About Us


Organisation and Functions

Establishment

The Reserve Bank of India was established on April 1, 1935 in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

The Central Office of the Reserve Bank was initially established in Kolkata but was permanently moved to Mumbai in 1937. The Central Office is where the Governor sits and where policies are formulated.

Though originally privately owned, since nationalisation in 1949, the Reserve Bank is fully owned by the Government of India.

Preamble

The Preamble of the Reserve Bank of India describes the basic functions of the Reserve Bank as:

"to regulate the issue of Bank notes and keeping of reserves with a view to securing monetary stability in India and generally to operate the currency and credit system of the country to its advantage; to have a modern monetary policy framework to meet the challenge of an increasingly complex economy, to maintain price stability while keeping in mind the objective of growth."

Central Board

The Reserve Bank's affairs are governed by a central board of directors. The board is appointed by the Government of India in keeping with the Reserve Bank of India Act.

  • Appointed/nominated for a period of four years
  • Constitution:
    • Official Directors
      • Full-time : Governor and not more than four Deputy Governors
    • Non-Official Directors
      • Nominated by Government: ten Directors from various fields and two government officials
      • Others: four Directors - one each from four local boards

Functions : General superintendence and direction of the Bank's affairs


Local Boards

  • Constituted for Western Area, Eastern Area, Northern Area and Southern Area.
  • Consist of five members each.
  • Members appointed by the Central Government.
  • Member shall hold office for a term of four years.

Functions : To advise the Central Board on local matters and to represent territorial and economic interests of local cooperative and indigenous banks; to perform such other functions as delegated by Central Board from time to time.


Sitting Fees and Halting Allowance of Board Directors/Members

Sitting Fees and Halting Allowance paid to the Directors of the Central Board, Members of the Local Board and Directors attending CCB meetings
Sr. No. Type of the Meetings Sitting Fees per meeting (in INR) Halting allowance per diem (in INR)
1. Central Board 60,000 3,750
2. Local Board 60,000 3,750
3. Committee of the Central Board (CCB) 30,000 3,750
Note: In addition, the travel and stay expenses towards attending Board/Committee/ Sub-Committee meetings are also borne by the Reserve Bank of India.

Board for Financial Supervision

The Board for Financial Supervision (BFS) was constituted in November 1994 as a committee of the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India under the Reserve Bank of India (Board for Financial Supervision) Regulations, 1994.

The BFS was set up to strengthen supervision and surveillance over the financial system and providing sharper focus to supervisory policy and skills.

The BFS exercises integrated supervision over commercial banks, financial institutions and non-banking financial intermediaries. The Department of Supervision assists and provides secretarial support to BFS.

Legal Framework

  1. Acts administered by Reserve Bank of India
  2. Other relevant Acts

Main Functions

Monetary Authority:

  • Formulates, implements and monitors the monetary policy.
  • Objective: maintaining price stability while keeping in mind the objective of growth.

Regulator and supervisor of the financial system:

  • Prescribes broad parameters of banking operations within which the country's banking and financial system functions.
  • Objective: maintain public confidence in the system, protect depositors' interest and provide cost-effective banking services to the public.

Manager of Foreign Exchange

  • Manages the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.
  • Objective: to facilitate external trade and payment and promote orderly development and maintenance of foreign exchange market in India.

Issuer of currency:

  • Issues, exchanges and destroys currency notes as well as puts into circulation coins minted by Government of India.
  • Objective: to give the public adequate quantity of supplies of currency notes and coins and in good quality.

Developmental role

  • Performs a wide range of promotional functions to support national objectives.

Regulator and Supervisor of Payment and Settlement Systems:

  • Introduces and upgrades safe and efficient modes of payment systems in the country to meet the requirements of the public at large.
  • Objective: maintain public confidence in payment and settlement system

Related Functions

  • Banker to the Government: performs merchant banking function for the central and the state governments; also acts as their banker.
  • Banker to banks: maintains banking accounts of all scheduled banks.

Offices

  • The Reserve Bank of India has offices at 33 locations.

Training Establishments


Has five training establishments

  • Four, namely, RBI Academy, College of Agricultural Banking, Reserve Bank of India Staff College and College of Supervisors are part of the Reserve Bank.
  • Other autonomous, such as, Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT)

For details on training establishments, please check their websites links for which are available in Other Links.

Institutes Funded by the Bank


Sl.No. Institutes Description
1 Centre for Advanced Financial Research and Learning (CAFRAL)  Fully funded by RBI
2 Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR) Fully funded by RBI
3 Indian Institute of Bank Management (IIBM) RBI is a sponsor bank along with other banks and Financial Institutions.
4 National Institute of Bank Management (NIBM) RBI is an ordinary member along with other banks and Financial Institutions.

Subsidiaries

Fully owned: Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (DICGC), Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited (BRBNMPL), Reserve Bank Information Technology Private Limited (ReBIT), Indian Financial Technology and Allied Services (IFTAS), Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH).