RBI Retail Direct Regulations

Introduction
  • Applicability:
    1. These Terms and Conditions (hereinafter T&C) shall be applicable and binding on all Retail Direct Investors transacting through the RBI Retail Direct Portal.
    2. The T&Cs shall remain in force unless explicitly stated to the contrary.
    3. The T&Cs shall be governed and construed in accordance with the applicable laws and rules, circulars, guidelines in whatever form issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and as amended from time to time.
  • RBI Retail Direct Portal:
    The RBI Retail Direct Portal will offer the investors following facilities
    1. Open and maintain an RBI Retail Direct Gilt (RDG) Account
    2. Open and maintain a Bond Ledger Account with CCIL (Receiving office)
    3. Participate in the non-competitive bid segment of primary auctions for Government Securities;
    4. Subscriptions in Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGB);
    5. Investment in Floating Rate Savings Bond (FRSB);
    6. Access to NDS-OM platform for buying and selling of eligible Government Securities in the secondary market;
    7. Various Investor Services, such as account statements, nomination facility, access to information related to coupon/redemption of government securities, etc.
Definitions
  1. Aggregator: Aggregator means Clearing Corporation of India Limited (Clearing Corporation) or any other entity as may be approved by the Bank under the Scheme. The Aggregator shall collect bids from Retail investors through the Portal and submit a single consolidated bid under non-competitive bidding segment to Bank.
  2. Applicable Laws: “Applicable Laws” means all laws or regulations applicable to Retail Direct investors whether by the Bank or any other relevant authority and includes the Government Securities Act, 2006, the Government Securities Regulations, 2007, the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, the Payment and Settlement Systems Regulations 2008, the KYC Directions, FIMMDA Code of Conduct, any directions, guidelines, circulars, notifications issued by the Bank in relation to Government Securities and/or participation on the RBI Retail Direct Portal, etc.
  3. Bank: ‘Bank’ means the Reserve Bank of India.
  4. Bid: ‘Bid’ means participation by retail investor in non-competitive bidding of government securities, subscription to Sovereign Gold Bonds and investment in Floating Rate Savings Bond.
  5. Bond Ledger Account: Bond Ledger Account (BLA) means the bond held to the credit of the holder in the electronic form with Receiving Office.
  6. Business Day: “Business Day” means a calendar day when the Bank’s Mumbai Office is open for conduct of business.
  7. Certificate of Holding: Certificate of Holding (COH) means a proof of subscription issued by the Receiving Office to the investor in specified format.
  8. Clearing Corporation: “Clearing Corporation” means The Clearing Corporation of India Ltd.
  9. CSGL Account: A Constituent Subsidiary General Ledger (CSGL) shall have same meaning as under the Bank’s notification on ‘Constituents’ Subsidiary General Ledger Account: Eligibility Criteria and Operational Guidelines’, dated September 22, 2021, and as amended from time to time.
  10. Data: “Data” means any information in relation to the transactions in Government Securities undertaken by the Retail Direct Investors on the RBI Retail Direct Portal including any instructions provided with respect to such transactions.
  11. FIMMDA Code of Conduct: “FIMMDA Code of Conduct” means the Code of Conduct for transacting in Government Securities using “Negotiated Dealing System – Order Matching (NDS-OM) of the Bank, published by Fixed Income Money Market and Derivatives Association of India.
  12. Floating Rate Savings Bond, 2020 (Taxable) (FRSB): are bonds issued by the Government of India through the Receiving Offices (RO) as authorized by the Bank
  13. FV: “FV” means Face Value of the Government Security.
  14. Government Securities: “Government Securities” for the purpose of the Scheme mean securities issued in the form of stock by credit to SGL/ CSGL account maintained with the Bank as defined under Section 3(iii) of the Government Securities Act, 2006 or bonds held in the Bond Ledger Account as defined in Section 3(iv) of the Government Securities Act, 2006. These include:
    1. Government of India Treasury Bills;
    2. Government of India dated securities;
    3. Sovereign Gold Bonds;
    4. State Government Securities;
    5. Floating Rate Savings Bonds
    6. Any other security/ies as may be specified by the Bank.
  15. KYC Directions: “KYC Directions” mean the Master Direction – Know Your Customer (KYC) Direction, 2016 issued by the Bank, and as amended from time to time.
  16. Member: “Member” means entities who have been granted membership of Clearing Corporation as per its membership policy.
  17. NDS-OM or NDS OM Retail Portal: “NDS-OM” or NDS OM Retail Portal means screen based anonymous electronic order matching system of the Bank for trading in Government Securities as available to the Retail Direct Investors under the Scheme.
  18. Odd Lot segment: “Odd Lot segment” means odd lot segment of NDS-OM to facilitate trading in smaller lot sizes by Retail Direct Investors, with the minimum trading lot of INR 10,000 or such lot as may be specified by the Bank from time to time.
  19. OTP: “OTP” means one-time-password.
  20. OVD: “OVD” means Officially Valid Document defined under the KYC Directions.
  21. Receiving Office: “Receiving Office” means Clearing Corporation, or any other entity as may be approved by the Bank under the scheme. The Receiving Office shall collect subscriptions from the retail investors for investment in Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGB) and/or Floating Rate Savings Bond (FRSB).
  22. RBI Retail Direct Gilt (RDG) Account: “RBI RDG Account” means gilt account maintained in the books of the Bank under this Scheme.
  23. Retail Direct Portal: “RBI Retail Direct Portal” means Retail Direct online portal of the Bank, facilitating all services specified under the Scheme.
  24. Retail Direct Investors: “Retail Direct Investors” means individuals (natural persons) who are eligible to invest under the Scheme and includes non-residents eligible to invest in Government Securities, as permitted under the applicable laws/guidelines.
  25. Request for Quote (RFQ) mode: “RFQ mode” means the on-screen negotiation module of the Bank’s NDS-OM system.
  26. Scheme: “Scheme” means the RBI Retail Direct Scheme introduced by the Bank vide circular dated July 12, 2021 and as amended from time to time.
  27. SMS: “SMS” means short message service.
  28. VFT: “VFT” means Value Free Transfer of Government Securities as defined under the Bank’s notification on ‘Value Free Transfer (VFT) of Government Securities – Guidelines’, dated October 5, 2021, and as amended from time to time.
Membership
  1. Eligibility Criteria
    1. Retail Direct Investors can register under the Scheme to open and maintain an RDG Account, if they have the following:
        1. Rupee savings bank account maintained in India;
        2. Permanent Account Number (PAN) issued by the Indian Income Tax Department or any equivalent tax document issued under foreign laws;
        3. Any OVD for the purpose of ‘know you customer’ verification;
        4. Valid email id; and
        5. Registered mobile number in Retail Direct Investor’s name.

