CHAPTER X - COMMUNICATION, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, RESEARCH AND STATISTICS - Revision

RBI Annual Report 2025-26

CHAPTER X

COMMUNICATION, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, RESEARCH AND STATISTICS

PART 1: COMPLETE REVISION NOTE

1. Chapter Overview

In 2025-26, RBI strengthened financial literacy and customer protection communication, enhanced international engagement, improved government cash-management systems, managed foreign exchange reserves prudently, expanded policy research, and modernised information-management systems including CIMS and CISBI.

The chapter covers eight substantive areas: Communication Processes; International Relations; Government and Bank Accounts; Managing Foreign Exchange Reserves; Economic and Policy Research; Statistics and Information Management; Legal Issues; followed by concluding observations.

EXAM ALERT: India assumed the BRICS Chair in 2026. Theme: ‘Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability’.

2. Communication Processes

Department of Communication (DoC) implemented Communication Policy 3.0 in 2025-26, retaining the three stated priorities of agility, accuracy and accessibility while expanding the multi-channel strategy.

• 2025-26 goals: RBI Sunta Hai social-media listening project; in-house podcast media room; impact assessment of Public Awareness Campaigns (PACs); greater collaboration with regulated entities.

• Social-media listening uses technology to monitor social media/messaging applications for supervisory cues and early detection of misinformation requiring public-interest fact checking.

• A media room was designed for in-house podcasts. RBI Talks: From Paisa to Policy was launched January 1, 2026. First episode: ‘Demystifying Know Your Customer (KYC)’.

• PAC impact assessment focuses on media mix, creatives, regional-language relevance and behavioural outcomes.

• PACs operate under ‘RBI Kehta Hai… Jaankaar Baniye, Satark Rahiye’; the ‘RBI Kehta Hai. Smart Bano, Cool Raho’ tagline also continued. Campaigns address impersonation scams, fraudulent links, QR-code traps and other digital risks.

• Customised communication was disseminated in 11 major regional languages apart from Hindi and English. Re-KYC and unclaimed-deposit awareness received focused treatment.

• RBI uses X, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook (RBI Says) and Public App. Online activity is monitored through a vendor platform and misinformation is addressed in coordination with PIB Fact Check Unit.

• Six post-Monetary Policy press conferences were held during 2025-26. Six informal Chatham House media interactions were held in Mumbai and Delhi. Four regional-media workshops were held at Vijayawada, Bhubaneswar, Nagpur and Jaipur.

• 2026-27 communication agenda: strengthen social-media engagement and regional-media outreach.

EXAM ALERT: Six post-MPC press conferences + six informal media interactions + four regional-media workshops in 2025-26.

3. High-Value Communication Campaigns

Table X.1 lists 24 customised campaigns during 2025-26. For examination purposes, remember the campaign-theme/date pairs most likely to be tested, especially repeated campaigns and digital/customer-protection themes.

Campaign / theme	Period
365-day Doordarshan campaign	April 2025–March 2026
365-day All India Radio campaign	April 2025–March 2026
Financial Literacy Week 2025	April 2025; repeat November 2025
Inoperative Accounts	April–May 2025; repeat January 2026
Retail Direct Scheme App	June 2025
First Resort Complaint, RB-IOS	June 2025
Nomination Facility	June–July 2025; repeat November 2025
Children’s Awareness Campaign	August 2025
Re-KYC	August–September 2025
Sachet Portal	August–September 2025; repeats December 2025 & March 2026
MANI App	September 2025; repeat February 2026
Forex Trading Platform	September 2025; repeat December 2025
Continuous Cheque Clearing	October 2025
Unclaimed Deposits	October 2025 Phase I; November 2025 Phase II
Misinformation of Coins	November 2025
Digital Arrest	November 2025; March 2026 WhatsApp campaign
Re-KYC, CKYCR & VKYC	December 2025–January 2026; March 2026 CKYCR
Hoarding in Bus Shelters	January–March 2026
Financial Literacy Week 2026	February 2026
UDGAM Portal	February–March 2026
Digital Payment Awareness Week 2026	March 2026
Central Bank Digital Currency	March 2026
RB-IOS WhatsApp Campaign	March 2026
Digital Arrest WhatsApp Campaign	March 2026

 

Abbreviations in the source: RB-IOS = Reserve Bank Integrated Ombudsman Scheme; KYC = Know Your Customer; CKYCR = Central Know Your Customer Registry; UDGAM = Unclaimed Deposits - Gateway to Access Information; VKYC = Video Know Your Customer.

