NON BANKING FINANCIAL CORPORATION

Submitted by

Naved Islam

IX Semester
Class B.Com.LL.B. (Hons.)
Of
Faculty of Law

Dr. Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University, Lucknow

In
October, 2018

Under the guidance of

Mr. Shail Shakya

Assistant Professor
Faculty of Law

Dr. Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University, Lucknow

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 Table of content
1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………….03
2. Non Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs)……………………………………….04
3. Evolution of Non-Banking Financial Companies…………………………………....04-06
4. Development of Regulatory Frame Work for NBFCs……………………………….06
5. Recommendations of the Shah Committee…………………………………………..07-08
6. Regulations over NBFCs accepting Public Deposits………………………………...08
7. Regulations over NBFCs not accepting public deposits……………………………..08
8. Differences between NBFCs and Banks…………………………………………......09
9. Current Scenario of NBFCs…………………………………………………………..09-10
10. The Resources of NBFCs…………………………………………………………….10-11
11. Role of NBFC’s………………………………………………………………….........11
12. Regulation of NBFCs...................................................................................................12-13
13. Transparency in Operations of the NBFCs……………………………………….......13
14. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………..14
15. Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………15

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 Introduction
A Non Banking Financial corporation (NBFC) is a company incorporated under the Companies
Act 2013 or 1956. Which is engaged in the business of loans and advances, acquisition of stocks,
equities, debt etc. issued by the government or any local authority.
In other words, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) are those companies and institutions,
which accept non chequeable deposits for the purpose of lending or investment.1 The activities of
NBFCs are directly regulated and controlled by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), obviously, the
definition given by the RBI is worth mentioning in this respect. According to Section 45-1 of
Reserve Bank of India Act 1934(as amended by Ordinance 1997), the business of non-banking
financial institution means carrying on the business o f a financial institution as per clause (c)
and includes the business o f non-banking financial company as per clause (f)
Selection 45-1 (f) of the R B I Act, 1934 defines Non-Banking Financial Company as below2:-
Non-Banking Financial Company means—
(i) a financial institution which is a company,
(ii) a non-banking institution which is a company and which has its principal business the
receiving of deposits, under any scheme or arrangement or in any other manner,
(iii) such other non- banking institution or class o f such institutions as the bank may, with the
previous approval of the central Government and by notification in the official Gazette, specify.
I f we examine the above definition then we find that the definition uses two expressions i, e.
“financial institution” and “non-banking institution”. These two expressions are also defined by
the R B I Act, 1934. The close relationships between the two expressions are also necessary to
understand the meaning o f non-banking financial company.

1
A khan J.A., (1999): “Role of NBFCs in the financial system in India” , an un-published thesis, p-14.
2
Jyoti N & Gupta R,(1999): Practice Manual to Non-Banking Financial Companies, Taxmann Allied Services Pvt.
Ltd. New Delhi,, p-119.

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Non Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs):-
According to the Reserve Bank of India Amendment Act 1997 the Non Banking Finance
company was defined as under:-
⇒ A financial institution which is a company,
⇒ A non banking institution which is a company and whose principal business is to receiving of
deposits under any scheme/arrangement/in any other manner or lending in any manner and
⇒ Other non banking institutions/class of institutions as the RBI may specify.
The directions apply to a NBFC which is defined to include only non-banking institution, which
is any hire-purchase finance, loan or mutual benefit financial company and an equipment leasing
company but excludes an insurance company/stock exchange/stock broking company /merchant
banking company. The RBI (Amendment) Act, 1997 defines NBFC’S as an Institution or
company whose principal business is to accept deposits under any scheme or arrangement or in
any other manner, and to lend in any manner. As a result of this new definition, a number of loan
and investment Companies registered under the Companies Act by Business houses for the
purpose of making investments in group of companies are now included as NBFCs3. The
Financial intermediaries in Indian Financial System are broadly characterized by Public owned,
Monopoly or Oligopoly or Monopolistic market structure and are centralized. The Indian
financial system has another part which comprises a large number of private owned,
decentralized, and relatively small sized financial intermediaries and which makes a more or less
competitive market. Some of them are fund based, and are called (NBFCs) and some are provide
financial services (NBFSCs) Both NBFIs, NBFCs are (1) Loan companies (LCs) (2) Investment
companies or ICs (3) Hire-Purchase finance companies or HPFCs (4) Lease finance companies
or LFCs (5) Housing finance companies (or) HFCs (6) Mutual Benefit financial companies or
MBFCs (7) Residuary non-banking companies or RNBCs (8) Merchant Banks (9) Venture
capital funds (10) Factors (11) Credit Rating Agencies (12) Depositories and custodial services.