      Bond Ledger Account (BLA) would be opened and maintained for those Retail Direct investors having RDG Account and who subscribe to government securities prescribed to be held in BLA form.
      Where an applicant is a minor, the aforementioned requirements i.e. under 1. (a) (i) through (a) (v) will be applicable in case of the minor and the guardian.

    2. The RDG account can be opened singly or jointly with another Retail Direct Investor, upon fulfilling the eligibility criteria as stated in 1. (a) (i) through (a) (vi) above.
  2. Registration and Opening of RDG Account:
    Eligible Retail Direct Investors will be permitted to register on the RBI Retail Direct Portal.
    1. Retail Direct Investor is required to fill up an online application form by furnishing personal details such as full name, PAN, mobile number, email address, residential address, bank account number etc. The mobile number and email address shared in the application form will be authenticated using OTP that will be sent to that mobile number and email address.
    2. Retail Direct Investor will be provided with a tracking number to track the application status.
    3. Retail Direct Investor seeking registration is required to adhere to the KYC Directions issued by the Bank and as required under the RBI Retail Direct Portal. The Retail Direct Investor may be asked to submit such additional documents and details as may be required in line with the KYC Directions. In case of joint accounts, the KYC verification will be done for both the account holders. Where the applicant is a minor, KYC will be processed for the minor and the guardian in accordance with the KYC Directions. In case of non-adherence to the said KYC norms, the individual will be permitted to resubmit application after making the necessary changes.
    4. The bank account of the Retail Direct Investor will also be validated. This will be part of the overall registration process.
    5. After successful completion of registration, the RDG Account will be opened in the name of the Retail Direct Investor(s). Information like RDG account number, login id and password to access the RBI Retail Direct Portal will be made available to the Retail Direct Investor through SMS/e-mail. All transactions of the Retail Direct Investor will be undertaken through the RDG Account and/or BLA Account.
    6. The Retail Direct Investor may be permitted to modify/resubmit any details previously provided for the purpose of registering on the RBI Retail Direct Portal. Any such additional or modified information will be subject to further KYC checks. Every applicant is required to ensure that the information given on the Portal is true and correct in all respects.
    7. The RDG Account shall be available for both primary market participation as well as secondary market transactions on NDS-OM.
    8. After completion of registration, an Investor ID will be assigned to each Retail Direct Investor opting for secondary market trading on NDS OM.
    9. Opening of the RDG account authorizes movement of existing SGB investments held in BLA form with the Bank to the RDG account under the Scheme.
    10. Every Retail Direct Investor is required to provide information that is correct, true and complete in all respects. If any information is found to be intentionally presented as false, incorrect, or if there is a breach of any condition of registration on the RBI Retail Direct Portal, action as deemed appropriate may be initiated against the Retail Direct Investor.
  3. Terms and Conditions
    1. Retail Direct Investor(s) is required to ensure that all regulatory requirements are being duly complied with.
    2. Any insolvency related proceedings initiated against a Retail Direct Investor or any other regulatory bar or restriction or legal disability against a Retail Direct Investor will disqualify such Retail Direct Investor to trade/deal on the RBI Retail Direct Portal. Any such event adversely affecting a Retail Direct Investor’s ability to continue participation on the RBI Retail Direct Portal is required to be immediately communicated to the Bank on the occurrence of such event.
    3. The Retail Direct Investor (or Guardian in case of Minor) seeking registration shall be of sound mind and shall not suffer from any legal disqualification of whatever nature.
    4. Admission to the RBI Retail Direct Portal is subject to the fulfillment of the requirements stated herein. The Bank shall not be held responsible for any delay on account of non-fulfillment of the requirements by the Retail Direct Investor.
    5. Admission to the RBI Retail Direct Portal only creates a bare personal and non- transferable right to access the services offered under the Scheme; and does not in any manner constitute the grant or creation of any beneficial or ownership interest in the RBI Retail Direct Portal including but not limited to any intellectual property rights.
    6. A Retail Direct Investor shall not assign, mortgage, pledge, hypothecate or charge its right of access to the RBI Retail Direct Portal or any rights or privileges attached thereto nor shall it have the right to give license or grant power of attorney in respect of such rights and privileges. No such attempted assignment, mortgage, pledge, hypothecation or charge or license or power of attorney shall be effective for any purpose. A Retail Direct Investor who acts or attempts to act in violation of the provision of this rule may be suspended or any other disciplinary action may be initiated as deemed fit.
    7. A Retail Direct Investor admitted to the RBI Retail Direct Portal, understands that all investment and disinvestment decisions are based on self-evaluation of financial circumstances and investment objectives. This extends to any decisions made by the Retail Direct Investor on the basis of any information that may be made available on the RBI Retail Direct Portal.
    8. The Bank expressly disclaims any liability or attributed to any of its employees, directors, agents, subsidiaries or affiliates on account of or in connection with any trading losses, cost of damage incurred by the Retail Direct Investor consequent upon relying on investment information, research opinions or advice or any other material/information whatsoever available on the RBI Retail Direct Portal, literature, brochure issued by the Bank.
