(a) whether the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) proposes to review the condition of financial sector to further liberalise the banking sector;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the companies applied for banking licences have expressed any objection to RBI guidelines to open 25 per cent of their branches in rural areas; and
(d) if so, the details thereof along with the steps taken by the Government in this regard?
The Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance
(a) & (b): Based on the experience of licensing two universal banks in 2014 and that of granting in-principle approvals for Small Finance Banks and Payments Banks, the Reserve Bank finally released guidelines for ‘on tap’ Licensing of Universal Banks in the Private Sector on August 1, 2016.
(c) & (d): No such objection has been received by RBI from the companies / persons who applied for banking licence under section 22 (1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, to whom the in-principle approvals were issued for licensing of small finance banks and payment banks.
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