RBI Latest Updates 2026: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued several important notifications and regulatory updates between July and September 2026, covering commercial banks, Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs), Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), Payments Banks, Small Finance Banks (SFBs), District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs), State Cooperative Banks (StCBs), and other stakeholders. This comprehensive RBI current affairs and notifications summary covers the key changes, revised guidelines, important dates, regulatory provisions, numbers, institutions and other updates relevant for RBI Grade B, UPSC, banking exams and finance professionals. The analysis is based on RBI notifications published during the period and focuses specifically on what is new, revised, applicable and important for exam preparation and the banking sector.

1. Ultra-High-Yield Facts

These are the first facts to memorise. If time is limited, revise this section repeatedly.

★★★ 1. FinTech SRO

• Unified Fintech Forum (UFF) has been recognised by RBI as an SRO-FT (Self-Regulatory Organisation in the FinTech Sector).
• UFF CIN: U91990KA2016NPL096977.
• FACE (FinTech Association for Consumer Empowerment) was the first SRO-FT, recognised on August 28, 2024.
• UFF is therefore an additional recognised SRO-FT.

★★★ 2. Mission SAKSHAM

• Mission SAKSHAM is a joint initiative for capability building across Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs).
• Launched by RBI on April 28, 2026.
• Target coverage: approximately 1.4 lakh participants.
• Five target groups:
  1. Board Members
  2. Senior Management
  3. Heads of Assurance Functions
  4. IT Technical Employees
  5. Other Employees.
• Delivery: physical programmes + online learning through NUCFDC platform.
• In Telangana, all 48 UCBs had been represented in at least one programme.

★★★ 3. FCNR(B) / ECB / OFCB Swap Facility

• Special USD-INR Forex Swap Facility introduced on June 8, 2026.
• FCNR(B): fresh deposits with minimum 3-year and maximum 5-year tenor.
• FCNR(B) deposits eligible for the facility were to be mobilised till August 31, 2026.
• FCNR(B) swaps could be availed with RBI till September 11, 2026.
• ECBs and OFCBs: facility continues till December 31, 2026.
• As at August 31, 2026, reported forex inflows:
  • FCNR(B): USD 1,27,226 million
  • OFCB: USD 5,260 million
  • ECB: USD 3,891 million
  • Total: USD 1,36,377 million.

★★★ 4. PSL Amendment — FCNR(B)/NRE Deposits

• Priority Sector Lending – Targets and Classification Second Amendment Directions, 2026 issued on August 7, 2026.
• Advances against eligible fresh:
  • FCNR(B) deposits of 3–5 years, and
  • NRE term deposits of 3 years or more
    are excluded from ANBC for PSL-target computation.
• Relevant mobilisation periods:
  • FCNR(B): June 8–September 30, 2026
  • NRE: June 19–September 30, 2026.
• Amount excluded from ANBC cannot exceed the fresh FCNR(B)/NRE deposits eligible for CRR/SLR exemption.
• Amendment effective immediately.

★★★ 5. Recovery Agents / Recovery of Loans

• Final Amendment Directions issued August 6, 2026.
• Effective from January 1, 2027.
• Applies through separate amendments to:
  • Commercial Banks
  • Small Finance Banks
  • Local Area Banks
  • Regional Rural Banks
  • Urban Co-operative Banks
  • Rural Co-operative Banks
  • All India Financial Institutions
  • NBFCs
  • Housing Finance Companies.
• Covers:
  • fair treatment during recovery;
  • conduct of lender employees/recovery agents;
  • due diligence;
  • training;
  • code of conduct;
  • technology-based recovery mechanisms in financed mobile devices.

★★★ 6. NBFC Upper Layer — 2026-27

• NBFC-UL list for 2026-27 prepared with reference to financials as at March 31, 2026.
• SBR layers: Base, Middle, Upper and Top.
• Once classified as NBFC-UL, enhanced regulatory requirements apply for at least 5 years, even if the entity does not meet the criteria in subsequent years.

