RBI Issues Amendment Directions on NBFC Branch Authorisation
Summary
The Reserve Bank of India has issued the RBI (Non-Banking Financial Companies – Branch Authorisation) Amendment Directions, 2026, effective April 15, 2026. The amendments modify extant guidelines on branch opening for various categories of NBFCs including Housing Finance Companies. The directions also update relevant provisions in the NBFC Acceptance of Public Deposits Directions, 2025 and Housing Finance Companies Directions, 2025.
What changed
The RBI has issued final Amendment Directions modifying the Non-Banking Financial Companies – Branch Authorisation Directions. The amendments incorporate feedback from the draft directions published in January 2026 and provide operational flexibility to NBFCs for branch expansion while maintaining regulatory compliance. Relevant provisions in the NBFC Acceptance of Public Deposits Directions, 2025 and Housing Finance Companies Directions, 2025 have also been updated.
Affected parties including all categories of NBFCs and Housing Finance Companies should review the final Amendment Directions and associated annexes to understand the modified branch opening requirements and ensure timely compliance with the updated regulatory framework.
What to do next
- NBFCs must review updated branch authorisation requirements
- NBFCs must ensure compliance with amended directions for branch expansion
- NBFCs should consult the final Amendment Directions for specific regulatory changes
Archived snapshot
Apr 16, 2026GovPing captured this document from the original source. If the source has since changed or been removed, this is the text as it existed at that time.
Press Releases
| () | |
| Date : Apr 15, 2026 | |
| RBI issues Amendment Directions on ‘Non-Banking Financial Companies – Branch Authorisation Directions’ | |
| | The Reserve Bank had issued the draft Reserve Bank of India (Non-Banking Financial Companies – Branch Authorisation) Amendment Directions, 2026, seeking comments from NBFCs and other stakeholders till February 27, 2026. The draft instructions proposed to modify the extant guidelines on opening of branches as applicable to various categories of NBFCs (including HFCs).
Feedback received on the draft instructions has been examined and consequent modifications have been suitably incorporated in the final Amendment Directions. Statement on the feedback received on the draft instructions is provided in the Annex.
Accordingly, the Reserve Bank of India has today issued the Reserve Bank of India (Non-Banking Financial Companies – Branch Authorisation) Amendment Directions, 2026 to amend the extant instructions relating to opening of branches by NBFCs. Consequently, relevant paragraphs of the Reserve Bank of India (Non-Banking Financial Companies - Acceptance of Public Deposits) Directions, 2025 and the Reserve Bank of India (Housing Finance Companies) Directions, 2025, have also been suitably updated.
The objective of these Amendment Directions is to provide operational flexibility to NBFCs for branch expansion to facilitate ease of doing business while ensuring necessary regulatory compliance.
(Brij Raj)
Chief General Manager
Press Release: 2026-2027/87 | | The Reserve Bank had issued the draft Reserve Bank of India (Non-Banking Financial Companies – Branch Authorisation) Amendment Directions, 2026, seeking comments from NBFCs and other stakeholders till February 27, 2026. The draft instructions proposed to modify the extant guidelines on opening of branches as applicable to various categories of NBFCs (including HFCs).
Feedback received on the draft instructions has been examined and consequent modifications have been suitably incorporated in the final Amendment Directions. Statement on the feedback received on the draft instructions is provided in the Annex.
Accordingly, the Reserve Bank of India has today issued the Reserve Bank of India (Non-Banking Financial Companies – Branch Authorisation) Amendment Directions, 2026 to amend the extant instructions relating to opening of branches by NBFCs. Consequently, relevant paragraphs of the Reserve Bank of India (Non-Banking Financial Companies - Acceptance of Public Deposits) Directions, 2025 and the Reserve Bank of India (Housing Finance Companies) Directions, 2025, have also been suitably updated.
The objective of these Amendment Directions is to provide operational flexibility to NBFCs for branch expansion to facilitate ease of doing business while ensuring necessary regulatory compliance.
(Brij Raj)
Chief General Manager
Press Release: 2026-2027/87 |
| The Reserve Bank had issued the draft Reserve Bank of India (Non-Banking Financial Companies – Branch Authorisation) Amendment Directions, 2026, seeking comments from NBFCs and other stakeholders till February 27, 2026. The draft instructions proposed to modify the extant guidelines on opening of branches as applicable to various categories of NBFCs (including HFCs).
Feedback received on the draft instructions has been examined and consequent modifications have been suitably incorporated in the final Amendment Directions. Statement on the feedback received on the draft instructions is provided in the Annex.
Accordingly, the Reserve Bank of India has today issued the Reserve Bank of India (Non-Banking Financial Companies – Branch Authorisation) Amendment Directions, 2026 to amend the extant instructions relating to opening of branches by NBFCs. Consequently, relevant paragraphs of the Reserve Bank of India (Non-Banking Financial Companies - Acceptance of Public Deposits) Directions, 2025 and the Reserve Bank of India (Housing Finance Companies) Directions, 2025, have also been suitably updated.
The objective of these Amendment Directions is to provide operational flexibility to NBFCs for branch expansion to facilitate ease of doing business while ensuring necessary regulatory compliance.
(Brij Raj)
Chief General Manager
Press Release: 2026-2027/87 | |
2026
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
Archives
Named provisions
Related changes
Get daily alerts for RBI Press Releases
Daily digest delivered to your inbox.
Free. Unsubscribe anytime.
About this page
Every important government, regulator, and court update from around the world. One place. Real-time. Free. Our mission
Source document text, dates, docket IDs, and authority are extracted directly from RBI.
The summary, classification, recommended actions, deadlines, and penalty information are AI-generated from the original text and may contain errors. Always verify against the source document.
Classification
Who this affects
Taxonomy
Browse Categories
Get alerts for this source
We'll email you when RBI Press Releases publishes new changes.
Subscribed!
Optional. Filters your digest to exactly the updates that matter to you.