The Reserve Bank of India is set to review lending norms for urban co-operative banks, with a view to rationalising existing regulations on unsecured loans, lending limits to nominal members, and the tenor and moratorium requirements for housing loans.
RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the proposed review would follow a tiered and simplified approach while maintaining prudential discipline, taking into account the steady growth in loans and advances of UCBs in recent years. Draft directions on the revised framework are expected to be issued shortly for public consultation.
Malhotra noted that several regulatory measures have already been introduced to provide greater operational flexibility to UCBs. To support the next phase of growth, the RBI will soon launch Mission SAKSHAM, a sector-wide capacity-building and certification initiative aimed at training about 1.40 lakh participants through physical programmes and scalable digital platforms, with content delivered in regional languages wherever possible.
