The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on July 31, 2026, issued the Reserve Bank of India (Payments Banks - Compliance Function) Directions, 2026.
These Directions shall come into effect on July 31, 2026.
The following has been stated:
• The Directions establish a comprehensive compliance framework for Payments Banks to strengthen regulatory compliance and corporate governance. The Directions require every Payments Bank to have an independent Compliance Department headed by a Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), with oversight by the Board of Directors and senior management. They provide for a Board-approved compliance policy, periodic compliance risk assessment, monitoring of regulatory compliance, review of new products and processes, staff training, compliance reporting, and coordination with other control functions.
• The Directions also prescribe the eligibility, appointment, independence, reporting structure, and responsibilities of the CCO, promote the use of technology-based compliance monitoring systems, and require periodic quality assurance and internal audit of the compliance function.
• They further repeal the earlier compliance framework while preserving actions taken under the previous directions.
[Notification no. – RBI/DoS/2026-27/426 DoS.CO.PPG.20/11.01.005/2026-27]