★★★ 7. NBFC-UL — 17 Entities

• REC Ltd.
• Power Finance Corporation Ltd.
• Indian Railway Finance Corporation Ltd.
• Bajaj Finance Ltd.
• Shriram Finance Ltd.
• LIC Housing Finance Ltd.
• Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company Ltd.
• Tata Capital Ltd.
• Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd.
• Muthoot Finance Ltd.
• Aditya Birla Capital Ltd.
• Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd.
• Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Ltd.
• L&T Finance Ltd.
• Bajaj Housing Finance Ltd.
• HDB Financial Services Ltd.
• Piramal Finance Ltd.

★★★ 8. Continuing NBFC-UL Classification

• PNB Housing Finance Ltd. — continues as NBFC-UL; last identified in 2024-25.
• Sammaan Capital Ltd. — continues as NBFC-UL; last identified in 2024-25.
• Both remain subject to enhanced NBFC-UL requirements under the 5-year continuation rule.

★★★ 9. UCB Licensing

• RBI decided to resume on-tap licensing of UCBs.
• This follows a two-decade pause in issuance of fresh UCB licences.
• Discussion Paper on UCB licensing was published on January 13, 2026.
• Draft guidelines to be issued for stakeholder consultation.

★★★ 10. Rural Co-operative Banks — Concentration Risk

• Existing concentration-risk prudential norms for RCBs are governed by Credit Monitoring Arrangement (CMA) instructions issued in 2008.
• RBI decided to review the framework because of changes/expansion in the banking and cooperative sectors.
• Draft Amendment Directions issued for stakeholder consultation.

★★★ 11. Interest Rates on Advances — Proposed Harmonisation

• RBI proposed to rationalise interest-rate regulations for all Regulated Entities on a principle-based basis.
• Key areas:
  • harmonisation across REs;
  • operational aspects of MCLR and EBLR;
  • day-count convention;
  • benchmark reset dates.
• Objectives: uniformity, transparency, monetary transmission and consumer protection.
• At this stage: proposal/draft, not an implemented final requirement.

★★★ 12. MPC — August 2026

• 62nd MPC meeting: August 3–5, 2026.
• Chair: Shri Sanjay Malhotra, Governor, RBI.
• Policy repo rate: 5.25% — unchanged.
• SDF: 5.00%.
• MSF: 5.50%.
• Bank Rate: 5.50%.
• Stance: Neutral.
• Decision: unanimous.

★★★ 13. MPC Growth Forecast

• FY 2026-27 real GDP growth: 6.7%.
• Q1: 7.0%
• Q2: 6.4%
• Q3: 6.5%
• Q4: 6.8%
• Q1 2027-28: 7.3%.
• Risks: evenly balanced.

★★★ 14. MPC Inflation Forecast

• FY 2026-27 CPI inflation: 5.0%.
• Q2: 4.7%
• Q3: 5.9%
• Q4: 5.5%
• Q1 2027-28: 5.3%.
• Core inflation FY26-27: 4.3%.

★★★ 15. MPC — June Inflation

• CPI inflation in June 2026: 4.4%.
• Inflation had remained below target for 16 consecutive months before June.
• Core CPI inflation: 3.9%.
• Core excluding precious metals: approximately 2.3–2.5% during May-June.

★★★ 16. Next MPC Meeting

• Next MPC meeting scheduled for October 5–7, 2026.
• August MPC minutes published on August 19, 2026.

★★★ 17. Basel III

• RBI Governor stated that RBI is on target to implement all applicable Basel III guidelines from April 1, 2027, on a calibrated glide path.

★★★ 18. Basel Pillar 3 Amendments

• On July 30, 2026, RBI issued 10 Amendment Directions relating to Basel Pillar 3 disclosures.
• Covered:
  • Commercial Banks — Capital Adequacy
  • Commercial Banks — ALM
  • Commercial Banks — Governance
  • Commercial Banks — Financial Statements
  • Payments Banks — Governance
  • Payments Banks — Financial Statements
  • SFBs — Capital Adequacy
  • SFBs — ALM
  • SFBs — Governance
  • SFBs — Financial Statements.
• Separate Basel Pillar 3 templates for market risk, operational risk, counterparty credit risk, CVA and leverage ratio are to be issued separately.

★★★ 19. Supervisory Consolidation

• DoS consolidated 628 circulars into 64 Master Directions.
• Covers 11 types of regulated entities.
• Directions organised across up to 9 functional areas.
• RBI received 767 comments on the draft directions.
• Final 64 Master Directions constitute the sole library of instructions administered by DoS.
• The 628 circulars were repealed/withdrawn consequentially.

