In an effort to reduce regulatory burden and compliance costs for entities regulated by it, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) plans to consolidate existing regulatory instructions into 238 Master Directions.
At the same time, it will withdraw about 9,000 circulars (including Master Circulars/Master Directions) administered by the Department of Regulation.
In this regard, the RBI has issued sets of draft documents – drafts of the 238 consolidated Master Directions/Guidelines and a list of circulars proposed to be withdrawn – for comments regarding completeness and accuracy. Comments/feedback may be submitted on or before November 10, 2025.
The central bank emphasized that it has continuously sought to optimize its regulatory framework, focusing, among other things, on reducing regulatory burden and compliance costs, in addition to a timely re-evaluation of the timeliness of existing instructions.
In line with the above, the RBI has undertaken a comprehensive exercise to consolidate the regulatory instructions currently managed by the Department of Regulation on an ‘as is’ basis.
“The existing universe of regulatory instructions issued till October 9, 2025 has been consolidated into 238 Master Directions, across 11 types of regulated entities across up to 30 functions/areas,” RBI’s statement said.
Accordingly, about 9,000 circulars (including Master Circulars/Master Directions) administered by the Department of Regulation will be withdrawn.
The RBI noted that regulatory consolidation is expected to significantly improve the accessibility of regulatory instructions to the regulated entities, thereby reducing their compliance costs.
Also, the consolidation of regulatory instructions separately for each type of regulated entity will improve clarity on the applicability of each instruction to a regulated entity.
Published on October 10, 2025
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