4. International Relations

The International Department (ID) strengthened engagement with international organisations and central banks, contributing to IMF, OECD, G20, BIS, FSB, BRICS and SAARCFINANCE deliberations. During India's 2026 BRICS Chair, RBI steered the central-bank work streams of the Finance Track.

• 2025-26 priorities: BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) amendments and onboarding of new members; operational readiness for SAARC currency-swap support for 2024-27; SAARCFINANCE capacity building/technical assistance/research; MoUs with other central banks.

• RBI supported Maldives and Bhutan under the SAARC currency-swap framework 2024-27.

• MoU with Banque de France signed March 9, 2026; MoU with European Central Bank signed May 10, 2026. Engagement terms with Bank of Japan renewed for one year.

• BRICS Finance Track discussions included CRA amendments, climate-risk frameworks/stress testing, cross-border intelligence, and cyber-risk assessment of critical technology suppliers. India assumed BRICS Chair in January 2026; Finance and Central Bank Deputies meeting was held virtually February 26, 2026; central-bank work streams concluded in March 2026.

• SAARCFINANCE supports regional cooperation through technical assistance and knowledge sharing in banking regulation/supervision, data warehousing and treasury operations.

• SEACEN Research and Training Centre comprises 19 central banks/monetary authorities. RBI participated in its 24th EXCO meeting, 45th BOG meeting and Special EXCO meeting in 2025-26.

• G20: South Africa held Presidency from December 2024, theme ‘Solidarity, Equality, and Sustainability’. Leaders’ Summit: November 22-23, 2025. United States assumed Presidency December 1, 2025.

• IMF/World Bank: IMF Article IV consultations in September 2025; joint IMF-World Bank FSAP concluded October 30, 2025 with publication of World Bank FSA of India. IMF FSSA of India was published February 28, 2025. India is an observer in OECD ATFC.

• Other bilateral engagement: 7th RBI-Bank of Japan Senior Level Dialogue in Mumbai; 9th Joint Technical Coordination Committee meeting with Nepal Rastra Bank in November 2025.

• 2026-27: steer BRICS Finance Track central-bank work streams and initiate work on SAARC currency-swap framework for 2027-30.

EXAM ALERT: SEACEN = 19 central banks/monetary authorities. BRICS Finance & Central Bank Deputies meeting = February 26, 2026.

5. Government and Bank Accounts

Department of Government and Bank Accounts (DGBA) acts as RBI's banker to banks and governments, maintains internal accounts and formulates RBI accounting policies. A first-of-its-kind International Conference on Central Bank Accounting Practices was held in Mumbai on November 14-15, 2025.

• 2025-26 goal: implement Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) payments through Aadhaar using NPCI's Aadhaar Payment Bridge System (APBS), by integrating e-Kuber with NPCI and Central/State Government systems.

• Initially, 26 States and 3 UTs went live for Aadhaar-based DBT under CSS. Subsequently, CSS NEFT/RTGS implementation for Nagaland, Puducherry, Jammu and NCT Delhi brought all 28 States and 3 UTs live in CSS.

• The final architecture enables just-in-time CSS payments through tripartite integration of e-Kuber, PFMS and respective State Government systems.

• Agency commission rates were revised effective April 1, 2025. Review is to occur once every three years. Commission is payable on all payment transactions handled by Agency Banks except pre-funded transactions or transactions where Government provides other compensation.

• CTS Phase 1 for Government cheques became effective October 4, 2025, reducing settlement from T+1 to same day.

• Centralised Inward Clearing (CIC) became effective March 2, 2026. Banking Department, Chennai functions as the service branch for inward clearing under CIC; aim includes lower operational risk and human-resource requirement.

• Five State Governments were onboarded for agency-bank reporting; one for direct NEFT/RTGS in enhanced e-receipts. Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya and NCT New Delhi were onboarded for online GST-receipt Memorandum of Error. 26 States and 3 UTs were live for online MoE.

• Dashboard facility: 9 State Governments + 2 UTs onboarded. IFSC synchronisation: 12 State Governments onboarded.

• e-Kuber was integrated with SPARSH for recovery of excess defence pension through direct NEFT/RTGS receipt model. Migration of Inter-Government Adjustment Advice (IGAA) to enhanced e-payments in e-Kuber was initiated.

