RBI tweaks rules to standardise filing of supervisory returns by banks

Indian banks will have to submit all audited returns to the central bank within five working days from the date of signing of the auditor's report, a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) circular showed on Tuesday.

Previously, banks had to submit all audited returns to the RBI within seven days from the date of the completion of statutory audit of books of accounts.

The RBI has been asking banks and non-bank finance companies to adopt robust governance and risk management practices.

"In order to create a single reference for all supervisory returns and to harmonise the timelines for filing of returns, all the relevant instructions have been rationalised and consolidated into a single Master Direction," the RBI said in a revised master circular on the filing of supervisory returns.

State-run banks must submit half-yearly and quarterly reviews of accounts within 21 days from the date of receipt of the statutory central auditor (SCA) report, the RBI said. Earlier, banks could submit the reviews whenever it was provided by the SCA.

The RBI also mandated lenders to submit interest rate sensitivity returns within 15 days for all months, as against previously mandated quarterly returns within 21 days.