In October 2025, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) granted Self-Regulatory Organisation (SRO) status to the Finance Industry Development Council (FIDC), the representative body for asset and loan financing Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) registered with the RBI.
- This recognition was granted under the aegis of RBI’s ‘Omnibus Framework for Recognition of SROs for Regulated Entities of the Reserve Bank’ issued on March 21, 2024.
Exam Hints:
- What? Granting of SRO Status
- Granted by: RBI
- Granted to: FIDC
- Sector: NBFC
- Role: Enforce code of conduct, ensure compliance
- Membership: Voluntary for eligible members.
- Leadership: Raman Aggarwal(CEO).
- Other SROs: Sa-Dhan, Microfinance Network (MFIN), FACE (Fintech sector).
- Minimum Net Worth: Rs 2 crore
Key Details of FIDC as SRO:
Role & Responsibilities: As an SRO, FIDC will enforce a code of conduct, ensure regulatory compliance, and work with the RBI to address sectoral issues.
Membership: FIDC represents nearly 400 NBFCs, with SRO membership being voluntary for eligible members.
Leadership: Raman Aggarwal, previously the Director of FIDC, has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to lead the organization in its new role as an SRO
Total SROs: So far, two microfinance companies have been recognised as SROs i.e. Sa-Dhan and Microfinance Network (MFIN) and Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment (FACE) as SRO for the financial technology (fintech) sector.
Eligibility Criteria for SRO for NBFC Sector:
Company: In order to be recognised as an SRO, the interested entity must be Non-Profit-Company under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013.
Minimum Net Worth: Interest entities are required to achieve minimum net worth of Rs 2 crore, within a time period of 1 year following the recognition as an SRO, or before commencement as an SRO, whichever is earlier.
Maximum SROs: As per the RBI’s norms, a maximum of two SROs for the NBFC sector will be recognised, subject to the condition that applicants must fulfill the prescribed criteria to the satisfaction of the RBI.
Membership Criteria: As per the RBI directions, the SRO for NBFC sector is mainly envisaged for NBFCs in categories like: Investment and Credit Companies (NBFC-ICCs), Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) and Factors (NBFC-Factors).
- It is mandatory for the recognised SRO to have a good mix of NBFC-ICCs, HFCs, and NBFC-Factors as its members.
- Further, the SRO is required to have minimum 10% of the total number of NBFCs in the Base Layer (BL) in accordance with Scale Based Regulatory Framework and categorised as NBFC-ICC and NBFC-Factor, as its member.
Condition: The RBI has the authority to revoke SRO status for NBFC, if the recognised SRO fails to achieve the above mentioned membership criteria, within 2 years of the grant of recognition.
Recent Related News:
In July 2025, RBI has announced the inclusion of NSDL Payments Bank Limited, a subsidiary of National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) in Schedule II of the RBI Act, 1934. This inclusion was made by RBI in exercise of its powers given under Section 42(6) (a) of the RBI Act, 1934.
