There is scope for harmonising the regulations covering non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and the Reserve Bank is moving in that direction, Deputy Governor NS Vishwanathan said on Wednesday.

Currently, there are different regulations for various categories of NBFCs, creating scope for arbitrage.

“There is scope for harmonisation of regulations across NBFCs, and we are moving in the direction. We will get clarity on this sooner than later,” he said at an event organised by Assocham here.

He also said there is a need to create some new types of NBFCs to cater to the needs of the growing economy.

“We are also required to create some new types of NBFCs because business demands it, the situation demands it. It is difficult at this moment to look at it within the larger NBFCs.

“So one, we have to create ‘account aggregator’ as an NBFC category. Secondly, we have put out a discussion paper on peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms. Hopefully, we will finalise the regulations soon.”

The RBI had floated a consultation paper in April 2016 onP2P lending platforms.

P2P lending has gathered momentum globally and is taking root in India.

Although nascent in India and not significant in value yet, the potential benefits it promises to various stakeholders (borrowers, lenders and agencies) and its associated risks to the financial system are too important to be ignored, the consultation paper said.

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