Skip to main content

Provisioning for standard assets by UCBs

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has revised norms of provisioning for standard assets by Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs).

What is standard asset?

Standard asset is one which does not disclose any problems and which does not carry more than normal risk attached to the business. 

What was the earlier categorization of UCBs?

Earlier, the UCBs were categorised as –

  • Tier I UCBs –
    • Banks having deposits below ₹100 crore operating in a single district.
    • Banks with deposits below ₹100 crore operating in more than one district, provided the branches are in contiguous districts and deposits and advances of branches in one district separately constitute at least 95% of the total deposits and advances respectively of the bank.
    • Banks with deposits below ₹100 crore, whose branches were originally in a single district but subsequently, became multi-district due to reorganisation of the district.
  • Tier II UCBs – All other banks.

What is the basis of revised regulatory framework for UCBs?

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had constituted the Expert Committee on Urban Co-operative Banks on February 15, 2021, under the Chairmanship of Shri N. S. Vishwanathan, former Deputy Governor, RBI. Based on the recommendations of the committee, RBI has revised the regulatory framework for UCBs [What is revised regulatory framework for Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs)]?

What are the revised norms for categorization of UCBs?

UCBs have been categorized into following four tiers for regulatory purposes –

  • Tier 1 - All unit UCBs and salary earners’ UCBs (irrespective of deposit size), and all other UCBs having deposits up to ₹100 crore
  • Tier 2 - UCBs with deposits more than ₹100 crore and up to ₹1000 crore
  • Tier 3 - UCBs with deposits more than ₹1000 crore and up to ₹10,000 crore
  • Tier 4 - UCBs with deposits more than ₹10,000 crore

What were the earlier standard assets provisioning norms for UCBs?

Category of Standard Asset Rate of Provisioning – Tier I UCBs Rate of Provisioning – Tier II UCBs
Direct advances to Agriculture and SME sectors 0.25% 0.25%
Commercial Real Estate (CRE) sector 1.00% 1.00%
Commercial Real Estate-Residential Housing Sector (CRE-RH) 0.75% 0.75%
All other loans and advances not included above 0.25% 0.40%

What are the revised standard assets provisioning norms for UCBs?

The provisioning norms for standard assets applicable to all categories of UCBs (i.e. Tier I, Tier 2, Tier 3 and Tier 4 UCBs), irrespective of their Tier under the revised framework are as under –

Category of Standard Asset Rate of Provisioning for all UCBs
Direct advances to agriculture and SME sectors 0.25%
Commercial real estate (CRE) sector 1.00%
Commercial real estate - residential housing (CRE-RH) sector 0.75%
All other advances 0.40%

The erstwhile Tier I UCBs, which are currently maintaining standard asset provision of 0.25% on ‘all other loans and advances not included above’, are permitted to achieve the provisioning requirement of 0.40% on such advances in a staggered manner by March 31, 2025. Thus, provision on all such standard loans and advances outstanding as on March 31, 2023 shall be increased to 0.30% by March 31, 2024, to 0.35% by September 30, 2024 and to 0.40% by March 31, 2025.


References

Reserve Bank of India. (2009, May 06). 'UCBs - Extension of Area of Operation - Liberalisation'. Retrieved from https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=4970&Mode=0

Reserve Bank of India. (2022, April 01). 'Master Circular - Income Recognition, Asset Classification, Provisioning and Other Related Matters - UCBs'. Retrieved from https://rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_ViewMasCirculardetails.aspx?id=12283

Reserve Bank of India. (2022, December 01). 'Revised Regulatory Framework - Categorization of Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs) for Regulatory Purposes'. Retrieved from https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=12416&Mode=0

Reserve Bank of India. (2023, April 24). 'Provisioning for standard assets by primary (Urban) co-operative banks – revised norms under four-tiered regulatory framework'. Retrieved from https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=12491&Mode=0


