RBI Issues Payments Banks Supervisory Returns Directions, 2026 with Reporting Framework

By editor8 Fema / RBI Notifications , Notifications/Circulars August 3, 2026

Summary : Regulatory Update: The Reserve Bank of India issued the Reserve Bank of India (Payments Banks – Supervisory Returns) Directions, 2026, effective immediately, prescribing a comprehensive framework for supervisory returns applicable to Payments Banks. The Directions define key terms, including the Centralised Information Management System (CIMS) and Supervisory Returns, and lay down governance responsibilities for the Board and Senior Management regarding data quality, risk management, data aggregation, reporting, IT infrastructure, business continuity, automation, and reporting accuracy. They require returns to be submitted through RBI’s online portals, specify applicable supervisory returns with their periodicity, reference dates, and reporting purpose, and prescribe timelines for monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, yearly, audited, and ad hoc returns, along with separate timelines for specified fraud-related and investment portfolio returns. The Directions require submission of accurate and complete information within prescribed timelines, provide that RBI may take action including imposition of penalty or fine under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 for violations, clarify that RBI may introduce or withdraw returns, state that other regulatory or statutory returns remain unaffected, repeal earlier supervisory return directions applicable to Payments Banks while preserving actions taken under them, and provide that RBI may issue clarifications for implementation and interpretation.

Reserve Bank of India

RBI/DoS/2026-27/433
CO.DSG.27/33.01.001/2026-27 July 31, 2026

Reserve Bank of India (Payments Banks – Supervisory Returns) Directions, 2026

Chapter I – Preliminary

A. Short Title and Commencement

1. These Directions shall be called the Reserve Bank of India (Payments Banks – Supervisory Returns) Directions, 2026.

2. These Directions shall come into effect immediately upon issuance.

B. Applicability

3. These Directions shall be applicable to Payments Banks (hereinafter collectively referred to as ‘banks’ and individually as ‘bank’).

C. Definitions

4. In these Directions, unless the context states otherwise, the terms herein shall bear the meaning assigned to them below:

(1) ‘Centralised Information Management System (CIMS)’ refers to an online platform of RBI for return submission, data dissemination, and other related purposes.

(2) ‘Supervisory Returns’ refer to all periodic / ad-hoc data submitted to RBI in formats prescribed from time to time, irrespective of the technology platform, periodicity, and the mode of submission.

5. All other expressions unless defined herein shall have the same meaning as have been assigned to them under the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, Banking Regulation Act, 1949, the Companies Act, 2013, or any statutory modification or re-enactment thereto or other regulations issued by RBI or the Glossary of Terms published by RBI or as used in commercial parlance, as the case may be.

hapter II – Governance and Oversight

A. Role of the Board and Senior Management

6. The Board and Senior Management shall include the identification, assessment, and management of data quality risks as part of its overall risk management framework. The framework shall include standards for both in-house and outsourced risks for data-related processes, policies on data confidentiality, integrity, availability, and risk management.

7. The bank shall ensure that the risk data aggregation capabilities and risk reporting practices are fully documented and subjected to high standards of validation that are aligned with the bank’s other independent risk management reviews. Validation of risk data aggregation and risk reporting practices should be conducted by staff with specific Information Technology (IT), data, and reporting expertise. The Board and Senior Management shall ensure that adequate resources are deployed for this purpose.

8. The Board and Senior Management shall ensure that the ability of the bank to aggregate and report data at a consolidated level or at any relevant level within the organisation is not hindered by its group structure (e.g., sub-consolidated level, jurisdiction of operation level). Data aggregation and reporting shall be independent of the choices that the bank makes regarding its legal organisation and geographical presence, subject to the statutory limitations, if any.

9. While considering any acquisition / divestiture, new product development, IT change initiatives, the due diligence process shall consider the impact of such activities on data aggregation and reporting. In such cases, it shall be ensured that data aggregation and reporting facilities are integrated within the existing reporting framework within a timeframe.

B. Data Architecture and IT Infrastructure

10. The bank shall design, build, and maintain the data architecture and supporting IT infrastructure for complete, accurate, and timely data aggregation as well as reporting not only in normal times but also during times of stress or crisis.

11. The data aggregation and reporting practices shall be considered an essential part of the bank’s business continuity planning process and subject to a business impact analysis.

12. Roles and responsibilities shall be established among business owners and the IT team so as to ensure that the data is kept current and aligned with the data definitions and with the bank’s data reporting policies.

13. The bank should ensure that the resources and IT infrastructure are adequate to meet a broad range of on-demand, ad hoc reporting requests, including requests during stress / crisis event and to meet supervisory queries. The bank should be able to generate subsets of data based on scenarios requested by the Supervisors.

C. Accuracy and Integrity in Reporting

14. All returns / risk reports shall be reconciled with the bank’s own sources, including accounting data where appropriate, to ensure accuracy, consistency, and completeness of the same.

15. The bank shall maintain proper records of sources and aggregation rules for generating returns’ data.

16. The bank shall strive to achieve a higher degree of automation in the generation of data for filing of returns.

17. The bank should measure and monitor the accuracy of data and develop appropriate escalation channels and action plans to rectify any deterioration in data quality.

