Shirish Chandra Murmu, Deputy Governor, RBI. Photo credit: cueapi
The move is part of the central bank’s commitment to increase clarity and ease of access and reduce regulatory burden and compliance costs for eleven types of renewable energy, supporting its broader goal of improving ease of doing business.
The 11 REs include (a) commercial banks; (b) small finance banks; (c) Payment banks; (d) Local banks; (e) regional rural banks; f) Urban cooperative banks; g) rural cooperative banks; (h) All Indian financial institutions; (i) Non-banking financial companies; (j) Asset reconstruction companies; and (k) Credit reporting companies.
MDs consolidate instructions on rules and regulations framed by RBI under various laws, including banking matters and foreign exchange transactions.
The MDs issued by RBI on Friday included seven new ones on the Digital Banking Channels authorization for seven types of REs.
Shirish Chandra Murmu, Deputy Governor, noted that the central bank undertook a massive exercise over the past five to six months, which culminated on Friday, with 9,446 circulars being withdrawn following the issuance of 244 consolidated MDs.
He underlined that the new MDs consolidate all statutory instructions for the REs issued over several decades. The oldest circular to be repealed was issued on April 22, 1944.
Murmu highlighted that the key editorial changes made include regulatory instructions organized into separate MDs for each type of RE in each regulatory area/function, and remaining regulatory instructions consolidated into a separate miscellaneous MD for each RE.
Furthermore, the instructions regarding the responsibility of the boards of directors of the REs are collected in one place in these MDs.
He said an advisory element has been included as part of the main text, using appropriate language, conveying the advisory nature of the instructions
The Deputy Governor said FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions), which provide clarity on regulatory principles, have been rationalized. The existing FAQs, which contain instructions from the regulators, have been converted into sections of the MDs themselves.
Illustrations are included in the text after the relevant paragraph, rather than being included as an appendix to the MD.
Murmu said: “RBI has tried to take a more consultative and transparent approach in making regulations.
“This consolidation exercise is a milestone and is expected to significantly improve the accessibility of regulatory instructions to the REs.”
Published on November 28, 2025
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