Follow at - Telegram   Instagram   LinkedIn   Twitter   Facebook

Comments

Popular Posts

Credit Facilities – Lending against Gold and Silver Collateral

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued directions on credit facilities offered by various regulated entities. This article summarises the directions applicable to lending against gold and silver collateral. To whom are the directions applicable? The directions are applicable to the following Regulated Entities (REs) – Commercial Banks  Small Finance Banks (SFBs) Local Area Banks (LABs) Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs) Rural Co-operative Banks – State Co-operative Banks (StCBs) Central Co-operative Banks (CCBs) Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) for all layers – Deposit taking NBFC (NBFC-D) NBFC-Investment and Credit Companies (NBFC-ICC) NBFC-Factor  NBFC-Micro Finance Institutions (NBFC-MFI)  NBFC-Infrastructure Finance Company (NBFC-IFC)  Infrastructure Debt Fund-NBFC (IDF-NBFC)  Housing Finance Company (HFC)  To whom are the directions partially applicable? The prudential regulations are not applicable to ‘NBFCs-B...

Highlights of RBI Annual Report 2025-26 – Chapter 1 to 3

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has published its annual report for the financial year 2025-26. In a series of articles, we will go through the highlights of the report. This is the first article in the series.  Legal framework for publication of Annual Report by the RBI Report of the Central Board of Directors on the working of RBI for the year is submitted to the Central Government in terms of Section 53(2) of the RBI Act, 1934. The letter of transmittal is signed by the RBI Governor and addressed to the Finance Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Government of India. Documents submitted by the RBI to the Central Government In pursuance of Section 53(2) of the RBI Act, 1934, the following documents have been submitted to the Central Government – A copy of the Annual Accounts for the year ended March 31, 2026 certified by the RBI’s Auditors and signed by Chief General Manager-in-charge, all the Deputy Governors and Governor. 2 copies of the Annual Report of the Central Board on the workin...

Credit Facilities – Digital Lending Guidelines

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued directions on credit facilities offered by various regulated entities. This article summarises the directions applicable to digital lending. To whom are the directions applicable? The directions are applicable to the following Regulated Entities (REs) – Commercial Banks  Small Finance Banks (SFBs) Local Area Banks (LABs) Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs) Rural Co-operative Banks – State Co-operative Banks (StCBs) Central Co-operative Banks (CCBs) All India Financial Institutions (AIFIs) regulated by RBI – Export Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) National Housing Bank (NHB) Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) for all layers – Deposit taking NBFC (NBFC-D) NBFC-Investment and Credit Companies (NBFC-ICC) NBFC-Factor  NBFC-Micro...

Credit Facilities – Finance to Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs)

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued directions on credit facilities offered by various regulated entities. This article summarises the directions applicable in respect of finance to Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs). To whom are the directions applicable? The directions are applicable to the following Regulated Entities (REs) – Commercial Banks  Small Finance Banks (SFBs) Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs) All India Financial Institutions (AIFIs) regulated by RBI – Export Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) National Housing Bank (NHB) Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) What are the conditions on finance to NBFCs? Commercial Banks and SFBs The bank shall extend need based working capital facilities as well as term loans to NBFCs registered with the RBI and engaged in infrastructure financing, equipment leasing, hire-purchase, l...

Credit Facilities – Gold Metal Loans

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued directions on credit facilities offered by various regulated entities. This article summarises the directions applicable to gold metal loans. To whom are the directions applicable? The directions are applicable to the following Regulated Entities (REs) – Commercial Banks  Small Finance Banks (SFBs) What is Gold Metal Loans’ (GML)? Gold Metal Loans (GML) mean loans extended by eligible banks to specified borrowers in the form of gold metal. GMS-linked GML – means GML extended by designated banks under the Gold Monetization Scheme, 2015 (GMS), utilising – (i) the gold deposit accepted by them as Short-term Bank Deposit under the GMS, or (ii) gold borrowed from other designated banks under GMS, and where the repayment can be either in gold or in cash or in a combination of both. Import-linked GML – means GML extended by nominated banks authorized to import gold, where the source of gold metal lent is gold imported by them, and where repayment h...