What happened
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 23 October 2026 put out the final version of its Eleventh Amendment Directions, 2026, which sit under its capital adequacy rulebook for commercial banks. The new instructions will come into effect from 1 April 2027.
The directions bring India in line with the Leverage Ratio 2017 Standard, the most recent leverage framework from the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. The Basel Committee is the international body that sets standards for bank regulation.
The RBI said it studied the feedback on the draft and changed the final text accordingly. A statement on that feedback is attached as an annex to the press release.
What it means for you
The directions apply to commercial banks, so this is a matter of bank regulation rather than a change in any product or rate. A leverage ratio is a simple check on a bank’s strength: it compares a bank’s capital with the size of its total exposures, without adjusting for how risky each asset is. It works alongside risk-based capital rules.
The press release does not state the specific ratio level, or the changes made after feedback. Savers and borrowers should not expect any immediate change to deposit or loan terms from this announcement alone.
Background
The RBI issued the draft amendment directions on 7 August 2026 and invited comments from stakeholders until 28 August 2026. The final version follows that consultation, and banks have until 1 April 2027 before the rules apply.
For other recent regulatory moves, see our coverage of RBI scrapping non-option derivative limits for banks.