• e-Kuber enables Government CBDC payments under the Treasury Single Account framework, with RBI as sponsor bank. APBS/Aadhaar-based model can release Government payments as CBDC/programmable CBDC tokens.

• 2026-27: online reporting of Government payments/amendments; migrate IGAA to enhanced e-payments in e-Kuber; enable e-Kuber for Government DBT payments through TSAs.

EXAM ALERT: CSS coverage: 28 States + 3 UTs. CIC effective March 2, 2026. Agency commission revision effective April 1, 2025.

6. Managing Foreign Exchange Reserves

Department of External Investments and Operations (DEIO) managed foreign exchange reserves with emphasis on stability, safety and liquidity amid global uncertainty. Foreign exchange reserves increased 3.4% in 2025-26, same as the previous year. Diversification continued through exploration of new asset classes and jurisdictions for foreign-currency assets.

• 2025-26 goals: promote collaborative reserve management through multilateral platforms and position RBI as a centre of excellence for peer central banks; comprehensively review credit-risk policy and strengthen technology use.

• Focused discussion on Bilateral Swap Lines with ASEAN central banks: October 17, 2025.

• International Conference ‘Resilient Reserves: Anchoring Stability in an Era of Uncertainty’: March 5-6, 2026.

• Credit-risk policy was comprehensively reviewed using international best practices and critical risk metrics. Online dashboards were deployed for data-driven dynamic risk assessment of RBI investments.

• 2026-27: focus on foreign-currency asset deployment to optimise risks/improve returns, improve data dissemination/disclosure, and upgrade reserve-management systems/processes.

EXAM ALERT: FER growth = 3.4% in 2025-26, same as 2024-25.

7. Economic and Policy Research

DEPR is RBI's key centre for policy research and analytical inputs. It publishes the Annual Report, Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India, State Finances: A Study of Budgets and Handbook of Statistics on Indian States, along with topical research papers/articles and supports external academic research.

• All primary and secondary statistics covering monetary aggregates, BoP, external debt and related areas were disseminated within prescribed timelines with emphasis on data quality.

• 2025-26 target: minimum 100 research papers. Actual extensive research projects undertaken: 102.

• Research themes included multivariate core-trend dynamics using PLFS data, bank competition and monetary transmission, FinTech-app user experience, external sector, real-sector developments and digital technology.

• Report on Currency and Finance theme: ‘India’s External Sector: Navigating Global Turbulence’. Report on Finances of Panchayati Raj Institutions was also under preparation.

• DEPR Study Circle organised 14 online seminars/presentations. Central Library's EBSCO Discovery Service provides a single-interface search across subscribed resources; NotNul Hindi package includes 5,900 e-books and more than 150 magazines.

• 20 RBI Professorial Chairs are established across research institutes/universities.

• DEPR engaged with IMF Article IV/FSAP processes, S&P, Moody's and Fitch, 16th Finance Commission, NITI Aayog, SEBI and Advisory Committee on National Accounts Statistics.

• 2026-27 topics include manufacturing export intensity/inter-sectoral linkages, global monetary-policy spillovers, debt-market mutual-fund resilience, renewable-energy transition, UCB performance, household consumption expenditure survey, and GCCs' role in India's BoP.

EXAM ALERT: DEPR: minimum target 100 research papers; actual 102 extensive research projects. Professorial Chairs = 20.

8. Statistics and Information Management

DSIM focused on data compilation, quality, reporting systems and modernisation. Monetary-policy surveys were critically reviewed, and household-survey results covering semi-urban and rural areas began to be released.

• 2025-26 agenda: move remaining paper/e-mail/ad hoc reporting to structured electronic CIMS reporting; shift CIMS IT infrastructure to a new RBI data centre; modernise CISBI; phase-wise SDMX-based element-based reporting (EBR); use climate data and AI/ML in forecasting/nowcasting; leverage LLMs for unstructured-data analysis; expand/rebase HPI and BkSPI.

• Implementation: all assigned paper/e-mail returns moved to structured CIMS reporting. CIMS migration to the new data centre and capacity augmentation were in progress.

• CISBI modernisation initiated. EBR software modules designed/developed/tested; pilot with select banks expanded to major SCBs, which created standard data architecture and began parallel reporting in CIMS.

• AI/ML upgrades incorporated extreme-climate-event data into forecasting/nowcasting. Extreme-weather effects on vegetable prices were analysed.

• Advanced LLMs were used for RBI Integrated Ombudsman Scheme complaint data and social-media feedback, producing granular bank-wise sentiment insights. AI/ML toolbox was also used for regional-level Basic Statistical Return data.

• HPI compiled quarterly using transaction-level registration-authority data; HPI base year updated to 2022-23. BkSPI base-year revision was completed in alignment with macroeconomic aggregates.

• CIMS analytical platform upgraded to Cloudera AI, with internal testing. Central Fraud Registry for UCBs and NBFCs in CIMS completed. Analytical dashboards were under development.

• Generic crop-loss assessment framework designed using remote sensing + AI/ML. Geospatial night-time light data plus Google Search volume used to nowcast GSDP growth of major States.

• 2026-27: review monetary-policy surveys; review data-dissemination portal; migrate CIMS to new Data Centre; conversational English data-query facility; phased EBR implementation; Statistical Data Quality Index (DQI) and dashboards; explore high-frequency service-sector data.

EXAM ALERT: HPI base year = 2022-23. EBR uses SDMX standard. CIMS is the core structured-reporting platform in this agenda.

9. Legal Issues

The Legal Department examines/advises on legal issues and manages litigation for RBI. It also supports DICGC, CAFRAL and other RBI-owned institutions on legal issues, litigation and court matters.

• 2025-26 goal: research paper on ‘Leveraging of AI for Enhancing the Legal Function in the Financial Sector’; work was ongoing and expected to be completed soon.

• Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025 received Presidential assent on April 15, 2025. Among its stated objectives: improve banking-sector governance, enhance depositor/investor protection, increase tenure of directors other than chairperson and whole-time directors in cooperative banks, and provide for simultaneous and successive nomination.

• Legal Department Research Cell conducted in-house discussions; monthly presentations were commenced. It also provided faculty support to RBI training establishments and external institutions.

• In collaboration with NLSIU Bengaluru, National Law University Delhi, NALSAR Hyderabad and GNLU Gandhinagar, four training programmes on Regulation Drafting were organised.

• 2026-27 goal: review the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 and suggest required legislative changes.

EXAM ALERT: Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025: Presidential assent = April 15, 2025.

10. Chapter Takeaway

The chapter's common thread is institutional modernisation: communication became more technology-enabled and multilingual; international engagement expanded through BRICS, G20, IMF, FSB, SEACEN and bilateral channels; e-Kuber deepened real-time Government payments; reserves management emphasised resilience and risk analytics; DEPR expanded policy research; DSIM accelerated structured data, AI/ML, LLM and data-quality initiatives; and the Legal Department strengthened legal research, training and legislative review.

 

PART 2: IMPORTANT NUMBERS

Topic	Figure	Exam significance
Regional-language communication	11 languages + Hindi + English	Customised communication in 2025-26
Post-MPC press conferences	6	Held during 2025-26
Informal Chatham House media interactions	6	Mumbai and Delhi
Regional media workshops	4	Vijayawada, Bhubaneswar, Nagpur, Jaipur
International conference, Central Bank Accounting	Nov 14-15, 2025	First-of-its-kind conference stated in chapter
CSS coverage	28 States + 3 UTs	All live after implementation for Nagaland, Puducherry, Jammu and NCT Delhi
Agency commission review	Every 3 years	Revised effective April 1, 2025
State Govt dashboard onboarding	9 States + 2 UTs	DGBA systems
IFSC synchronisation	12 States	DGBA systems
Online MoE	26 States + 3 UTs	GST-receipt MoE
FER growth	3.4%	2025-26, same as previous year
SEACEN membership	19	Central banks/monetary authorities
DEPR research target	Minimum 100	2025-26
DEPR research undertaken	102	Extensive research projects
DEPR Study Circle	14	Online seminars/presentations
RBI Professorial Chairs	20	Across research institutes/universities
Hindi e-books	5,900	NotNul package
Hindi magazines	150+	NotNul package
HPI base year	2022-23	Updated during 2025-26
Legal training programmes	4	Regulation Drafting

 

PART 3: IMPORTANT DATES

Date / period	Event
January 1, 2026	RBI Talks: From Paisa to Policy launched; first episode on KYC
April 1, 2025	Revised Agency Commission Rates effective
April 15, 2025	Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025 received Presidential assent
October 17, 2025	DEIO discussion on Bilateral Swap Lines with ASEAN central banks
November 14-15, 2025	International Conference on Central Bank Accounting Practices, Mumbai
October 4, 2025	CTS Phase 1 for Government cheques effective; settlement T+1 to same day
March 2, 2026	Centralised Inward Clearing effective
March 5-6, 2026	DEIO conference ‘Resilient Reserves: Anchoring Stability in an Era of Uncertainty’
March 9, 2026	MoU with Banque de France signed
May 10, 2026	MoU with European Central Bank signed
February 26, 2026	BRICS Finance and Central Bank Deputies meeting, virtual
March 2026	BRICS central-bank work streams concluded
November 22-23, 2025	G20 Leaders’ Summit under South African Presidency
December 1, 2025	United States assumed G20 Presidency
September 2025	IMF 2025 Article IV consultations
October 30, 2025	Joint IMF-World Bank FSAP concluded
February 28, 2025	IMF FSSA of India published

 

PART 4: IMPORTANT RBI / GOI / OTHER INITIATIVES

Initiative	Organisation	Purpose / key fact
Communication Policy 3.0	RBI	Agility, accuracy and accessibility; expanded multi-channel communication.
RBI Sunta Hai	RBI	Social-media listening for supervisory cues and misinformation.
RBI Talks: From Paisa to Policy	RBI	Podcast series to improve public understanding of monetary/regulatory policies.
RBI Kehta Hai PACs	RBI	Multilingual financial/customer-awareness campaigns.
BRICS CRA	BRICS/RBI	Contingent Reserve Arrangement; RBI engaged on amendments and new-member onboarding.
SAARC Currency Swap Framework 2024-27	RBI/SAARC	Swap support; Maldives and Bhutan received support during 2025-26.
SAARCFINANCE	SAARC central banks/finance secretaries	Regional capacity building, technical assistance and knowledge sharing.
SEACEN	Regional central-bank forum	19 central banks/monetary authorities; capacity building hub.
APBS + e-Kuber CSS	RBI/NPCI/States	Aadhaar-based CSS/DBT and real-time gross settlement architecture.
CIC	RBI	Centralised inward clearing; effective March 2, 2026.
e-Kuber + SPARSH	RBI/CGDA	Recovery of excess defence pension via direct NEFT/RTGS receipt model.
e-Kuber + CBDC	RBI/NPCI/Government departments	Government CBDC/programmable CBDC payments under TSA framework.
DEIO reserve-risk dashboards	RBI	Data-driven dynamic assessment of investment credit risk.
Report on Currency and Finance	RBI/DEPR	2025-26 theme: India’s External Sector: Navigating Global Turbulence.
CIMS / EBR / SDMX	RBI/DSIM	Structured reporting and element-based reporting modernisation.
Cloudera AI + CIMS	RBI/DSIM	AI-enabled analytical platform; internal testing during 2025-26.
Central Fraud Registry in CIMS	RBI/DSIM	Completed for UCBs and NBFCs.
HPI rebasing	RBI/DSIM	Base year updated to 2022-23.
AI for Legal Function research	RBI/Legal Department	Research on leveraging AI in financial-sector legal functions.
Regulation Drafting programmes	RBI + NLSIU/NLU Delhi/NALSAR/GNLU	Four programmes during 2025-26.

 

PART 5: KEY DEFINITIONS / CONCEPTS

Term	Meaning / exam point
Communication Policy 3.0	RBI communication approach focused on agility, accuracy and accessibility with multi-channel expansion.
PAC	Public Awareness Campaign.
RBI Sunta Hai	Social-media listening initiative to identify supervisory cues/misinformation.
RB-IOS	Reserve Bank Integrated Ombudsman Scheme.
UDGAM	Unclaimed Deposits - Gateway to Access Information.
CKYCR	Central Know Your Customer Registry.
VKYC	Video Know Your Customer.
BRICS CRA	Contingent Reserve Arrangement.
SAARCFINANCE	Network of Central Bank Governors and Finance Secretaries of SAARC countries.
DEIO	Department of External Investments and Operations.
DEPR	Department of Economic and Policy Research.
DSIM	Department of Statistics and Information Management.
CIMS	Centralised Information Management System.
CISBI	Central Information System for Banking Infrastructure.
EBR	Element-Based Reporting.
SDMX	Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange.
HPI	Housing Price Index.
BkSPI	Banking Services Price Index.
DQI	Data Quality Index.
CIC	Centralised Inward Clearing.
APBS	Aadhaar Payment Bridge System.
TSA	Treasury Single Account.

