The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on November 28, 2025, issued the Reserve Bank of India (Commercial Banks – Credit Facilities) Directions, 2025 to consolidate prudential norms governing the design, delivery and risk controls for a wide range of credit facilities offered by commercial banks. The Directions set out scope and applicability, definitions, board responsibilities, digital lending rules (bank–LSP arrangements, customer-protection, tech and data requirements, reporting and loss-sharing), and sectoral lending norms covering gold- and silver-backed loans, gold-metal loans, microfinance, project and infrastructure finance, real estate (residential and commercial), acquisition finance, export credit, advances against financial assets, and finance to NBFCs.
These Directions prescribe mandatory consumer-protection measures, conduct standards for digital lending apps and platforms (including transparency of APR, grievance redressal, and limits on recovery practices), valuation and LTV norms for precious-metal lending, income-verification and household repayment caps for microfinance, appraisal/disbursement/monitoring protocols for project finance, enhanced prudential safeguards for CRE exposures, and conditions for advances to NBFCs and overseas subsidiaries. They also cover non-fund based facilities (guarantees, PCE), loan-system requirements, filings in CERSAI, empanelment of valuers, LEI requirements for borrowers, and operational reporting.
The Directions require banks to update board-approved policies, strengthen oversight and monitoring (including data reporting and periodic reviews), comply with extant statutory/regulatory frameworks and SEBI/FEMA/other sectoral rules where applicable, and note that prior circulars inconsistent with these Directions are repealed or modified as provided.
[Notification No. RBI/DOR/2025-26/154]
