**Executive Summary**
This document, dated December 11, 2025, outlines amendments to the Reserve Bank of India (Payments Banks – Cash Reserve Ratio and Statutory Liquidity Ratio) Directions, 2025, following the enactment of the Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025. The key change is the revised definition of 'Fortnight' and its impact on CRR and SLR maintenance and reporting. The provisions come into effect from December 15, 2025, with one exception effective from December 12, 2025.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Revised Definition of "Fortnight":**
* The definition of "Fortnight" is amended to mean "the period from the first day to the fifteenth day of each calendar month or sixteenth day to the last day of each calendar month, both days inclusive."
* The enactment date of this revised definition is December 15, 2025.
* **CRR and SLR Reporting Changes:**
* CRR and SLR maintenance and reporting in Form A and Form VIII are revised to align with the amended definition of "Fortnight."
* The words 'Friday' shall be substituted with 'day' in paragraphs 6 (18), 9, 21, 23, 24.
* The words 'each alternate Friday' shall be substituted with 'last day of each fortnight', the word 'seven' shall be substituted with 'five' and the word 'provisional' shall be deleted in paragraph 29.
* The words 'reporting Friday' shall be substituted with 'last day of each fortnight' and the words ‘that Friday' shall be substituted with ‘last day of such fortnight' in paragraph 30.
* The words 'final' and 'within 20 days from expiry of the relevant fortnight' shall be deleted in paragraph 31.
* The paragraph 33 shall be deleted.
* **Form A and Form VIII Reporting:**
* There shall be no Provisional or Final or Special Form A return.
* Banks are required to submit a single Form A return, accessible on the Centralised Information Management System (CIMS) portal with new return codes.
* Banks are required to submit fortnightly Form A return from December 15, 2025 and monthly Form VIII return from December 2025 on the CIMS portal.
* Form A and Form VIII are not to be submitted in hard copy / paper returns by the banks. The banks have to submit these returns in electronic form on CIMS portal using digital signatures of two authorised officials. While submitting these returns, banks have to ensure that the same is compliant with the prevalent IT laws of the country.
* **CRR and SLR Maintenance during Specific Fortnights:**
* CRR and SLR maintenance for the fortnight December 16-31, 2025 and the first fortnight of January 2026 (January 1-15, 2026) is based on Net Demand and Time Liabilities (NDTL) as on November 28, 2025 and December 15, 2025, respectively.
* From January 16, 2026, maintenance is based on the NDTL as on the last day of the second preceding fortnight.
* During the transition period of three days i.e., December 13-15, 2025, the maintenance of CRR and SLR is to be done by the banks, based on the Net Demand and Time Liabilities (NDTL) as on November 28, 2025. Further, the banks shall maintain minimum CRR of not less than hundred per cent of the required CRR during the transition period. The banks shall also submit Form A return for December 12, 2025, as per the extant reporting structure. Further, the banks are advised to submit Form VIII return of December 2025 on CIMS portal, both with old and new return codes.”
* **Other Modifications:**
* In paragraph 37, the words 'alternate Fridays' shall be substituted with 'last day of each fortnight' and 'such Fridays' / 'such Friday' shall be substituted with 'such day'.
* In Annex I (Form A), the word ‘Friday' / ‘that Friday' shall be substituted with 'last day of the fortnight' / 'last day of that fortnight'.
* In Annex II (Form VIII), the 'First alternate Friday', 'Second alternate Friday', ‘Third alternate Friday' shall be substituted with ‘15th day of the Month' and 'Last day of the Month', and the word 'Friday' shall be substituted with 'day' / 'last day of the fortnight'.
* In paragraph 26(3)(iii), the word ‘State Development Loans (SDLs) of the' shall be substituted with 'State Government Securities of the respective'.
**Impact Analysis**
**Payments Banks**
* **Impact:** Payments Banks are directly impacted by the changes in the definition of "Fortnight" and the new reporting requirements for CRR and SLR.
* **Action Required:** Payments Banks must adjust their CRR and SLR maintenance and reporting procedures, submit single Form A returns electronically on the CIMS portal from December 15, 2025 and monthly Form VIII return from December 2025 on the CIMS portal, ensure compliance with new return codes, and adhere to the transition period guidelines.
Key Entities Referenced
Reserve Bank of India: The primary regulator and issuer of the directions.
Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025: The Act that prompted the amendment directions.
Banking Regulation Act, 1949: Act governing banking regulation in India, sections of which are referenced and impacted.
Reserve Bank of India (Payments Banks – Cash Reserve Ratio and Statutory Liquidity Ratio) Directions, 2025: The original Directions that are being amended by this document.
Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR): One of the two primary subjects (along with SLR) of the amended directions.
भारतीय �रज़वर् बैंक
RESERVE BANK OF INDIA
RBI/2025-26/150
DOR.RET.REC.356/12.01.001/2025-26 December 11, 2025
Reserve Bank of India (Payments Banks – Cash Reserve Ratio and Statutory
Liquidity Ratio) Amendment Directions, 2025
Please refer to Reserve Bank of India (Payments Banks – Cash Reserve Ratio and
Statutory Liquidity Ratio) Directions, 2025 dated November 28, 2025.
2. The Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025 has amended various provisions,
including the section 42 of Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 and the sections 18 and
24 of Banking Regulation Act 1949, relating to maintenance of Cash Reserve Ratio
(CRR) and Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR).
