RBI master-direction · 28 Nov 2025
RBI/DOR/2025-26/347 DOR.CRE.REC.No.266/07-01-008/2025-26 November 28, 2025 Previous Versions Reserve Bank of India (Non-Banking Financial Companies – Credit Facilities) Directions, 2025 (updated as on July 01, 2026) Table of Contents Introduction Chapter I - Preliminary A. Short Title and Commencement B. Applicability…
RBI/DOR/2025-26/347 DOR.CRE.REC.No.266/07-01-008/2025-26 November 28, 2025
Previous Versions
Reserve Bank of India (Non-Banking Financial Companies – Credit Facilities) Directions, 2025 (updated as on July 01, 2026)
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter I - Preliminary
Chapter II - Board Approved Policies
Chapter III - Digital Lending
Chapter IV - Lending against Gold and Silver Collateral
Chapter V - Microfinance Loan
Chapter VI - Project Finance
Chapter VII - Partial Credit Enhancement
Chapter VIII - Other Regulatory Restrictions
Chapter IX - Other Regulations applicable to Non-Banking Financial Companies
Chapter X - Repeal and other Provisions
Annex-I
Annex-II
Annex-III
Introduction
Reserve Bank of India is statutorily mandated to operate the credit system of the country to its advantage. In pursuit of this mandate, the Reserve Bank encourages innovation in the financial systems, credit products and delivery mechanisms while ensuring orderly growth, financial stability and the protection of depositors’ and borrowers’ interest. With the progressive deregulation of credit, prudential norms primarily serve as regulatory safeguards. These norms, issued from time to time, provide guidance to regulated entities on the design and delivery of credit-related products and services. These Directions consolidate the instructions issued to various regulated entities on credit facilities.
Accordingly, in exercise of powers conferred by Sections 45JA, 45L and 45M of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, Sections 30A and 32 of the National Housing Bank Act, 1987, and Section 6 of the Factoring Regulation Act, 2011 the Reserve Bank of India being satisfied that it is necessary and expedient in the public interest so to do, hereby issues these Directions hereinafter specified.
Chapter I - Preliminary
A. Short Title and Commencement
These Directions shall be called the Reserve Bank of India (Non- Banking Financial Companies – Credit Facilities) Directions, 2025.
These Directions shall come into effect immediately upon its issuance, unless indicated otherwise.
B. Applicability
Note: The applicability under these Directions is in line with the regulatory structure for NBFCs as set out in Reserve Bank of India (Non-Banking Financial Companies – Registration, Exemptions and Framework for Scale Based Regulation) Directions, 2025.
C. Definitions
(i) ‘Actual Date of Commencement of Commercial Operations (actual DCCO)’ means the date on which the project is put to commercial use and completion certificate/ provisional completion certificate / occupancy certificate (in case of CRE and CRE-RH projects) or its equivalent is issued to the concessionaire/ project developer / promoter.
(ii) ‘Annual Percentage Rate’ (APR) means APR as defined under the Reserve Bank of India (Non- Banking Financial Companies- Responsible Business Conduct) Directions, 2025.
(iii) ‘Appointed Date’ means the date, as defined in the concession agreement entered into between the concessionaire and the concession granting authority, on which the concession agreement comes into force in accordance with the terms outlined therein (applicable only in the case of infrastructure projects under Public Private Partnership (PPP) model).
(iv) ‘Bullet Repayment Loans’ means loans where both principal and interest are due for payment at the maturity of the loan.
(v) ‘Collateral Security or Collateral’ means an existing asset of the borrower pledged to the lender for availing and securing a credit facility extended by the lender to the borrower.
(vi) ‘Consumption Loan’ means any permissible loan that does not fit the definition of ‘income generating loan’ as defined subsequently.
(vii) ‘Credit Event’ in the context of project finance exposures, shall be deemed to have been triggered on the occurrence of any of the following:
Explanation: An NBFC to which Part A of the aforesaid MD is not applicable shall also be guided by the same principles for the purpose of determining financial difficulty as laid under Part A.
(viii) ‘Default Loss Guarantee (DLG)’ means a contractual arrangement, called by whatever name, between the NBFC and another entity, under which the latter guarantees to compensate the NBFC, for the loss due to default up to a certain percentage of the loan portfolio of the NBFC, specified upfront. Any other implicit guarantee of similar nature, linked to the performance of the loan portfolio of the NBFC and specified upfront, shall also be covered under the definition of DLG.
(ix) ‘Digital Lending’ means a remote and automated lending process, largely by use of seamless digital technologies for customer acquisition, credit assessment, loan approval, disbursement, recovery, and associated customer service.