★★★ 20. Interest Rate on Deposits — Final Amendments

• Final Amendment Directions issued July 30, 2026.
• Effective October 1, 2026.
• Intended to provide greater flexibility in pricing rupee bulk deposits while ensuring uniformity in disclosure of deposit interest rates.
• Six categories covered:
  • Commercial Banks
  • SFBs
  • RRBs
  • Payments Banks
  • LABs
  • UCBs.

★★★ 21. PPBL Winding-up

• RBI cancelled Paytm Payments Bank Ltd. banking licence under Section 22(4), Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
• Cancellation effective from close of business April 24, 2026.
• RBI moved Delhi High Court for winding up under Sections 38 and 39 of BR Act.
• Shri Girikumar M Nair, former CGM, SBI, appointed Liquidator/Official Liquidator.
• Delhi High Court ordered winding-up through orders dated July 8 and July 22, 2026.
• Official Liquidator exercised all powers of PPBL Board from July 8, 2026.

★★★ 22. Financial Inclusion Index

• Financial Inclusion Index rose to 70.0 in March 2026.
• Previous year: 67.0.
• Improvement was driven largely by usage, rather than merely access.

★★★ 23. Banking System Health

As highlighted in the August 5 Governor’s Statement:

• SCB CRAR: 17.78% in June 2026.
• SCB GNPA: 1.68%.
• SCB NNPA: 0.40%.
• SCB LCR: 126.94%.
• SCB RoA: 1.32%.
• SCB RoE: 13.23%.
• SCB NIM: 3.21%.
• NBFC total CRAR: 25.41%.
• NBFC Tier-I CRAR: 23.58%.
• NBFC GNPA: 2.50%.
• NBFC NNPA: 0.84%.
• NBFC RoA: 3.37%.
• NBFC NIM: 5.39%.

★★★ 24. Forex Reserves

• India’s forex reserves as at July 31, 2026: USD 692.9 billion.
• Import cover: over 10 months.
• External debt cover: 90.8%.

★★★ 25. Q1 FY27 Current Account

• Q1 FY2026-27 current account deficit: USD 4.2 billion / 0.5% of GDP.
• Merchandise trade deficit: USD 86.1 billion.
• Net services receipts: USD 51.6 billion.
• Personal transfer receipts: USD 42.9 billion.
• Net FDI inflow: USD 6.1 billion.
• Net FPI: outflow USD 9.6 billion.
• NRI deposits: net inflow USD 2.8 billion.
• ECB inflows to India: USD 3.3 billion.
• Forex reserves declined USD 8.1 billion on BoP basis.

★★★ 26. Foreign Exchange Reserve Variation

For April-June 2026:

• Current account: −USD 4.2 bn
• Capital account: −USD 3.9 bn
• Valuation change: −USD 14.4 bn
• Total reserve change including valuation: −USD 22.5 bn
• Reserve change excluding valuation/BoP basis: −USD 8.1 bn.
• Valuation loss primarily reflected lower gold prices and appreciation of the US dollar against major currencies.

★★★ 27. BSR-1 — Credit

• BSR-1 covers quarterly credit data of Scheduled Commercial Banks excluding RRBs.
• Reference date: last day of the quarter.
• Bank credit growth at end-June 2026: 16.5% y-o-y.
• Term loans: 64.1% of total bank credit.
• WALR on outstanding credit: 9.26%, down 45 bps y-o-y.

★★★ 28. BSR-2 — Deposits

• BSR-2 covers quarterly branch-wise deposit data of SCBs excluding RRBs.
• Deposit growth at end-June 2026: 11.5% y-o-y.
• Private sector bank deposits: 13.8% growth.
• Public sector bank deposits: 10.3% growth.
• Household sector: 58.8% of total deposits.
• Household sector accounted for 98.9% of incremental deposits during the quarter.
• Term deposits growth: 12.9%.
• Current deposits: 5.3%.
• Savings deposits: 10.6%.

