The Reserve Bank of India has changed how commercial banks will display and decide interest rates on deposits starting from October 1, 2026. The central bank issued a set of “Amendment Directions” on July 31, after it was uncovered that HDFC Bank offered “special interest rates” for a government consumer. The move aims to ensure interest rates are disclosed transparently, while also giving banks more flexibility in pricing bulk deposits.
The new rules specifically note customers placing bulk deposits, as banks can now offer different interest rates for heavy deposits, unlike regular retail FDs. Bulk deposits generally refer to a single-rupee term deposit of ₹3 crore and above. However, this might differ for some banks.
From October 1, banks will disclose their bulk deposit interest rates on their official website at 10:00 am each business day. The rates have to be published latest by 10:10 am, allowing big depositors to see the official rate before placing funds. The rates have to be the same across all of the bank’s branches.
However, banks may offer differential interest rates on bulk deposits based on how “risky” the assets are. This will be decided based on the LCR run-off rate, a technical measure that estimates how quickly a customer will withdraw funds in a stress situation. The new rules apply to both domestic deposits and the NRI rupee deposit framework.
For regular customers, these new rules will not apply to existing interest rates or change a current FD plan. It will mainly target how rates are displayed and will not cause day-to-day rate changes. Banks must pay customers according to the posted rates for an FD that was started on a particular day.
The framework will apply to new bulk and term deposits from October 1.
For commercial banks and small finance banks, if the bulk deposit falls into a more “stable” category, a bank can offer a higher interest rate compared to another bulk depositor with a “risky” LCR bucket.
The revised framework applies to commercial banks, small finance banks, regional rural banks (RRBs), local area banks, payment banks and urban cooperative banks.