    9. The Bank does not provide any investment advice in connection with the Scheme or the RBI Retail Direct Portal and the Retail Direct Investor shall desist from seeking or soliciting any such information relating to any investments contemplated by the Retail Direct Investor.
    10. A Retail Direct Investor may raise any grievances in the manner specified in Chapter IX.
  4. Personal Information- Collection, Usage And Disclosure
    1. Any personal information submitted by the Retail Direct Investor will be held in accordance with applicable law.
    2. The Retail Direct Investor, making an application under the Scheme consents to use/ disclose/ transfer the said information for such purposes strictly in connection with or relating to the Scheme only.
    3. The Bank will have the right to use or retain the information received from the Retail Direct Investors for providing Data in an aggregated manner or trade-by-trade information for various purposes. However, the Bank will take utmost care to ensure that information regarding the trade particulars of the Retail Direct Investors are not disclosed to any entity(ies) except where such disclosure is required by any law, court, tribunal, insolvency official or otherwise any other governmental or statutory authority, or is necessary to be disclosed by the Bank under any legal proceedings or to any professional appointed by it with respect to services under the Scheme or as consented to by the Retail Direct Investor.
  5. Member Account and Confidentiality
    1. The Username and Password will be provided on the registered mail id of the Retail Direct Investor
    2. The username and password for accessing the RBI Retail Direct Portal provided to the Retail Direct Investor will always be held confidential by the Retail Direct Investor.
    3. Retail Direct Investor is required to comply with all the authentication procedures prescribed for accessing the RBI Retail Direct Portal.
    4. Retail Direct Investor is required to comply with the Password Policy issued by the Bank and as updated from time to time.
    5. Retail Direct Investor will be solely liable for any risks associated with the internet and will be fully liable and responsible for any or all acts done in disregard of any security standards.
    6. A Retail Direct Investor will be solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the account, password and for restricting access to the network or hardware used to connect to the RBI Retail Direct Portal.
    7. Retail Direct Investor will at all times be solely responsible for any act in connection with the account or password that is maintained for the access to services offered under the Scheme and/or RBI Retail Direct Portal.
    8. Any services offered under the RBI Retail Direct Portal or the Scheme does not endorse any service to minors. A Retail Direct Investor admitted as a minor shall access the RBI Retail Direct Portal only through a guardian at all times of such access. The Bank disclaims any liability on account of any violation in this regard and reserves the right to forthwith suspend membership of such minor if found to be in violation of this requirement.
  6. Account Closure by Retail Direct Investor
    1. A Retail Direct Investor seeking to close its RDG Account can initiate the process on the RBI Retail Direct Portal, by submitting the online application form, requesting for closure of the RDG Account (“Account Closure Request”) and confirming that:
      1. No claim or right relating to the RBI Retail Direct Portal will be available on closure of the RDG Account.
      2. The Bank may retain all information it has received from any Retail Direct Investor, even after closure of the RDG Account.
      3. There are no Government Securities lying in the RDG account and/or BLA and no instructions in relation to operation of the RDG Account and/or BLA and/or the trades, remain pending/ unexecuted
    2. If there is any credit balance in the RDG Account, the Retail Direct Investor will be required to sell/ transfer the Government Securities before the Bank initiates the closure of the RDG Account
    3. If there are investments/credit balances in the BLA, the Retail Investor cannot initiate closure of the RDG Account /BLA Account.
    4. On receiving the Account Closure Request, the RDG Account/BLA of the Retail Direct Investor will be deactivated. The Retail Direct Investor will not be permitted to carry out any action in the RDG Account/BLA upon deactivation of the RDG Account/BLA. The Bank will initiate the closure of the RDG Account/BLA within [3] Business Days of receipt of the Account Closure Request. The Investor will be advised formally of the closure of the Account.
    5. The Bank may not close the RDG Account if the closure would result in any breach or violation of any legal/ regulatory requirements or breach or violation of any decree, order, instruction of any court, tribunal or statutory authority;
  7. Account closure/ suspension by Clearing Corporation
    1. The RDG Account and/or BLA of a Retail Direct Investor may be suspended or closed in the event of:
      1. the Retail Direct Investor being prohibited from participation on the RBI Retail
      2. Direct Portal after a notice in writing to the Retail Direct Investor;
      3. voluntary or compulsory insolvency of the Retail Direct Investor;
      4. failing to adhere to any of the conditions/criteria to which it has been subject to under the Terms and Conditions or any other Applicable Laws, after a reasonable notice in writing to the Retail Direct Investor;
      5. The Retail Direct Investor being suspended from participation on the RBI Retail Direct Portal by any regulatory, judicial, law enforcement or any other statutory authority or agency.
    2. Any such suspension will be with immediate effect. Such suspension will continue till such time as the Bank decides (i) that the conditions of suspension no longer exist, or (b) in case of temporary suspension, the period of suspension has been completed, or (iii) to close the account. The Retail Direct Investor shall be issued a notice informing him about such suspension.
    3. The Bank may, on its own or upon appeal by the Retail Direct Investor, reconsider, revoke or modify its decision of the suspension of such Retail Direct Investor.
    4. The Retail Direct Investor will be liable for all the obligations undertaken on the RBI Retail Direct Portal before such suspension, including any incidental obligations thereto. (The Retail Direct Investor shall however not be eligible for any rights with respect to its participation on the RBI Retail Direct Portal.)