★★★ 29. Mutual Funds — Foreign Assets/Liabilities

• Survey covered 53 Indian mutual funds and their AMCs.
• MF foreign liabilities at end-March 2026: USD 31.5 billion.
• MF overseas assets: USD 10.2 billion.
• Net foreign liabilities: USD 21.3 billion.
• Overseas equity securities held by MFs grew 37.5%.
• Top destinations for MF units held by non-residents: UAE, USA, UK and Singapore, together around 50%.

★★★ 30. UPI

• In FY 2025-26, UPI processed over 24,000 crore transactions.
• Transaction value: close to ₹314 lakh crore.

★★★ 31. AI Governance

RBI’s stated immediate priorities for banks:

• Maintain a complete inventory of every AI system, including AI embedded in vendor products.
• Establish Board-approved AI governance policies.
• Ensure explainability of materially customer-impacting AI decisions.
• Red-team and stress-test AI systems before deployment and periodically thereafter.
• Preserve meaningful human oversight where AI errors could cause material harm.

★★★ 32. Responsible AI — Seven Major Risks

• Black-box/opacity
• Bias and exclusion
• Concentration and herding
• Third-party/vendor dependence
• Data privacy and security
• Cyber/adversarial vulnerability
• Erosion of human judgement and accountability.

★★★ 33. Currency Management Scale

• RBI produces approximately 28–30 billion banknotes annually.
• Approximately 21 billion banknotes are disposed of annually.
• Approximately 176 billion banknotes are currently in circulation.
• Production spans six denominations.
• India has 19 RBI Regional Offices supporting currency logistics.
• More than 250,000 ATMs/cash dispensers distribute currency.

★★★ 34. Clean Note Policy

• RBI’s Clean Note Policy has been in place since 1999.
• Objective: good-quality banknotes available to citizens in the denomination and place of their choice.

★★★ 35. Forex Market — Key Numbers

• Forex reserves: approximately USD 691 billion in 2026 according to the speech.
• Average daily domestic forex turnover: approximately USD 80 billion currently, versus USD 41 billion in FY22.
• Notional outstanding rupee derivatives: approximately ₹130 lakh crore.
• Global onshore + offshore INR turnover: USD 185 billion/day in 2025, versus USD 119 billion in 2022.
• NDF turnover: approximately USD 7 billion/day.
• CCIL forex derivative trade-repository registrations: 87,000 in 2025, versus about 43,000 in 2019.

★★★ 36. Forex Regulations — Important 2026 Changes

• Authorised Persons Regulations, 2026 issued May 6, 2026.
• Replaced franchisee arrangements with a Forex Correspondent Scheme based on a principal-agent model.
• Principal carries explicit responsibility for:
  • due diligence;
  • systems and controls;
  • reporting;
  • charges;
  • customer service;
  • grievance redress.
• Guarantees Regulations, 2026 replaced transaction-specific framework with broader eligibility linked to permissibility of underlying transaction and unified reporting.
• Export and Import of Goods and Services Regulations, 2026 come into force October 1, 2026.

★★★ 37. FEDAI as SRO

• RBI recognised FEDAI as an SRO for Authorised Dealers under the Omnibus Framework in January 2026.
• FEDAI gets one year to align governance, systems and transparency with RBI’s Omnibus SRO requirements and broaden membership to represent all categories of ADs.

★★★ 38. Internal Ombudsman

• Internal Ombudsman should function with independence, neutrality and fairness.
• Bank’s Internal Ombudsman mechanism provides an additional review layer before rejection is communicated to the customer.
• Complaints partially or wholly rejected by the bank are subject to Internal Ombudsman review under the cited Commercial Banks – Internal Ombudsman Directions, 2026.
• RBI Integrated Ombudsman Scheme was revised effective July 1, 2026.

★★★ 39. RBI Executive Director — Suman Ray

• Shri Suman Ray appointed ED effective September 1, 2026.
• Immediately prior: Regional Director, Maharashtra.
• As ED: DICGC and Premises Department.

★★★ 40. RBI Executive Director — Monisha Chakraborty

• Smt. Monisha Chakraborty appointed ED effective August 3, 2026.
• Immediately prior: CGM-in-Charge, Department of Supervision.
• As ED: Foreign Exchange Department and Financial Markets Regulation Department.
• Earlier served as Banking Ombudsman.