Evolution of Non-Banking Financial Companies:-

India soon after independence launched on a programme of rapid industrialization which needed
long term investment in capital assets. Industries which were essential and required huge
investments were setup by the Government of India in the public sector. The government also
extended guarantees whenever loan was obtained by the public sector industries from the foreign
agencies. Public financial institutions were established for instance, the Industrial Development
Bank of India and the statutory Finance Corporations. The development banks have been
providing large and medium industrial concerns direct finance assistance and small and medium
industrial concerns through the State Financial Institutions. These corporations issue bonds and
debentures and also accept deposits from the public. But the private sector had to rely mostly on
the commercial banks which were also not grown to such a scale as to provide corporate funds
required by the promoters. Traditionally banks have been financing manufacturing activity by

3
Government of India, Report of the Banking Commission, 1972, pp.413-35.

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providing working capital. With the shortage of financial resources against expanding activities
the companies were mostly depending on credit deals. Capital goods such as machinery,
equipment etc., were imported on deferred payment terms.
With the inadequacy of the financial institutions and the services provided by them companies
were set up in the private sector under the Companies Act whose main business was to do non-
banking financial business. To set up a non-banking financial company is a very attractive
proposition. There is no gestation period. The capital investment in equity is also not huge as in
the case of manufacturing companies. In most of the companies the equity was built up on long
term by successful operation. The advantages of securing additional assets through non-banking
financial companies came to be realised in the seventies. Acquisition of equipment and capital
assets through leasing was favoured to overcome the disabilities arising out of the MRTP Act
which prescribed asset qualification for declaration of an undertaking as a giant. The MRTP Act
declared any undertaking having ì.100 crore assets as disclosed in the balance sheet as an MRTP
company. As assets secured on lease are owned by the lessor company and not by the lessee and
are not also in theory transferable to the lessee the leased equipment or assets did not form the
constituent of gross block of the borrowing manufacturing company. Many industrial groups or
manufacturing companies set up non banking financial companies as associate finance
companies. There are no special advantages derived under the MRTP Act now as the concept of
MRTP company has lost its significance when the pre-entry sanctions under that Act were
removed.
The non banking financial sector in India has recorded marked growth in the recent years, in
terms of the number of Non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), their deposits and so on.
Keeping in view the growing importance of NBFCs, the banking laws (misce- llaneous
provisions) act, 1963 was introduced to regulate them. To enable the regulatory authorities to
frame suitable policy measures, several committees have been appointed from time to time to
conduct an in depth study of these institutions and make suitable recommendations for their
healthy growth, within the given regulatory frame work. The suggestions/recommendations
made, by them in the context of the contemporary financial scenario, formed the basis of the
formulation of policy measures by the regulatory authorities/Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The
committees that deserve specific mention in this regard are the:Bhabatosh Datta study group
(1971), James Raj study Group (1975), Chakravarthy Committee (1985), Vaghul committee
(1987), Narasimham Committee on Financial systems (1991) and Shah committee 1992)). The
Shah committee, as a follow-up to the Narasimham committee, was the first to suggest a
comprehensive regulatory framework for NBFCs. While, in principle, endorsing the Shah
Committee’s frame work of regulations for NBFCs, the RBI had implemented a number of its
recommendations and incorporated them in the RBI Directions that regulate and supervise the
working and operations of such companies. The Khanna Group, 1996, had suggested a
supervisory framework for NBFCs. In pursuance of its recommendations, the RBI Act was
amended in January 1997. As a further follow-up, the RBI Acceptance of public deposits
directions, the RBI NBFCs Prudential norms directions and the RBI NBFCs auditors report
directions were modified /issued in January 1998. The RBI acceptance of public deposits

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directions were modified in December 1998, as recommended by the Vasudev Task Force
Group.

