Opening of current accounts: permitted for specified statutory and escrow purposes subject to use restrictions and monitoring obligations.
Banks may open current accounts for specified statute- or regulator-mandated purposes provided the accounts are used only for permitted transactions, flagged in the CBS, and subject to banks' half-yearly monitoring of current accounts and CC/ODs to ensure compliance and to assess the banking system's aggregate exposure, computed using CRILC, CICs, NeSL and customer declaration; banks with less than ten percent exposure have limited debit rights with defined exceptions, escrow arrangements must include lending banks and non-lender banks cannot act as escrow agents.

Dividend suspension: banks barred from paying dividends from the most recent financial year's profits to conserve capital and support lending.
Banks are required to refrain from distributing dividends from the profits of the financial year ending March 31, 2020; the Reserve Bank directs that no dividend payment on equity shares be made from those profits so that banks conserve capital to absorb losses, strengthen balance sheets, and continue supporting lending to the real economy.

Current account discipline deadline extended pending operational FAQs; banks must comply with applicable instructions as clarified.
The Reserve Bank extended the deadline for banks to comply with the Para 4 operational requirements on maintenance of current and CC/OD accounts, pending issuance of a clarifying FAQ addressing banks' operational queries. Banks must meet the applicable instructions by the extended compliance date, and all other directions of the August 6, 2020 circular remain unchanged.

Udyam registration requirement: MSME classification uses written down value for plant and machinery and prior registrations temporarily recognized.
Udyam Registration Certificate is required for MSME classification and lenders may obtain it from entrepreneurs. Existing EM Part II and UAM registrations are temporarily valid and must be refiled on the Udyam portal by the transition deadline; self declaration Udyam certificates for entities exempt from turnover or income filings are temporarily valid. For classification, value of plant and machinery or equipment means Written Down Value at financial year end as defined in tax law, replacing cost of acquisition; earlier RBI guidance on investment valuation is superseded.

Offline retail payments pilot permits connectivity independent transactions with specified operational limits and mandatory real time alerts.
Reserve Bank permits a Pilot Scheme allowing authorised Payment System Operators to provide offline retail payments via cards, wallets or mobile devices without internet connectivity and, at the user's choice, without Additional Factor of Authentication. The scheme requires adherence to EMV contactless standards, real time transaction alerts, specified per transaction and per instrument offline limits with online reset under AFA, acquirer liability for merchant end technical or security issues, notification to the Reserve Bank of solution specifications, and allows third party innovators to operate only through tie ups with authorised PSOs.

Online Dispute Resolution for digital payments mandates system driven, rule based resolution of failed transaction grievances with customer tracking.
PSOs and their PSPs must implement a transparent, rule based Online Dispute Resolution system for failed digital payment transactions, provide multiple customer lodging channels (including in app facilities for third party payment apps), enable automatic fetching of transaction details while protecting data confidentiality, issue unique reference numbers, and furnish tracking; the ODR must adhere to existing turnaround time and compensation requirements and be made accessible to all participating PSPs, with scope to expand later.

Bank current account opening restricted by borrower exposure thresholds, escrow requirements, collection account limits, and CC/OD routing rules.
No bank shall open current accounts for customers who have availed CC/OD; all transactions must be routed through the CC/OD account. Banks with under 10% of system exposure may permit credits but debits only to remit funds to a CC/OD account held with a bank having 10% or more exposure. For borrowers without CC/OD, mandatory escrow applies at Rs.50 crore or more (only escrow bank may maintain current account), while Rs.5-

Loan-to-Value ratio increase for gold-backed non-agricultural loans temporarily eases borrower liquidity, then reverts for new loans.
The circular temporarily increases the permissible Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio for loans secured by gold ornaments and jewellery for non-agricultural end-uses to provide liquidity support to households, entrepreneurs and small businesses affected by Covid-19. The enhancement applies to scheduled commercial banks, including regional rural banks, while other terms and conditions of prior RBI guidelines on gold loans remain applicable; fresh gold loans sanctioned after the temporary period will revert to the earlier LTV ceiling.

MSME classification change: composite investment-and-turnover criteria now govern category, triggering reclassification and reporting obligations.
Revisions require use of a composite criterion of investment in plant and machinery or equipment and turnover to classify enterprises; aggregation applies to all units sharing a PAN by combining GSTIN-linked figures. Investment calculation is linked to prior Income Tax Returns, with self-declaration permitted for new enterprises until first ITR, excluding GST and specified exempt items; turnover excludes exports and must be linked to tax and GST data, with temporary self-declaration allowed for entities without PAN until a specified date. Transitional rules preserve existing status for defined post-change periods and the circular supersedes earlier guidance except delayed-payment provisions.

Extension of regulatory return deadlines allows delayed filings during the COVID-19 period and mandates corporate e-mail submissions.
Regulatory returns required to be submitted to the Department of Regulation may be filed with a delay of up to 30 days from the due date for returns whose original due dates fall on or before June 30, 2020; entities able to file earlier should do so. No extension is permitted for statutory returns prescribed under the Banking Regulation Act, the RBI Act or other statutes. Communications to the Department should be routed via corporate e mail to minimize physical paperwork. The Annex lists the specific returns and applicable frequencies covered by this relief.

Dividend declaration restriction: banks must conserve capital and defer payouts until regulatory reassessment based on quarterly results.
Banks are prohibited from making any further dividend payouts out of profits for the financial year ended March 31, 2020, as a prudential capital conservation measure during COVID-19; the restriction is temporary and will be reassessed by the Reserve Bank based on banks' financial results for the quarter ending September 30, 2020, and operates alongside existing dividend declaration guidelines.

Fully Accessible Route for non-resident investment in government securities opens specified tenors to non-residents alongside domestic investors.
Creation of a Fully Accessible Route permitting non-resident investors to purchase designated Central Government securities on the same basis as domestic investors; the Reserve Bank will notify which securities are specified securities, which once designated remain eligible under the FAR until maturity, and new issuances of specified tenors will be eligible with the Reserve Bank able to add or change tenors.