RBI to Come up With a Unified Regulatory Framework on Connected Lending for All the Regulated Entities

Press Release: 2023-2024/1439, Dated 08.12.2023

The RBI has released a Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies. Since, the extant guidelines on the issue are limited in scope and are not applicable uniformly to all regulated entities, the RBI decided to come out with a unified regulatory framework on connected lending for all the regulated entities of the RBI. Also, the RBI has accepted the recommendation of the Working Group on Digital Lending to come up with a regulatory framework for web aggregators of loan products.

Further, to encourage the use of UPI for medical and educational services, it is proposed to enhance the limit for payments to hospitals and educational institutions from ?1 lakh to ?5 lakh per transaction. Separate instructions to be issued shortly.

The limits for execution of e-mandates without the Additional Factor of Authentication (AFA) currently stands at ?15,000/-. Now, it is proposed to exempt the requirement of AFA for transactions up to ?1 lakh for the following categories, viz., subscription to mutual funds, payment of insurance premiums and payments of credit card bills.

Further, the RBI has also proposed to set-up a Repository for capturing essential information about FinTechs, encompassing their activities, products, technology stack, financial information etc.

FinTechs would be encouraged to provide relevant information voluntarily to the Repository which will aid in designing appropriate policy approaches. The Repository will be operationalised by the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub in April 2024 or earlier.

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