Chapter III – Filing of Supervisory Returns

A. Operational Guidelines

18. RBI has introduced various online portals, links to which are available on RBI website, for filing all applicable online returns by the bank. The bank shall submit all the returns through online mode in the formats and in the manner as communicated to them, unless specified otherwise. Returns submitted in hard copy format through hand delivery / post / courier, or in soft copy format through emails, shall not be accepted (i.e., would not be deemed to have been submitted by the bank), unless prescribed to be submitted in such format. As a contingency measure, in case of non-availability of online portals, the bank may be advised to submit the returns through email. However, the bank shall re-submit the return through online mode as soon as the online portal becomes available. The list of returns and periodicity are also available on RBI website.

19. The bank is provided with a Super User Credential for User with defined access rights who, in turn, can create other users (with different roles such as maker and checker) with required access rights. The bank can monitor the status of its returns’ submission on the portal. Return formats, guidance notes on returns filing, validation rules, help documents for submission of data are available on the respective reporting portals.

20. The bank shall report data on its domestic and overseas operations, wherever applicable.

B. List of Applicable Returns

21. The bank shall submit the applicable returns with accurate and complete data, strictly within the prescribed timelines as given below:

Sr. No.	Name of Return	Periodicity	Reference Date
1	Return on Assets, Liabilities and Exposure – PBs	Monthly	31^st March ! 30^th April ! 31^st May ! 30^th June ! 31^st July ! 31^st August ! 30^th September ! 31^st October ! 30^th November ! 31^st December ! 31^st January ! 28^th or 29^th February as applicable
	The return contains the granular breakup of asset and liability items along with details regarding off-balance sheet and derivative exposures.
2	Return on Operating Results (ROR) – PBs	Quarterly	31^st March ! 30^th June ! 30^th September ! 31^st December
	ROR – PBs contains data on quarterly reporting of profit and loss statement, with granular break up of interest income and interest expenses.
3	Liquidity Return (LR)	a. Monthly (Part A)	30^th April ! 31^st May ! 31^st July ! 31^st August ! 31^st October ! 30^th November ! 31^st January ! 28^th or 29^th February as applicable
		b. Quarterly (Part A and Part C – Consolidated operations)	31^st March ! 30^th June ! 30^th September ! 31^st December
	The LR on structural liquidity includes behavioural maturity profile of various components of on ! off-balance sheet items on the basis of assumptions and trend analysis supported by time series analysis having five parts, viz. (i) ‘Domestic Currency – Indian Operations’, (ii) ‘Foreign Currency – Indian Operations’, (iii) ‘Combined Indian Operations – Domestic and Foreign Currency’ i.e. solo bank level, (iv) ‘Overseas Branch Operations–Country-Wise’ and (v) ‘For Consolidated Bank Operations’.
4	Return on Capital Adequacy – Basel-I (RCA – 1)	Quarterly	31^st March ! 30^th June ! 30^th September ! 31^st December
	RCA-1 return captures information on capital adequacy. It captures details on computation of capital base, computation of risk weighted assets and risk-based capital as per BASEL-I Capital Adequacy Framework.
5	Return on Interest Rate Sensitivity- (IRS)	Monthly	31^st March ! 30^th April ! 31^st May ! 30^th June ! 31^st July ! 31^st August ! 30^th September ! 31^st October ! 30^th November ! 31^st December ! 31^st January ! 28^th or 29^th February as applicable
	IRS return captures the bank’s exposure to the interest rate risk, traditional gap, and duration gap analysis.
6	Return on Ownership and Control (ROC)	Half-yearly	31^st March ! 30^th September
	ROC captures details of ownership pattern of the bank and details of Executive ! Whole Time Directors and Non-Executive Directors including details of other companies in which any such officials are interested along with nature of interests.
7	Balance Sheet Analysis (BSA)	Yearly	31^st March
	BSA return captures audited accounts of the bank with notes on accounts. This return contains total capital and liabilities, assets, details of capital, reserves and surplus, deposits, cash and balances, investments, advances, fixed assets, contingent liabilities, profit and loss details, interest earned, other income, interest expended and operating expenses, quantum-wise gross nonperforming assets.
8	Return on Connected Exposure (RCE)	Quarterly	31^st March ! 30^th June ! 30^th September ! 31^st December
	The return captures information on Exposures to borrowers including Exposures towards their group companies ! associates ! business partners ! Subsidiaries, Exposures to significant shareholders and ! or their ‘Interests ! Related Firms’, and Exposures to Directors, Managers, and their interested Enterprises.
9	Leverage Ratio Return (LRR)	Quarterly	31^st March / 30^th June / 30^th September / 31^st December
	LRR captures data on the key drivers of Basel III leverage ratio.
10	Return on Complaints (RoComp)	Quarterly	31^st March / 30^th June / 30^th September / 31^st December
	This return contains data on customer complaints registered in the bank. It collects details on nature of customer complaints, channel-wise receipt of complaints, disposal of complaints during the quarter, awards passed by the Banking Ombudsman (BO), time taken for addressing complaints and actions taken based on complaints.
11	Return on Investment Portfolio (RIP)	Quarterly	31^st March / 30^th June / 30^th September / 31^st December
	This return contains information on profile of Investment Portfolio. It contains information on quality of investment portfolio as per category of investments, like Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) investments, debt securities, and equities. Exposure to banks with information about counterparty bank name, counterparty bank domicile, total exposure, total exposure as a percentage of outside liabilities is also covered in the return.
12	Half-yearly Review of Investment Portfolio Return	Half-yearly	31^st March / 30^th September
	This return captures information on qualitative / quantitative review of entire investment portfolio of the bank for the half-year.
13	Financial Soundness Indicators (FSI)	Quarterly	31^st March / 30^th June / 30^th September / 31^st December
	This is a special return for furnishing consolidated FSI to International Monetary Fund (IMF). Data is compiled as per the guidelines issued by IMF, circulated to all applicable banks.
14	Fraud Monitoring Return (FMR) – SCBs	As and when a fraud is classified	Fraud Classification Date
	This return captures report on actual frauds in the bank.
15	FMR Update Application (FUA)	On any development in fraud case	Update Date / Progress Date
	This return captures the progress report on frauds of large value, and it is to be filed as and when any development occurs in FMR – SCBs.
16	Fraud Monitoring Return 4 (FMR4 / RBR)	Quarterly	31^st March / 30^th June / 30^th September / 31^st December
	This return captures consolidated information on dacoities / robberies / theft / burglaries in a bank.