3. Pursuant to the enactment of the Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025, the
definition of ‘Fortnight’ has been amended from “the period from Saturday to the
second following Friday, both days inclusive” to “the period from the first day to the
fifteenth day of each calendar month or sixteenth day to the last day of each calendar
month, both days inclusive”. As notified in the Gazette of India dated December 08,
2025, the enactment date of the stated definition of fortnight is December 15, 2025.
Consequently, the CRR and SLR maintenance and reporting in their returns i.e., Form
A and Form VIII respectively, also stand revised to align with the amended definition
of the fortnight.
4. Accordingly, in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 35A of the Banking
Regulation Act, 1949 and pursuant to Section 42 of the Reserve Bank of India Act,
1934 and Sections 18 and 24 of Banking Regulation Act, 1949, as amended from time
to time, and all other provisions / laws enabling the Reserve Bank of India in this
regard, the Reserve Bank being satisfied that it is necessary and expedient in the
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
िविनयमन िवभाग, केंद्रीय कायार्लय, 12वी ंऔर 13वी ंमंिज़ल, नरीमन भवन, नरीमन पॉइंट, मुंबई 400021
Department of Regulation, Central Office, 12th & 13th Floor, Nariman Bhavan, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400021
बैंक िहंदी में पत्राचार का �ागत करता है
Caution: RBI never sends mails, SMSs or makes calls asking for personal information like bank account details, passwords,
etc. It never keeps or offers funds to anyone. Please do not respond in any manner to such offers.public interest so to do, hereby, issues the Amendment Directions hereinafter
specified.
5. These Directions shall be called the Reserve Bank of India (Payments Banks –
Cash Reserve Ratio and Statutory Liquidity Ratio) Amendment Directions, 2025.
6. The provisions shall come into effect from December 15, 2025, except paragraph 7
(viii) (2), which shall be effective from December 12, 2025.
7. These Amendment Directions modify the Reserve Bank of India (Payments Banks
– Cash Reserve Ratio and Statutory Liquidity Ratio) Directions, 2025 as under:
(i) In paragraph 6 (14), the definition of ‘Fortnight’ shall be redefined as
‘Fortnight’ means the period from the first day to the fifteenth day of each
calendar month or sixteenth day to the last day of each calendar month, both
days inclusive.
(ii) In paragraphs 6 (18), 9, 21, 23, 24 the words ‘Friday' shall be substituted with
‘day'.
(iii) In paragraph 29, the words ‘each alternate Friday and’ shall be substituted
with ‘last day of each fortnight’, the word 'seven' shall be substituted with 'five'
and the word 'provisional' shall be deleted.
(iv) In paragraph 30, the words 'reporting Friday' shall be substituted with ‘last day
of each fortnight’ and the words ‘that Friday' shall be substituted with ‘last day
of such fortnight’.
(v) In paragraph 31, the words ‘final’ and 'within 20 days from expiry of the
relevant fortnight' shall be deleted.
(vi) The paragraph 33 shall be deleted.
(vii) A paragraph 36 shall be substituted with following paragraph:
“Under the new reporting structure, as amended vide Banking Laws
(Amendment) Act 2025, there shall be no Provisional or Final or Special Form
A return. The banks are required to submit single Form A return. The new
versions of Form A and Form VIII returns are available on the Centralised
Information Management System (CIMS) portal with new return codes. The
banks are required to submit fortnightly Form A return from December 15,
22025 and monthly Form VIII return from December 2025 on the CIMS portal.
Form A and Form VIII are not to be submitted in hard copy / paper returns by
the banks. The banks have to submit these returns in electronic form on CIMS
portal using digital signatures of two authorised officials. While submitting
these returns, banks have to ensure that the same is compliant with the
prevalent IT laws of the country.”
(viii) Two new paragraphs shall be inserted after paragraph 36, namely:
1. “36 A. The maintenance of CRR and SLR during the fortnight
December 16-31, 2025 and the first fortnight of January 2026 (i.e.,
January 1-15, 2026) is to be done by the banks, based on the Net
Demand and Time Liabilities (NDTL) as on November 28, 2025 and
December 15, 2025, respectively. From the subsequent fortnights
starting from January 16, 2026, the maintenance shall be done, as
presently applicable, i.e., based on the NDTL as on the last day of the
second preceding fortnight”.
2. “36 B. During the transition period of three days i.e., December 13-15,
2025, the maintenance of CRR and SLR is to be done by the banks,
based on the Net Demand and Time Liabilities (NDTL) as on
November 28, 2025. Further, the banks shall maintain minimum CRR
of not less than hundred per cent of the required CRR during the
transition period.The banks shall also submit Form A return for
December 12, 2025, as per the extant reporting structure. Further, the
banks are advised to submit Form VIII return of December 2025 on
CIMS portal, both with old and new return codes.”
(ix) In paragraph 37, the words 'alternate Fridays' shall be substituted with ‘last
day of each fortnight' and 'such Fridays' / 'such Friday' shall be substituted
with ‘such day'.
(x) In Annex I (Form A), the word ‘Friday’ / ‘that Friday’ shall be substituted with
‘last day of the fortnight’ / ‘last day of that fortnight’.
(xi) In Annex II (Form VIII),
3• the ‘First alternate Friday’, ‘Second alternate Friday’, ‘Third alternate
Friday’ shall be substituted with ‘15th day of the Month’ and ‘Last day of
the Month’.
• the word ‘Friday’ shall be substituted with ‘day’ / ‘last day of the fortnight’
(xii) In paragraph 26(3)(iii), the word ‘State Development Loans (SDLs) of the’
shall be substituted with ‘State Government Securities of the respective’.
Yours faithfully,
(Manoranjan Padhy)
Chief General Manager
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