    5. The Bank may, where considered necessary, will address the concerns in relation to any of the events specified in7 (a) of this Chapter, close the RDG Account and/or BLA of the Retail Direct Investor. Closure of the RDG Account and/or BLA will be without prejudice to the rights of Bank to proceed against such Retail Direct Investor to enforce its rights as per the Terms and Conditions for accessing RBI Retail Direct Portal.
  8. Accessibility
    1. The endeavour is to make the account under the RBI Retail Direct Portal accessible at all times. However, the Bank does not provide any warranty on the accessibility when it may be disrupted due to technical disruptions, nor is any warranty issued for the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of the information or any materials.
    2. The window for the services offered under the Scheme will be notified on the RBI Retail Direct Portal. The window for services will normally function on all days except such days as may notified on the RBI Retail Direct Portal by the Bank.
    3. The window for availing the services under the RBI Retail Direct Portal may be disallowed on days other than or in addition to scheduled holidays. Similarly, the window may also be opened on the days originally declared to be holidays and such decision will be final and binding;
    4. The services and session timings set and may extend, advance or reduce dealing hours by notifying as and when it deems fit and necessary in this regard;
    5. Liability in case of any error, omission in the information and/or material made available by the Bank is expressly disclaimed.
    6. The Bank does not provide any warranty- implied, expressed or statutory on account of any computer virus, hacking or non- functioning of the system due to any malware not under the control of the Bank, with respect to the services as provided under this website.
    7. All services are provided on an “as is” available basis.
    8. The Retail Direct Investor will solely be responsible for the technical and hardware capabilities or of such properties necessary to avail the services under this website.
    9. The Retail Direct Investor consents to monitoring of services provided on the RBI Retail Direct Portal at all times.
Primary Market Participation
  1. The participation of Retail Direct Investor in primary auction of Government Securities (other than SGB) will be on non-competitive basis. FRSB can be subscribed in a mode and manner as notified by Government of India/instructions issued by RBI.
  2. Bidding
    1. On receipt of non-competitive bids in a particular security, the Aggregator will submit a single aggregate bid to the Bank on auction date.
    2. In case of SGBs and FRSB, the individual bids will be submitted to the Bank
    3. The Retail Direct Investors will be permitted to place/ withdraw bids during the bidding interval or the period of subscription.
    4. Only one active bid will be allowed per Retail Direct Investor in the non-competitive portion for respective Government Security. Multiple Bids for a specific government security by a Retail Direct Investor will be allowed, as and when permitted by RBI.
    5. The minimum and maximum limit per bid will be as specified by the Bank from time to time and the same will be validated by the Aggregator.
  3. Funding
    1. Each bid will be required to be funded in advance (termed as pre-funding) by the Retail Direct Investor. The pre-funding will be based on the indicative price and accrued interest along with a markup, wherever applicable. In case of SGBs, the pre-funding will be based on issue price declared for the particular issue. For FRSBs, the pre-funding will be based on subscribed amount.
    2. On submission of the bid, the totaśl amount payable for each security will also be displayed on the RBI Retail Direct Portal.
    3. Retail Direct Investors can transfer funds to the designated current account through payment gateways interfaced with the RBI Retail Direct Portal using the following:
    4. Net-banking/UPI facility from the linked bank account, whereby funds will be debited at the time of submission of bids on the RBI Retail Direct Portal;
    5. UPI facility, whereby funds in the linked bank account can be blocked at the time of submission of bids on the RBI Retail Direct Portal which will be debited from the account on successful allotment in the auction.
    6. NACH facility, whereby based on the mandate given by the investor, funds in the linked bank account will be debited prior to submission of bids to Reserve Bank of India.
    7. The funding of the bids can be done either at the time of bidding or at a later time, but, before the closure of bidding/subscription window. Bids which are not funded as at the time of closure of bids to the Bank will be cancelled.
  4. Allotment
    1. The allotments will be made to the Retail Direct Investors to the extent of bids submitted by such investor, based on the allotment advice received post completion of the auction process.
    2. In case of partial allotment, a pro-rata allotment will be made to the bidder based on the partial allocation percentage determined during the result declaration process.
    3. On settlement date of auction/ subscription, the RDG Account and/or BLA shall be credited with the Government Security to the extent of FV allotment. In case of SGBs post allotment, the RDG Account shall be credited with the number of SGB units allotted.
    4. The Government Security will be issued in such form as notified by the Government of India and as per guidelines issued by RBI.
  5. Refund
    1. In the event of withdrawal of bids, no allotment or partial allotment will be permitted and the bidder will be eligible for receiving a refund of the amount remitted by him. In the event of excess markup, the markup will be refunded to the Retail Direct Investor post allocation, based on the cut off price for the auction.
    2. Such refunds will be processed by the Retail Direct Portal and will be remitted to the Retail Direct Investor’s respective bank accounts.
  6. The auctions and allotments will be subject to the directions of the Bank. All decisions of the Bank in relation to auction, funding, allotment, refunds, etc. shall be final and binding on the Retail Direct Investor. The transactions undertaken in the primary market will be inviolable.
Distributions
  1. Distribution of Coupons

