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Department of Regulation — RBI Master Directions

Prudential, licensing & governance norms for banks and NBFCs. We track 2302 RBI documents in this family, anchored by 12 consolidated Master Direction(s) / Master Circular(s). Every entry links to its official page on rbi.org.in.

Last rebuilt: 18 Jun 2026, 01:11 IST
Latest tracked circular: 17 Jun 2026
New in ~last 90 days: 143 circulars
Mapped this RBI financial year (FY 2026-27): 109 circulars
2302
RBI documents in family
12
Master Direction / Circular anchors
109
Mapped this RBI FY (FY 2026-27)

About this family — the DOR lineage

The Reserve Bank’s Department of Regulation (DOR) writes the core prudential rulebook for India’s banks and NBFCs — licensing, ownership & governance, capital adequacy, income recognition and asset-classification & provisioning (IRACP), exposure and large-exposure limits, and the Master Directions that consolidate them. It is the largest family we track. Reference numbers beginning DOR mark current documents; legacy codes folded in here include DBOD and DBR (the former Department of Banking Operations & Development / Banking Regulation), and UBD / UCB for urban co-operative banks. Supervision and inspection of these same entities sits under Supervision, dedicated non-bank rules under NBFC Regulation, and customer-facing conduct under Consumer Protection. This is our plain-English overview; every document below links to its official page on rbi.org.in — we never reproduce RBI text verbatim. under the editorial review of Vikram Jain. Independent platform, not affiliated with the Reserve Bank of India.

What this family governs

In plain English: the Department of Regulation (DOR) writes the core rulebook every bank and NBFC in India must follow — who may run a bank, how much capital it must hold, how it must recognise bad loans, and how much it may lend to any one borrower. It is the largest family we track. These circulars set the rules; whether banks actually follow them is checked through Supervision, breaches are penalised through Enforcement, and dedicated non-bank rules sit under NBFC Regulation.
Two example focus areas (illustrative, drawn from common RBI prudential themes):
Focus areas are our plain-English summary of typical themes, not a quote from any RBI document; every tracked document below links to its official page on rbi.org.in. under the editorial review of Vikram Jain.
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How to find the governing Master Direction for a circular

A quick four-step method to trace any Department of Regulation circular back to its consolidated RBI rulebook.

  1. Read the RBI reference number
    Every RBI circular carries a reference number such as RBI/2023-24/108 with a department token such as DOR. The letters before the first slash identify the issuing department.
  2. Match the department code to its family
    That department token maps to the Department of Regulation family on this page. Legacy codes are folded into their modern department, so even older circulars resolve to the right rulebook.
  3. Open the consolidated Master Direction anchor
    In the Master Direction & Master Circular anchors list below, pick the consolidated rulebook for this family — it is the living document the individual circular amends or sits under.
  4. Verify on the official RBI source
    Follow the rbi.org.in link on the anchor or the circular to confirm the current text on the Reserve Bank's own website. BankPulse never reproduces RBI text verbatim.

Master Direction & Master Circular anchors

Latest circulars in this family

The 20 most recent RBI notifications we track in this family (newest first). Each links to its official page on rbi.org.in.

Browse simplified, plain-English rules in this section →

Key dataSee the live numbers behind this family: Bank Health Scores — a composite scorecard of the banking system, updated from official RBI data. Related live data: NPA / Asset-Quality Tracker.
Key termsPlain-English definitions of core terms in this family — see the full Indian banking glossary. CRAR (Capital adequacy) · CRAR buffers (Capital Conservation, Countercyclical, D-SIB) · CCyB (Countercyclical Capital Buffer) · ALM (Asset-Liability Management) · Tier 1 & Tier 2 capital · Gross NPA (GNPA) · NSFR (Net Stable Funding Ratio) · Master Direction

Department of Regulation — frequently asked questions

What does the RBI Department of Regulation family cover?
Prudential, licensing & governance norms for banks and NBFCs. On BankPulse this family groups 2302 RBI documents we track, anchored by 12 consolidated Master Directions / Master Circulars, grouped by the RBI issuing-department code DOR.
Where can I find the official RBI Master Directions for Department of Regulation?
Every entry on this page links directly to its official notification on rbi.org.in — we never reproduce RBI text verbatim. Start with the Master Direction / Master Circular anchors listed above for the consolidated rulebook, or browse the 2302 tracked circulars in this family. Methodology reviewed by Vikram Jain; BankPulse is an independent platform, not affiliated with the Reserve Bank of India.
What is the Capital Adequacy Ratio (CRAR) for banks in India?
The Capital to Risk-weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR), often just called capital adequacy, is the minimum capital a bank must hold against its risk-weighted assets so it can absorb losses. Under the Basel III framework as implemented by the Reserve Bank’s Department of Regulation, scheduled commercial banks must maintain a minimum total CRAR of 9% — higher than the 8% Basel floor — plus a Capital Conservation Buffer of 2.5%, taking the effective requirement to about 11.5%. The exact composition (Common Equity Tier 1, Additional Tier 1 and Tier 2) and any buffers are set in the prudential Master Directions linked on this page. This is general information, not advice; methodology reviewed by Vikram Jain, and BankPulse is an independent platform, not affiliated with the Reserve Bank of India.
What is the RBI rule on interest rates on deposits for co-operative banks?
Interest rates on deposits held by co-operative banks are governed by the Reserve Bank’s consolidated Master Direction on Interest Rate on Deposits, issued by the Department of Regulation. Within the RBI’s framework a co-operative bank is free to set its own deposit interest rates, but it must do so through a board-approved policy and apply the rates uniformly — the same rate for all customers on a deposit of a given amount and maturity, with no discrimination between otherwise similar depositors. The Direction allows a few well-defined exceptions, such as differential rates on bulk deposits above a notified threshold, an additional rate for senior citizens, and preferential rates on staff and certain non-resident deposits, while savings-account interest is calculated on the daily balance. The RBI periodically amends this Master Direction — for example to revise the bulk-deposit threshold or refine definitions — and each such amendment is folded into the consolidated text linked on this page, which always carries the exact, current terms. This is general information, not advice. Methodology reviewed by Vikram Jain; BankPulse is an independent platform, not affiliated with the Reserve Bank of India.
Download this family as data: crosswalk-department-of-regulation.csv — a machine-readable CSV mapping every tracked Department of Regulation circular (reference + title) to its parent Master Direction family and official rbi.org.in source. See also the crosswalk families JSON and the per-family CSV index.

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How this map is built: documents are grouped by the issuing-department code in each RBI reference number. Every entry links to its official page on rbi.org.in — we never reproduce RBI text verbatim. Methodology reviewed by Vikram Jain. Independent platform, not affiliated with the Reserve Bank of India.