(x) ‘Digital Lending Apps/ Platforms’ (DLAs) means a mobile and / or web-based applications, on a standalone basis or as a part of suite of functions of an application with user interface that facilitate digital lending services. DLAs shall include applications of the NBFC as well as those operated by Lending Service Provider (LSP) engaged by NBFC for extending any credit facilitation services in conformity with extant outsourcing guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank.
(xi) ‘Date of Financial Closure’ means the date on which the capital structure of the project, including equity, debt, grant (only in the case of infrastructure PPP projects) (if any), accounting for minimum 90 per cent of total project cost, becomes legally binding on all stakeholders.
Explanation: In the case of CRE-RH projects, lenders may reckon contingent sales receivables (if any) as part of promoters’ contribution to the project.
(xii) ‘Default’ means non-payment of debt (as defined in Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016) when whole or any part or instalment of the debt has become due and payable and is not paid by the debtor.
(xiii) ‘Extended DCCO’: If the original DCCO is revised, then the revised DCCO shall be termed as the Extended DCCO.
(xiv) ‘Housing Finance’ means financing, for purchase / construction / reconstruction / renovation / repairs of residential dwelling units, which includes:
All other loans including those given for furnishing dwelling units, loans given against mortgage of property for any purpose other than buying / construction of a new dwelling unit(s) or renovation of the existing dwelling unit/s as mentioned above, will be treated as non-housing loans and will not be falling under the definition of ‘Housing Finance’.
(xv) ‘Income Generating Loan’ means loans extended for the purpose of productive economic activities, such as farm credit, loans for business or commercial purposes, loans for creation or acquisition of productive assets etc.
(xvi) ‘Infrastructure Sector’ shall include the sub-sectors included in the Harmonised Master List of Infrastructure sub-sectors issued by the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
(xvii) ‘Interest During Construction (IDC)’ means the interest accrued on debt provided by a lender and capitalised during the construction phase of the project.
(xviii) ‘Jewellery’ means the items that are designed to be worn as personal adornments.
(xix) ‘Lending Service Provider’ (LSP) means an agent of an NBFC (including another lender) who carries out one or more of NBFC’s digital lending functions, or part thereof, in customer acquisition, services incidental to underwriting and pricing, servicing, monitoring, recovery of specific loan or loan portfolio on behalf of the NBFC in conformity with extant outsourcing guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank.
Provided that while entities offering only Payment Aggregator (PA) services in terms of the extant instructions issued by the Reserve Bank shall remain out of the ambit of these Directions, any PA also performing the role of an LSP shall comply with Chapter IV of these Directions.
Provided that in the case of CRE and CRE-RH projects, original DCCO shall be the date on which Occupancy Certificate, or its equivalent, is expected to be obtained from the competent authority.
(xxi) ‘Ornaments’ means the items meant for use as adornment of any object, decorative items, or utensils, excluding those items that fall under the definition of jewellery as defined above.
(xxii) ‘Primary Gold and Primary Silver’ means gold and silver in any form other than in the form of a jewellery, ornaments and coins.
(xxiii) Project’ in the context of Chapter VII of these Directions means the ventures undertaken through capital expenditure (involving current and future outlay of funds) for creation/expansion/upgradation of tangible assets and / or facilities in the expectation of stream of cash flow benefits extending far into the future. Projects usually have the characteristics of a long gestation period, irreversibility and substantial capital outlays.
(xxiv) ‘Project Finance’ in the context of Chapter VII of these Directions refers to the method of funding a project in which the revenues to be generated by the funded project serve as the primary security for the loan, and also as a source of repayment. Project finance may take the form of financing the construction of a new capital installation (greenfield) or financing an improvement/enhancement in the existing installation (brownfield). For the purpose of these Directions, an exposure shall qualify as a project finance exposure only if the following conditions are satisfied:
Explanation: A common agreement may have different loan terms (except original/extended/actual DCCO as specified in paragraph 68 of these Directions) for each of the lender provided the same has been agreed upon by the debtor and all the Lender(s) to the project.
(xxv) ‘Restructuring’ means the same as defined under the Reserve Bank of India (Non- Banking Financial Companies- Resolution of Stressed Assets) Directions, 2025.
(xxvi) ‘Top-up Loan’ in the context of Chapter IV of these Directions means an additional loan sanctioned over and above an outstanding loan, during the tenor of the original loan, based on the strength of the collateral already pledged for the existing loan.
(2) All other expressions, unless defined herein, shall have the same meaning as have been assigned to them under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, or the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, or as used in commercial parlance, as the case may be.