    The payment of interest on Government Securities will be made as per the procedure laid down in the notification issued by the Government of India and/or operational guidelines issued by RBI.

    On coupon payment date of a Government Security, the coupon payments shall be remitted to the respective bank accounts of Retail Direct Investors. For this purpose, investors holding the security in their account on the close of previous Business Day shall be entitled to the coupon.

    If the coupon date falls on a holiday or Sunday or a holiday being declared under the Negotiable Instrument Act, 1881, the coupon payment shall be made on the next working day.

  2. Distribution of Redemption proceeds

    On the maturity/redemption date of a Government Security, the redemption proceeds shall be remitted to the respective bank accounts of Retail Direct Investor holding the Government Security.

    If the redemption date falls on a holiday or Sunday or a holiday being declared under the Negotiable Instrument Act, 1881, the maturity/redemption shall be made on the previous working day.

    Premature encashment of a Government Security will be permitted, if notified by the Government of India and as per the procedure prescribed by GOI/RBI.

  3. The Retail Direct Investors can view such corporate action details on the RBI Retail Direct Portal. The Retail Direct Investors shall also be notified about such updates through messages on their registered mobile and registered email id.
  4. Taxability

    Interest on prescribed Government Securities will be taxable under the relevant provision of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

    Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) on interest paid will be deducted if applicable under the Income Tax Act, 1961.

