the central bank. Fractional-reserve banking differs from the hypothetical alternative model, full-reserve banking, in which banks would keep all depositor funds on hand as reserves.
The Indian rupee is the official currency in India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 paise. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India. The Reserve Bank manages currency in India and derives its role in currency management based on the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.
A repurchase agreement, also known as a repo, RP, or sale and repurchase agreement, is a form of short-term borrowing, mainly in government securities. The dealer sells the underlying security to investors and, by agreement between the two parties, buys them back shortly afterwards, usually the following day, at a slightly higher price.
In macroeconomics, an open market operation (OMO) is an activity by a central bank to exchange liquidity in its currency with a bank or a group of banks. The central bank can either transact government bonds and other financial assets in the open market or enter into a repurchase agreement or secured lending transaction with a commercial bank. The latter option, often preferred by central banks, involves them making fixed period deposits at commercial banks with the security of eligible assets as collateral.
Money creation, or money issuance, is the process by which the money supply of a country, or an economic or monetary region, is increased. In most modern economies, money is created by both central banks and commercial banks. Money issued by central banks is a liability, typically called reserve deposits, and is only available for use by central bank account holders, which are generally large commercial banks and foreign central banks. Central banks can increase the quantity of reserve deposits directly, by making loans to account holders, purchasing assets from account holders, or by recording an asset, such as a deferred asset, and directly increasing liabilities. However, the majority of the money supply used by the public for conducting transactions is created by the commercial banking system in the form of commercial bank deposits. Bank loans issued by commercial banks expand the quantity of bank deposits.
Modern banking in India originated in the mid of 18th century. Among the first banks were the Bank of Hindustan, which was established in 1770 and liquidated in 1829–32; and the General Bank of India, established in 1786 but failed in 1791.
The Czech National Bank, is the central bank and financial market supervisor in the Czech Republic, headquartered in Prague. It is a member of the European System of Central Banks. It was established on 1 January 1993 from the division of the State Bank of Czechoslovakia as part of the process of dissolution of Czechoslovakia, together with the National Bank of Slovakia.
Bank rate, also known as discount rate in American English, and (familiarly) the base rate in British English, is the rate of interest which a central bank charges on its loans and advances to a commercial bank. The bank rate is known by a number of different terms depending on the country, and has changed over time in some countries as the mechanisms used to manage the rate have changed.
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 of India, engaged in the business of loans and advances, acquisition of shares, stock, bonds, hire-purchase insurance business or chit-fund business, but does not include any institution whose principal business is that of agriculture, industrial activity, purchase or sale of any goods or providing any services and sale/purchase/construction of immovable property.
The interbank lending market is a market in which banks lend funds to one another for a specified term. Most interbank loans are for maturities of one week or less, the majority being overnight. Such loans are made at the interbank rate. A sharp decline in transaction volume in this market was a major contributing factor to the collapse of several financial institutions during the financial crisis of 2007–2008.
The Bank of Canada Act is a statute that sets out the governance structure and powers of the Bank of Canada, which was created in 1934 as Canada's central bank.
Monetary policy in the United States is associated with interest rates and availability of credit.
Small finance banks (SFB) are a type of niche banks in India. Banks with a SFB license can provide basic banking service of acceptance of deposits and lending. The aim behind these is to provide financial inclusion to sections of the economy not being served by other banks, such as small business units, small and marginal farmers, micro and small industries and unorganised sector entities.
Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Limited is an Indian small finance bank based in Bangalore, which commenced operations on 1 February 2017. Ujjivan Financial Services holds an 80 percent stake in the bank.
Financial regulation in India is governed by a number of regulatory bodies. Financial regulation is a form of regulation or supervision, which subjects financial institutions to certain requirements, restrictions and guidelines, aiming to maintain the stability and integrity of the financial system. This may be handled by either a government or non-government organization. Financial regulation has also influenced the structure of banking sectors by increasing the variety of financial products available. Financial regulation forms one of three legal categories which constitutes the content of financial law, the other two being market practices and case law.
