Reserve Bank of India (RBI) exempts small non-deposit taking NBFCs from registration

Exam-focused facts from the 2 May 2026 current affairs briefing.

Key facts

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will exempt non-deposit-taking Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) with an asset size of less than ₹1,000 crore from registration and reserve fund requirements effective from July 1, 2026.
To qualify for the exemption, NBFCs must not avail public funds and must not have any customer interface.
The exemption applies to the provisions of sections 45IA and 45IC of the RBI Act, 1934.
Section 45IA concerns registration requirements, while Section 45IC requires NBFCs to transfer 20 per cent of their annual net profit into a reserve fund.
Existing eligible NBFCs, including those holding Certificate of Registration as Type I NBFC, can apply for deregistration by December 31, 2026.
These changes are introduced via the Reserve Bank of India (Non-Banking Financial Companies - Registration, Exemptions and Framework for Scale Based Regulation) Amendment Directions, 2026.
The RBI has set the asset size of ₹1,000 crore as the threshold level for systemic significance requiring oversight.