PAYMENT GATEWAYS AND THIRD-PARTY SERVICES
  1. To ensure smooth remittance of funds by the Retail Investors, the Bank may enable ‘payment gateways’ on the RBI Retail Direct Portal and the NDS-OM Retail Portal for transfer/blocking of funds.
  2. The services are facilitated through electronic and automated collection and remittance services offered by third parties called as “Payment Gateway Service Provider” or “PGSP”.
  3. The Retail Direct Investor is required to use the ‘Payment Gateway’ to remit the funds in advance (Pre-funding) for the purpose of participating in the Primary/secondary market under the Scheme.
  4. Use of Payment Gateways is entirely the choice of the Retail Direct Investor and is not endorsed by the Bank in any way. The Bank makes no representation of any kind, express or implied, of the services offered by the Payment Gateway Service Provider. The Bank expressly disclaims any claim or liability arising out of the provision of this service.
  5. The Bank will not be liable for any direct or indirect damages/losses for arising from the use of, or reliance on the NEFT facilities provided by bank of the Retail Direct Investor or Payment Gateway services.
  6. The Bank is not liable for any monetary or other damage suffered by the Retail Direct Investor on account of (i) the delay, failure, interruption, or corruption of any data or other information transmitted over the internet while using the Payment Gateway or (ii) any interruption or errors in the operation of the Payment Gateway or any other mode of transfer over the internet.
  7. The Bank will endeavor to take all reasonable steps to protect the information including any personal information in its capacity as provider of the services, personal data or information including all the details relating to accounts transmitted over the internet. However, such information/data transmitted that may be susceptible to misuse, theft and/or fraud, the Bank has no control over such matters. The Bank disclaims any liability arising from such events beyond the control of the Bank.
  8. The limits will be set for the Retail Direct Investor only on receipt of transaction success message from the Payment Gateway Service Provider. The bid by a Retail Direct Investor in a Primary Issuance will be treated as ‘accepted’ by the Bank only on receipt of transaction success message from the Payment Gateway Service Provider and receipt of such funds in its account.
  9. If the Bank does not receive an authorization from the Payment Gateways or the transaction gets interrupted due to any reason, the transaction will be treated as failed. Then in that case, no limit will be given and bids will not be processed for that transaction. If any amount/security has been deducted from the Retail Direct Investor by the Bank, the same will be credited back to the Retail Direct Investor as per the procedure notified by the Bank for this purpose. Any excess amount paid through Payment Gateway or excess security blocked will be refunded/released back to the Retail Direct Investor as per the procedure notified by the Bank from time to time.
  10. A transaction once made by a Retail Direct Investor, will not be cancelled under any circumstances and will be final. For this purpose, records as maintained on RBI Retail Direct Portal or NDS OM Retail Portal will be the conclusive evidence for the purpose of determining whether a trade has been executed or not.
  11. The records of the Bank and/or the Payment Gateway Service Provider or Net Banking service Provider, generated by the transactions will be conclusive proof of the genuineness and accuracy of the transaction.
  12. A Retail Direct Investor is required to provide correct and accurate account details for use of the Payment Gateway and shall not use an account, which is not lawfully owned by the Retail Direct Investor.
  13. A Retail Direct Investor initiating a transaction through the RBI Retail Direct Portal or NDS OM Retail Portal Payment Gateway is entitled to use such account for making any legitimate transaction.
  14. Any dispute relating to use of such Payment Gateway or relating to transfer/block of funds/securities is required to be referred to the Bank in the form and manner as notified by the Bank under Chapter IX – Investor Grievances
  15. A Retail Investors can be given access to any record, not already available to the investor, relating to any transaction made by such Retail Investor, for the limited purpose of resolving any grievances.
  16. The Bank does not endorse any commercial product, process, service or enterprise, by trade name, trademark, service mark, manufacturer or otherwise. Links to other websites and references to any commercial product or enterprise including payment gateways or any other links are provided solely for the convenience of the Retail Direct Investor, and do not necessarily constitute or imply the Bank’s endorsement, recommendation, or exclusive approval thereof. The Bank expressly disclaims any liability or responsibility for the content/ service provided on any third-party website to which links may be provided. The Retail Investor is required to take all due care while using or accessing any of these services or links.
Fees and Charges
  1. No fee will be charged for opening and maintaining RDG Account and/or BLA with the Bank/CCIL.
  2. No fee will be charged by the Aggregator for submitting bids in the primary auctions.