 

PART 6: CONFUSION POINTS

Confusion	Correct distinction
Communication Policy 3.0 vs RBI Sunta Hai	Policy 3.0 is the broader communication policy; RBI Sunta Hai is the social-media listening project.
RBI Talks vs PACs	RBI Talks is a podcast series; PACs are broader public-awareness campaigns.
Six press conferences vs six media interactions	Both are six, but press conferences followed bi-monthly monetary-policy announcements; media interactions were informal Chatham House interactions.
BRICS Chair vs G20 Presidency	India assumed BRICS Chair in 2026; South Africa held G20 Presidency during 2025, followed by the US from December 1, 2025.
BRICS CRA vs SAARC currency swap	CRA is a BRICS reserve arrangement; SAARC framework concerns currency-swap support for SAARC countries.
CSS 26 States + 3 UTs vs 28 States + 3 UTs	26 States + 3 UTs was the earlier Aadhaar-DBT go-live stage; after further implementation, all 28 States + 3 UTs were live in CSS.
T+1 vs same day	Government-cheque settlement under CTS Phase 1 changed from T+1 to same day, effective October 4, 2025.
CIMS vs CISBI	CIMS is the central information-management/reporting platform; CISBI is the banking-infrastructure information system being modernised as part of CIMS.
EBR vs SDMX	EBR is the reporting approach; SDMX is the data/metadata exchange standard used for it.
HPI vs BkSPI	HPI covers housing prices; BkSPI is Banking Services Price Index.
DEPR vs DSIM	DEPR focuses on policy research; DSIM focuses on statistics, data compilation, reporting and information management.
FER growth vs reserve strategy	FER increased 3.4%; separately, DEIO continued diversification and prioritised stability, safety and liquidity.
Banking Laws Act vs RBI Act review	Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025 is a legislative development; 2026-27 Legal agenda is to review the RBI Act, 1934.

 

PART 7: LAST-MINUTE EXAM FACTS

• Communication Policy 3.0 retained agility, accuracy and accessibility as its key communication focus.

• India's BRICS Chair in 2026 used the theme ‘Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability’.

• RBI customised communication in 11 major regional languages apart from Hindi and English during 2025-26.

• RBI Talks: From Paisa to Policy launched January 1, 2026; first episode was ‘Demystifying KYC’.

• Six post-Monetary Policy press conferences and six informal Chatham House media interactions were conducted in 2025-26.

• Four regional-media workshops were held at Vijayawada, Bhubaneswar, Nagpur and Jaipur.

• Table X.1 contains 24 customised communication campaigns for 2025-26.

• MoU with Banque de France was signed March 9, 2026; ECB MoU on May 10, 2026.

• India assumed BRICS Chair in January 2026; central-bank work streams concluded in March 2026.

• SAARCFINANCE covers regional capacity building in banking regulation/supervision, data warehousing and treasury operations.

• SEACEN comprises 19 central banks/monetary authorities.

• South African G20 Presidency culminated in Leaders’ Summit November 22-23, 2025; US assumed Presidency December 1, 2025.

• IMF-World Bank FSAP concluded October 30, 2025; IMF FSSA of India was published February 28, 2025.

• CSS implementation ultimately covered all 28 States and 3 UTs, enabling just-in-time payments through e-Kuber, PFMS and State systems.

• Agency commission rates were revised effective April 1, 2025 and are to be reviewed every three years.

• Government-cheque CTS Phase 1 reduced settlement from T+1 to same day, effective October 4, 2025.

• Centralised Inward Clearing became effective March 2, 2026; Banking Department Chennai functions as service branch.

• Government CBDC payments through e-Kuber are enabled under TSA, with RBI as sponsor bank.

• FER increased 3.4% in 2025-26, the same growth rate as the previous year.

• DEPR target was minimum 100 research papers; 102 extensive research projects were undertaken.

• DEPR Study Circle organised 14 online seminars/presentations and 20 RBI Professorial Chairs are established.

• HPI base year was updated to 2022-23.

• CIMS moved all assigned paper/e-mail returns to structured electronic reporting; CIMS migration to the new Data Centre remained in progress.

• Advanced LLMs were used for RBI Integrated Ombudsman Scheme complaints and social-media feedback for bank-wise sentiment insights.

• Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025 received Presidential assent on April 15, 2025; 2026-27 Legal agenda includes review of the RBI Act, 1934.