Development of Regulatory Frame Work for NBFCs:-

The regulatory frame work for NBFCs had been in existence since 1963 under the provisions of
Chapter III B of the Reserve Bank of India Act and the Directions issued. The regulation of the
deposit acceptance activities of the Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) was initiated in
the sixties with a view to safeguard depositors’ interests and to ensure that the NBFCs function
on healthy lines. Accordingly, in 1963, a new Chapter III B was inserted in the Reserve Bank of
India Act, 1934 to effectively supervise, control and regulate the deposit acceptance activities of
these institutions. The Bhabatosh Datta Study Group (1971) set up to examine the role and
operations of NBFCs. Recommended that NBFCs should be classified into ‘approved’ and ‘non
approved’ categories and the regulation should be centered primarily on the ‘approved’ (i.e.
those which satisfy certain additional requirements such as adequate amount of capital, reserves,
liquid assets, etc.) NBFCs. Subsequently, the regulatory frame work suggested by the James Raj
Study Group (1974) aimed at keeping the magnitude of deposits accepted by NBFCs within
reasonable limits and ensuring that they were in conformity with the objectives of monetary and
credit policy4.
The provisions of Chapter III B of the RBI Act, 1934, however, conferred very limited powers
on the Reserve Bank. The legislative intent was aimed at moderating the deposit mobilization of
NBFCs and thereby to providing indirect protection to depositors by linking the quantum of
deposit acceptance to Net Owned Fund. Thus, the directions were restricted to the liability-side
of the balance sheet, and too, solely to deposit acceptance activities. It did not extend to the
asset-side of the balance sheets of NBFCs. Subsequently, several experts/working groups which
examined the functioning of NBFCs were unanimous about the inadequacy of the legislative
frame work and reiterated the need for enhancing the extant frame work. The Chakravarthy
Committee, in its Report submitted in 1985, recommended for the introduction of a system of
licensing for NBFCs in order to protect the interests of depositors. Thereafter, the Narasimham
Committee (1991) outlined a frame work for streamlining the functioning of NBFCs. The
Narasimham committee was of the view that, keeping in mind the growing importance of
NBFCs in the financial intermediation process and their resource to borrowing, regulatory frame
work to govern these institutions should be specified. Such frame work should include, in
addition to the existing requirements of gearing and liquidity ratios, norms relating to capital
adequacy, debt-equity ratio, credit concentration ratio, adherence to sound accounting practices,
uniform disclosure requirements and asset valuation. Further, the committee argued that the
supervision of these institutions should come within the purview of the proposed agency to be set
up for this purpose under the aegis of the Reserve Bank of India. The introduction of suitable
legislation was deemed as essential not only for ensuring sound and healthy functioning of
NBFCs, but also for safeguarding the interests of depositors.

4
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/8650/11/11_chapter%203.pdf. (visited on 13th nov 2018).