  3. Fee for payment gateway or any other related charges, as applicable, will be borne by the registered Retail
  4. Direct Investor.
INVESTOR SERVICES
    1. The Retail Direct Investor will have access to following information on the RBI Retail Direct Portal
      1. Reports
        1. Information about his/her holding balances on a daily basis.
        2. Transaction history of Government Securities holdings in the RDG Account and/or BLA.
        3. Particulars of all bidding, funding, allotment, refund, etc.
        4. Particulars of distribution of Interest payment on Government Securities and redemption proceeds as and when due.
      2. Account Statements
        1. Periodic RDG/BLA Holding statement containing Retail Direct Investor’s holding balances.
        2. Transaction history of Government Securities holdings in the RDG Account and/or BLA, as per the request of the Retail Direct Investor.
        3. A periodic report of the transactions made by the Retail Investor
        4. Certificate of Holding for securities held under BLA
      3. The reports/statements as mentioned in para 1(a) & (b) above will serve as a Retail Direct Investor’s confirmation of the transactions undertaken through the RBI Retail Direct Portal or NDS OM Retail Portal. If a Retail Investor finds any inconsistency or discrepancy in the statements/reports of the transactions made by him/her, he/she is required to bring the same to the notice of the Bank within 7 days of the statements/reports being published on the RBI Retail Direct Portal or NDS OM Retail Portal or on receipt of reports/statements from the Bank, whichever is earlier. If the Retail Direct Investor fails to respond within 7 days, the statement or transactions will be considered valid and final and the investor shall be considered to have accepted such statements/reports.
      4. The Bank shall have the discretion to make changes in the formats of the statements/ reports as and when it may consider necessary.
    2. Gift/Transfer/Tradability
      1. The RBI Retail Direct Portal will facilitate gifting of Government Securities held by a an RDG Account holder to another RDG Account holder. For this purpose, the RDG Account holder needs to raise a gift request on the Portal by filling relevant details. The beneficiary RDG Account holder shall then accept the gift request, following which the transfer shall be processed by RD Admin.
      2. On processing/approval of such gift request by RD Admin, the requisite security balance will be reduced from the transferor’ RDG Account and credited to the beneficiary’s RDG Account. If the beneficiary does not have RDG Account, the Gift will be made in the name of the beneficiary only after an account is opened by that beneficiary.
      3. The transferability and/or tradability or otherwise of a government security will be governed by the relevant notifications of the Government of India and/or operational guidelines issued by RBI.
    3. Nomination
      1. Nomination will be governed as per the provisions of Section 9 of the Government Securities Act 2006 (38 of 2006) and Chapter III of the Government Securities Regulations, 2007 published in Part III, Section 4 of the Gazette of India, dated December 1, 2007.
      2. RDG Account holders and/or BLA holders can make nomination for the holdings in their RDG/BLA accounts. An RDG Account Holder and/or BLA holder can nominate a minimum of one and maximum of two natural persons as Nominees. A BLA holder may make separate nominations for each bid in securities permitted to be held in BLA. The Retail Investor can continue to have the same nominee, as registered for RDG Account, for investments in FRSB through BLA.
      3. The nomination details will be captured during the account opening process. The RDG/BLA Account holder may also alter/change the nominee(s) subsequent to account opening by logging into the RBI Retail Direct Portal.
      4. In the event of death of the registered Retail Direct Investor, the Government Securities available in the RDG/BLA Account shall be transmitted to the RDG/BLA Account of the nominee on receipt of such a request from the nominee(s) and submission of documents asked by the Bank. The holdings would be transferred to the nominee(s) in the proportionate amount as indicated by the investor at the time of investment/subscription.
    4. Pledge/Lien
      1. The eligibility or otherwise of a Government Security to be used as collateral or for taking a loan or advance will be as notified by the Government of India and as per the procedure notified by RBI.
      2. A Retail Direct Investor can submit request for creating of pledge/lien on the Government Securities in its RDG Account.
      3. The Retail Direct Investor will be required to provide details of the Government Securities on which the pledge/lien is proposed to be created and duly executed transfer forms in favour of the secured party. The specified Government Securities of the Retail Direct Investor will be blocked upon valid creation of such pledge/lien.
      4. The secured party will be required to submit duly filled up invocation form for the purpose of invocation of such pledge/ lien.
      5. The secured party may also cancel such pledge/lien marked in its favour by submitting duly filled invocation forms.
    5. Value Free Transfer to own account with any other CSGL holder