C. Timelines

22. The timelines for submission of returns will depend on the frequency at which the return is to be submitted, unless mentioned otherwise. The timelines are given below:

Periodicity	Reference Date	Timeline
Monthly	Last day of a calendar month	Within 15 days
Quarterly	Last day of the quarter	Within 21 days
Half-yearly	31^st March / 30^th September	Within 21 days
Yearly	31^st March	Within 21 days

Notes:

(1) All audited returns, wherever applicable, shall be filed within five working days from the date of signing of the Auditor’s report in terms of Section 134 of the Companies Act, 2013 (solo / group level as per applicability of the return), as applicable.

(2) All ad-hoc returns / data must be submitted within the timelines as indicated in the communication issued by RBI.

D. Exceptions

23. The timelines for submission of returns will depend on the frequency at which the return is to be submitted, except as mentioned below:

Sr. No.	Return Name	Periodicity	Reference Date	Timeline
1	Half-yearly Review of Investment Portfolio	Half-yearly	31^st March / 30^th September	15^th June / 15^th December
2	Fraud Monitoring Return (FMR) – SCBs	As and when	Fraud Classification Date	Within 14 days
3	FMR Update Application (FUA)	As and when	Update Date / Progress Date	Immediate
4	Fraud Monitoring Return 4 (FMR4 / RBR)	Quarterly	31^st March / 30^th June / 30^th September / 31^st December	Within 15 days

E. Penalties

24. The bank shall furnish true and correct information in the returns prescribed in these Directions, within the stipulated timelines. In case the bank is found in violation of these Directions, RBI may take necessary action including imposition of a penalty / fine under the extant provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

F. Other Instructions

25. Ad-Hoc / Additional Returns: RBI may introduce new returns / withdraw existing returns (both ad-hoc / regular) for submission by the bank and inform suitably.

26. It is clarified that submission of other regulatory / statutory returns will not be affected by these Directions.

Chapter IV – Repeal and Other Provisions

A. Repeal and Saving

27. With the issue of these Directions, the existing directions, instruction , and guidelines relating to Supervisory Returns as applicable to Payments Banks stand repealed, as communicated vide circular no. DoS.CO.PPG.66/11.01.005/2026-27 dated July 31, 2026. The directions, instructions, and guidelines repealed prior to the issuance of these Directions shall continue to remain repealed.

28. Notwithstanding such repeal, any action taken or purported to have been taken, or initiated under the repealed directions, instructions, or guidelines shall continue to be governed by the provisions thereof. All approvals or acknowledgments granted under these repealed lists shall be deemed as governed by these Directions. Further, the repeal of these directions, instructions, or guidelines shall not in any way prejudicially affect:

(1) any right, obligation or liability acquired, accrued, or incurred thereunder;

(2) any penalty, forfeiture, or punishment incurred in respect of any contravention committed thereunder;

(3) any investigation, legal proceeding, or remedy in respect of any such right, privilege, obligation, liability, penalty, forfeiture, or punishment as aforesaid; and any such investigation, legal proceedings or remedy may be instituted, continued, or enforced and any such penalty, forfeiture or punishment may be imposed as if those directions, instructions, or guidelines had not been repealed.

B. Application of Other Laws Not barred

29. The provisions of these Directions shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of the provisions of any other laws, rules, regulations or directions, for the time being in force.

C. Interpretations

30. For the purposes of giving effect to the provisions of these Directions or for removing any difficulties in their application or interpretation, RBI may, if it deems necessary, issue such clarifications as it considers appropriate in respect of any matter covered herein. The interpretation of any provision of these Directions by RBI shall be final and binding on all concerned entities.

(Dr. Vijay Singh Shekhawat)
Chief General Manager