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Recommendations of the Shah Committee5:-
In the light of these developments, the Reserve Bank appointed a working group on financial
companies in 1992 under the chairman ship of Dr. A.C.Shah to make an indepth study of the role
of NBFCs and to suggest regulatory and control measures to ensure healthy growth of these
companies. The working group, in its report submitted in September 1992, made wide-ranging
recommendations for ensuring the functioning of NBFCs on sound lines. The Reserve Bank
thereafter initiated a series of measures, including (i) the widening of the definition of regulated
deposits to include intercorporate deposits, deposits from shareholders and directors and the
borrowings by issue of debentures secured by immovable property, (ii) the introduction of a
scheme of registration of NBFCs having net owned fund of ì.50 lakh and above, (iii) the issuance
of guidelines on prudential norms so as to regulate the asset side of the balance sheet of NBFCs.
These measures relating to the registration and prudential norms could not be given statutory
backing at that time since the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, did not confer it
with adequate powers to make them mandatory.
In January 1997, an ordinance was issued by the Government effecting comprehensive changes
in the provisions of the RBI Act, 1934. This was subsequently replaced by the Reserve Bank of
India (Amendment) Act in March 1997. The salient features of the amended provisions, based on
the recommendations of the Shah Committee, pertain to the entry point norm of ì. 25 lakh as
minimum NOF, compulsory registration with the RBI, maintenance of certain percentage of
liquid assets in the form of unencumbered approved securities, creation of reserve fund and
transfer thereto every year an amount not less than 20 per cent of net profit, determination of
policy and issuing of directions by the Bank on prudential norms, prohibition of NBFCs from
accepting deposits and filing of winding-up petitions for violation of directions. The company
law board was empowered to direct a defaulting NBFC to repay any deposits. Stringent penal
provisions were also included empowering the Reserve Bank to impose, interalia, and pecuniary
penalty for violation of the provisions of RBI Act.
Exercising the powers derived under the amended Act and in the light of the experience in
monitoring of the activities of NBFCs, a new set of regulatory measures was announced by the
Reserve Bank in January 1998. As a result, the entire gamut of regulation and supervision over
the activities of NBFCs was redefined, both in terms of the trust as well as the forces.
Consequently, NBFCs were classified into three categories for purposes of regulation, viz,
(i) those accepting public deposits,
(ii) those which do not accept public deposits but are engaged in the financial business,
and
(iii) core investment companies which hold at least 90 per cent of their assets as
investments in the securities of their group/holding/subsidiary companies.
While NBFCs accepting public deposits will be subject to the entire gamut of regulations, those
not accepting public deposits would be regulated in a limited manner. Therefore, the regulatory
attention was focused primarily on NBFCs accepting public deposits. In respect of new NBFCs
5
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(which are incorporated on or after April 20, 1999 and which seek registration with the Reserve
Bank), the minimum NOF has been raised to ì.2 crore.
Consequent on the amendment to RBI Act, the liquidity requirement for the NBFCs was
enhanced. Accordingly, loan and investment companies, which were earlier maintaining liquid
assets at 5.0 per cent were directed to maintain 7.5 per cent and 10.0 per cent of their deposits in
Government and other approved securities, effective January 1 and April 1 , 1998, respectively.
For other NBFCs, the percentage of assets to be maintained by them as statutory reserves was
increased to 12.5 per cent and 15.0 per cent of their deposits respectively, to be effective from
the above mentioned dates. Besides, with a view to ensuring that NBFCs can have recourse to
such liquid assets in times of emergency, the custody of these assets with designated commercial
banks was also prescribed. Keeping in mind the risk profile of NBFCs, the capital adequacy ratio
was also raised in a phased manner to 10.0 per cent and 12.0 per cent by end-March 1998 and
1999, respectively.

Regulations over NBFCs accepting Public Deposits:-

The regulatory attention has been utilized to enable intensified surveillance of NBFCs accepting
public deposits. The Reserve Bank issued directions relating to acceptance of public deposits
prescribing, (a) the quantum of public deposits (b) the period of deposits which should not be
less than 12 months and should not exceed 60 months, (c) the rate of interest payable on such
deposits subject to a ceiling of 16 per cent, (d) the brokerage fees and other expenses amounting
to a maximum of 2 per cent and 0.5 per cent of the deposits, respectively, and, (e) the contents of
the application forms as well as the advertisement for soliciting deposits.
The companies which accept public deposits are required to comply with all the prudential norms
on income recognition, asset classification, accounting standards, provisioning for bad debts,
capital adequacy, credit/investment concentration norms, etc. The capital adequacy ratio has
been fixed at 12 per cent and above, in accordance with the eligibility criteria for accepting
public deposits. The credit and investment concentration norms have been fixed at 15 per cent
and 25 per cent of the owned funds, depending on whether the exposure is to a single borrower
to a borrower group, while the totality of loans and investment has been subject to a ceiling of 25
per cent and 40 per cent of the owned fund, respectively, depending on whether the exposure is
to a single party or to an industry group.

Regulations over NBFCs not accepting public deposits:-

The NBFCs not accepting public deposits would be regulated in a limited manner. Such
companies have been exempted from the regulations on interest rates, period as well as the
ceiling on quantum of borrowings. The ceiling on the aforesaid factors for NBFCs accepting
public deposits is expected to act as a benchmark for NBFCs not accepting public deposits.
However, prudential norms having a bearing on the disclosure of true and fair picture of their
financial health have been made applicable to ensure transparency in the financial statements to
these companies, excepting those relating to capital adequacy and credit concentration norms.