      The RBI Retail Direct Portal will facilitate Retail Direct Investors to transfer holdings in their RDG Account to their own constituent accounts with any other CSGL holder. RD Admin will approve such request based on actual holdings in the RDG account. After approval, the security balance will be reduced from transferor Retail Direct Investor’s RDG Account. Value Free Transfers are not applicable to BLA holdings.

Investor Grievances
      1. Governing Law:Terms & Conditions and/or the use of the services provided through RBI Retail Direct Portal or NDS OM Retail Portal will be governed by the laws of India. The mere fact that RBI Retail Direct Portal/NDS OM Retail Portal can be accessed through internet by a Retail Direct Investor in a country other than India shall not be interpreted to imply that the laws of the said country govern the T&Cs or the RBI Retail Direct Portal.
      2. Primary Market Transactions:For any grievance, concern, claim, issue relating to the transactions or with reference to anything incidental thereto, an online grievance submission/status update facility will be provided to the Retail Direct Investors along with all relevant information such as submission/ closure date and action taken status etc.
      3. Secondary Market Transactions:For any claim, difference or dispute between the Retail Direct Investor and any other member/Retail Direct Investor, arising out of or in relation to the clearing and settlement of the transactions or with reference to anything incidental thereto, an online grievance submission/status update facility will be provided to the Retail Direct Investors along with all relevant information such as submission/ closure date and action taken status etc
Other Terms
      1. The Retail Direct Investor affirms that he/she has fully read and understood the terms and conditions of the Direct Retail Scheme before making or transacting through the RBI Retail Direct Portal
      2. The Bank shall not be liable for any unauthorized transactions on the RBI Retail Direct Portal or NDS OM Retail Portal by anyone acting in the name of the Retail Direct Investor.
      3. The Bank shall have the right to part with/disclose or disseminate such information concerning the Retail Direct Investors undertaking transactions through the RBI Retail Direct Portal as deemed necessary to governmental or any other agencies.
      4. Neither the Bank nor employees, directors, agents, subsidiaries or affiliates of the Bank shall be deemed to have incurred any liability for all bonafide acts or any acts done in good faith while managing the RBI Retail Direct Portal, assisting with transactions on the RBI Retail Direct Portal or any matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Accordingly, no claim or recourse shall lie against the Bank or employees, directors, agents, subsidiaries or affiliates of the Bank in relation to such acts.
      5. The Retail Direct Investor(s) will not hold the Bank responsible for non-availability of the RBI Retail Direct Portal as a result of internet failure or any other reason whatsoever.
      6. The technical pre-requisites as prescribed by the Bank, are necessary for the smooth functioning of the RBI Retail Direct Portal. A Retail Direct Investor will not hold the Bank responsible for any unexpected behaviour of the RBI Retail Direct Portal resulting from non-fulfillment of the recommended technical pre-requisites.
      7. The Bank does not, in any manner, warrant that the access of the RBI Retail Direct Portal will be error-free and/or uninterrupted.
      8. The Retail Direct Investor shall not attempt to modify, translate, disassemble, decompile or reverse engineer the software underlying or made available through the RBI Retail Direct Portal or create any derivative product based on that software.
      9. The Bank will not in any way be liable for any loss suffered by the Retail Direct Investor as a result of using the trading facilities on the RBI Retail Direct Portal. Notwithstanding any other provisions of these Terms and Conditions, the Bank will have the right to withdraw Retail Direct Investor’s access to the Platform for breach of RBI Retail Direct Portal terms and conditions, or if it is detrimental to the interest/ reputation of the Bank.
      10. Neither the Bank nor the employees, directors, agents, subsidiaries or affiliates of the Bank guarantee the uninterrupted connectivity/functioning of the RBI Retail Direct. The Bank or the employees, directors, agents, subsidiaries or affiliates of the Bank shall not be liable in any way to the Retail Direct Investor or any other party for any issue or any underperformance or interruption of RBI Retail Direct Portal or for any damages, consequential or otherwise, arising therefrom or occasioned thereby. No proceedings shall be initiated by the Retail Direct Investor or any third party against the Bank or against any of employees, directors, agents, subsidiaries or affiliates of the Bank for any act of commission or omission done in discharge of their official functions.
      11. The Bank shall, in no way, be liable for any direct and/ or indirect damage, costs, claims and/or expenses whatsoever, in connection with:
        1. Mechanical or electrical or network breakdown or power failure or hacking or malfunction of any of the servers or auxiliary equipment used by the Retail Direct Investor(s) and/ or any other cause beyond the reasonable control of the Bank.
        2. Special direct/ indirect economic or consequential loss or damage including, but not limited to loss of profit, business revenue, opportunity costs, goodwill or anticipated saving.
        3. Any event of a Force Majeure: The Bank shall not be responsible for any event of Force Majeure. For the purpose of this clause, “Force Majeure” means and includes wars, insurrections, revolution, fires, floods, epidemic quarantine restrictions, declared general strikes in relevant industries, Act of God, Act of the Government of India and/or any concerned State Government and any such other acts or events beyond the control of the Bank.
      12. The Bank and/ or the Retail Direct Investor may use the services of third-party service providers (including regulated entities) for the purpose of execution of transactions, payments, etc. The Bank or employees, directors, agents, subsidiaries or affiliates of the Bank shall not be responsible for any scenarios involving disruptions, errors, frauds, etc. on the part of the third-party service provider, providing services directly to the Retail Direct Investor, including for any loss or any damages, consequential or otherwise, arising therefrom or occasioned thereby. The Bank shall also not be a party to any disputes between the Retail Direct Investor and such third-party service providers.
      13. Every Retail Direct Investor shall exercise due diligence, ensure proper care and exercise independent judgment with respect to all transactions undertaken and investments made by such Retail Direct Investor through the RBI Retail Direct Portal and the Retail Direct Investor shall continue to be responsible for all such investments. The Bank shall not be held responsible or liable for any risks arising out of any investments made by the Retail Direct Investor through the RBI Retail Direct Portal.
      14. Intellectual Property
        1. The RBI Retail Direct Portal may contain trademarks, service marks and trade names or any other form of intellectual property owned by RBI that are protected by applicable trademark and other intellectual property laws.
        2. Retail Direct Investors may where permitted, view, download and print material for non-commercial personal use only. Without the prior written consent of the Bank, the Retail Direct Investor shall not publicly display, perform, transmit, list, modify, reproduce, distribute, participate in the transfer or sale of, make derivative works from, upload or otherwise use any of the Intellectual Property contained on the RBI Retail Direct Portal or offered under the Scheme or the selection, arrangement or coordination of its content.
        3. The Retail Direct Investor at all times shall, not delete, change or in any manner or fashion alter or enhance the existing intellectual property notices.
        4. The Retail Direct Investor shall not assume anything on the RBI Retail Direct Portal is necessarily in the public domain.
        5. The Retail Direct Investor shall not post or use any information from the RBI Retail Direct Portal for any advertising or solicitation for products or services without the Bank’s express prior written consent.
Activity Time Schedules
    1. The Bank shall from time to time notify cut-off timings for normal acceptance of bids/trades from Retail Direct Investor(s) trading on the RBI Retail Direct Portal.
    2. The Bank shall be authorised to make changes to the cut-off timings, as considered necessary from time to time, depending upon changes in market practices and/or requirements of the Bank.