Mumbai: The RBI on Friday completed a major six-month consolidation of its regulatory framework, repealing 5,673 outdated circulars and reorganising over 3,800 relevant ones into 244 function-wise master directions.
In total, 9,446 circulars were subsumed, withdrawn or repealed.
Deputy Governor S C Murmu described the effort as unprecedented, noting that RBI staff reviewed every circular issued since the central bank’s inception in 1935.
The oldest repealed circular dated back to 1944. He said the “fundamental reorganisation” will ease compliance by making rules clearer and more accessible, enabling regulated entities to follow guidelines in letter
and spirit.
The RBI had issued draft MDs in October and released the final set of 244 on Friday, including seven new MDs on digital banking.
Going forward, all new guidelines will be incorporated into existing MDs or issued as new ones. A few relevant circulars that did not fit into any MD have been retained.
Murmu stressed that the exercise involved consolidation, not major regulatory changes.