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Differences between NBFCs and Banks:-
The difference between banks and NBFCs is mainly in the nature of the liabilities of the two and,
to some extent, in the structure of their assets. While the liabilities of commercial banks usually
consist of demand and time deposits, those of NBFCs do not ordinarily include demand deposits,
the mutual benefit financial companies, commonly known as Nidhis, being notable exceptions.
Since demand deposits which are withdrawal by cheque are considered to be a component of
‘money’, it is the degree of money ness of the liabilities of the two types of institutions which
constitutes a major difference between the two. From the point of view of assets held, it may be
said that commercial banks hold a wide variety ranging from short-term and medium-term to
long term credits and they also use various credit instruments like overdrafts, cash credits, bills,
etc. On the other hand, the assets of NBFCs are more specialized. For instance, hire purchase
finance companies confine their operations mainly to the financing of transport operations and
consumer credit while housing finance companies make loans for housing purpose. It may,
however, be stated that the difference in the nature of assets held by commercial banks on the
one hand and those held by NBFCs on the other does not clearly demarcate the respective fields
of the two because commercial banks are also, of late, making advances in fields like transport
and consumer credit, which were earlier considered as out of their purview.
Many activities and functions of NBFC’s are similar to those of banks. The distinction between
them has become considerably blurred. It is true that NBFCs, unlike banks, are still not a part of
payments mechanism. They cannot create money but in many other respects, they are
substitution and complementary with banks.
NBFCs are doing functions akin to that of banks; however there are a few differences:
(i) An NBFC cannot accept demand deposits;
(ii) An NBFC is not a part of the payment and settlement system and as such an NBFC cannot
issue cheque drawn on itself; and
(iii) Deposit insurance facility of Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation is not
available for NBFC depositors unlike in case of banks.

Current Scenario of NBFCs:-

Global credit crisis followed by increase in interest rates in October and November 2008 resulted
in widespread crisis of confidence. Chain of events after the collapse of Lehman Brothers is still
fresh in the minds of investors. Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) in India were
severely impacted due to economic slowdown coupled with fall in demand for financing as
several businesses deferred their expansion plan. Stock prices of NBFCs’ crashed on the back of
rising non-performing assets and several companies closed their operations. International
NBFCs’ still continue to close down or sell their back end operations in India.
The positive news however is that, this crisis has forced NBFCs to improve their operations and
strategies. Industry experts opine that they are much more mature today than they were during
the last decade. Timely intervention of RBI helped reduce the negative effect of credit crunch on

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banks and NBFCs. In fact, aggressive strategies helped LIC Housing Finance to grab new
customers (including customers of other banks) and increase its market share in national
mortgage market. Surprisingly it was able to maintain its profitability in 2009 (around 37%).
HDFC, the largest NBFC in India, however experienced a slowdown in customer growth due to
stiff competition, especially from LIC Housing Finance and tight monetary conditions. Other
NBFCs that were stable during this period of credit crunch are Infrastructure Development
Finance Company (IDFC) Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification
Corporation (REC). Growth prospects are strong for these companies given the acute shortage of
power in the country and expected increase in demand for infrastructure projects. The segment
which was hit hardest was Vehicle Financing. Companies financing new vehicle purchases
experienced a drastic reduction in new customer numbers. Fortunately, since vehicle finance is
asset-based business, their asset quality did not suffer as against other consumer financing
businesses. Contrary to this, Shri ram Transport Finance, the only NBFC which deals in second-
hand vehicle financing was able to maintain its growth primarily due to its business model which
does not entirely depends on health of the auto industry.
There are thousands of market players in the NBFCS sector. About 41,000 NBFCS were there
during 1997. The majority of the NBFCS are private limited companies and rest being public
limited companies. The number of NBFCS which regularly report or submit returns to the
RBI/NHB is quite small in relation to the total number of companies at work. The important
reasons for the growth of non banking finance companies are a) they provide tailor made
services to the clients; b) there has been a comprehensive regulation of NBFCS; c) customers
have been attracted to them by their higher level of customer-orientation, lesser ore/post sanction
requirements, simplicity and speed of their services; d) the monetary and credit policies have
created an unsatisfied fringe of borrowers, i.e. the borrowers out side the purview of banks. The
NBFCS have catered to the needs of this section of borrowers; e) the relatively higher interest
rates offered by them on deposits have attracted a large number of small savers towards them.

The Resources of NBFCs:-

• The resources of NBFCS are derived from deposits (regulated and exempted), and ne net
owned funds.
• Deposits means, any money received by a non-banking company by way of a deposit or loan or
in any other form.(apart from usual deposits, i.e. interoperate loans, borrowing by Pvt.limited
NBFCS from their shareholders.
• Regulated deposit means, a deposit which is subject to certain ceiling and other restrictions
imposed by regulatory measures. It includes (a) nonconvertible debentures (b) deposits received
by companies from their shareholders(c) deposits guaranteed by directors (d) fixed deposits etc.
received from the public.(e)interoperate deposits.
• Exempted deposits signify those types of deposits/borrowings which are outside the scope of
the regulatory measures. It includes (a) borrowings from banks and specified financial
institutions.(b)money received from central/state/foreign governments.(c)security deposits. (d)
Advances received against orders (e) convertible debentures.

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• And net-owned funds means the aggregate of paid up capital and free reserves.

Role of NBFCs6:-
NBFCs like banks and other financial institutions act as intermediaries between the ultimate
savers and the ultimate borrowers. The rationale of their existence derives from the fact that in an
economy there are surplus units which save and deficit units which are in need of such savings
and a mechanism is needed to bring the two together. Surplus units (savers) can lend to the
deficit units (borrowers) directly. This, however, is normally inconvenient to both the savers and
borrowers and is certainly not the most efficient means of flow of funds between the units. With
the mediation of financial institutions, there is a reduction in the degree of risks involved and
there is also a more efficient utilization of the resources in the economy. Financial intermediaries
can provide a more economical service because of the economies of scale, their professional
expertise and their ability to spread the risk over a large number of units. Thus, their operations
give to the saver the combined benefits of higher return, lower risk and liquidity. The borrowers
on the other hand also get a wider choice on account of intermediation of financial institutions. It
may be of relevance to note that while the loans granted by commercial banks are, by and large,
for industrial, commercial and agricultural purposes, those granted by NBFCs are generally for
transport, trading, acquisition of durable consumer goods, purchase and repair of houses or just
for plain consumption. Since their activities are not controlled by monetary authorities to the
same extent as those of commercial banks, the credit extended by NBFCs may not necessarily be
in consonance with national objectives and priorities. The major function of financial
intermediaries is to transfer the savings of surplus units to deficit units; hence, they can play a
useful role in the economy of the country. To the extent that they help in monetizing the
economy and transferring unproductive financial assets into productive assets, they contribute to
the country’s economic development. In fact, the nature and diversity of financial institutions
themselves have become measures of economic development of a country. The Reserve Bank of
India expert committees identified the need of non banking financial companies in the following
areas:
• Development of sectors like transport and infrastructure
• Substantial employment generation
• Help and increase wealth creation
• Broad base economic development
• Irreplaceable supplement to bank credit in rural segments
• Major thrust on semi-urban, rural Areas and first time buyers/users
• To finance economically weaker sections.
• Huge contribution to the state exchequer.

6
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Regulation of NBFCs7:-
While NBFCs have been rendering many useful services, several advances, unhealthy features of
their working also have been observed. At present all NBFCs except HFCs are regulated by the
RBI. With enactment of RBI (Amendment) act 1997, all of them with net owned funds of
ì.25Lakhs and above have to register with the RBI now. The BFS with the help of department of
supervision of the RBI began supervising NBFCs from July 1995. HFCs are regulated by NHB.
The major regulatory provisions are:-
(i) The minimum net worth funds of 25 Lakh and the NBFC should achieve the minimum net
worth norm in 3 years or extended 3years more at the discretion of RBI.
(ii) NBFCs have to maintain 10%and15% of their deposits in liquid assets.
(iii) They have to create reserve fund and transfer not less than 20% of their net deposits to it
every year.
(iv) The RBI directs them on issues of disclosures, prudential norms, credit, investments etc.
(v) Nomination facility is available to depositors of these companies.
(vi) Unincorporated bodies engaged in financial activity cannot accept deposits from the public
from April, 1997.
(vii) They have to achieve a minimum capital adequacy norm of 8% by March, 1996.
(viii) They have to obtain a minimum credit rating from any one of 3 credit rating agencies.
(ix) A ceiling of 15% interest on deposits has been prescribed for MBFCs or Nidhis.
(x) The interest rate ceiling on deposits as also the ceiling on quantum of deposits for NBFCs
(other than Nidhis) have removed, subject to compliance with the RBI directions and guidelines.
With a view to protecting the interests of depositors, the regulatory attention was mostly focused
on NBFCs accepting public deposits (NBFS-D) until recently. Over the last few years however,
this regulatory framework has undergone a significant change, with increasingly more attention
now being paid to non-deposit taking NBFCs (NBFCs-ND) as well. This change was
necessitated mainly on account of a significant increase in both the number and balance sheet
size of NBFCs-ND segment which gave rise to systemic concerns to address this issue. NBFCs-
ND with asset size of ì.100 crore and above was classified as systemically important NBFCs
(NBFCs-ND-SI) and are subjected to ‘limited regulations’. The changing regulatory policy also
recognized that those activities of NBFCs which are asset creating must be given special
consideration. Accordingly in December 2006, a reclassification of NBFCs was effected. In
terms of the new classification, companies financing real/physical assets for
productive/economic activity are classified as asset finance companies (AFC), subject to the
fulfillment of certain norms. The prudential norms for AFCs vary from the norms for other
NBFCs. The revised NBFC classification now comprises of AFCs, loan companies (LCs) and

7
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investment companies (ICs) instead of equipment leasing, hire purchase, loan companies and
investment companies earlier.

Transparency in Operations of the NBFCs8:-

Along with measures for enhancing the financial strength of NBFCs, initiatives to inculcate fair
corporate governance practices and good treatment of customers were also undertaken. The
Reserve Bank issued guidelines on Fair Practices Code for NBFCs in September 2006; NBFCs
were advised to invariably furnish a copy of the loan agreement along with a copy each of all
enclosures quoted in the loan agreement to all borrowers at the time of sanction/ disbursement of
loans. Deposit – taking NBFCs with deposits of `20 Crore and above and NBFCs-ND-SI have
been advised to frame internal guidelines on corporate governance which should include, inter
alia, constitution audit committee, nomination committee and risk management committee,
among others. Certain disclosure and transparency practices have also been specified for them.
NBFCs have been advised to lay down appropriate internal principles and procedures for
determining interest rates and processing and other charges, even though interest rates are not
regulated by the Reserve Bank. In order to ensure that only NBFCs which are actually engaged
in the business of NBFI hold Certificate of Registration (COR), it has been decided that all
NBFCs should obtain and submit an annual certificate from their statutory auditors to the effect
that they continue to undertake the business of NBFI to be eligible for holding of COR.
To strengthen their financial viability, NBFCs were permitted in December 2006 to undertake
fee based business to augment their income, subject to certain norms. The diversification
business that may be permitted include, marketing and distribution of mutual fund products as
agents of mutual funds and issuing co branded credit cards with scheduled commercial banks,
without risk sharing, with prior approval of the Reserve Bank, for an initial period of two years
and a review thereafter.

8
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/8650/11/11_chapter%203.pdf. (visited on 13th nov 2018).

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 Conclusion
NBFCs are playing significant role in meeting financial requirements of the medium sized and
small sized industries and development of Indian economy indirectly. This paper mainly focus
on the role & regulations of NBFCs in India, its significance, the funding sources of NBFCs &
its future prospects. Financial System in its composition, status, evolution, regulatory frame
work, functional arena besides the nexus between the financial system and economical
development .On the other hand, policies of NBFCs are also providing investment security for
the investors. It is highlighted that due to the regulations of the Reserve Bank of India, still the
NBFCs are not extending more credit. It is suggested to the NBFC credit policy to reduce rate of
interests, which helps to small enterprises to get loans for their different capital requirements.
The review made above shows that the research in NBFCs is not so progressive as many of the
published research papers shows only basics of the NBFCs and still it is essential to study the
evaluate the performance of NBFCs in India.

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 Bibliography
Primary Sources
1. Companies Act,2013
Secondary Sources
1. Non-banking-finance-companies-the-changing-land scape.pdf
2. http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/8650/11/11_chapter%203.pdf.
3. http://www.indiabudget.govt.in/es98-99/chap35.pdf.

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