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How Does RBI Decide Whether a Company Must List Under Its Upper-Layer NBFC Rules?

By Freedom251 Team · · 7 min read

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RBI uses two routes to place a non-banking financial company (NBFC) in the Upper Layer (NBFC-UL): the ten largest eligible NBFCs by asset size enter automatically, while other candidates are evaluated each year through a risk score and supervisory judgment. An NBFC identified as NBFC-UL must be listed within three years of identification.

The decision is made under RBI’s Scale Based Regulation (SBR) framework. Size is important, but it is not the only test: the scoring process also considers leverage, interconnectedness, complexity, liabilities, group structure and segment concentration. RBI’s Department of Regulation formally advises the company of its classification.

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What “Upper Layer” means in RBI’s NBFC framework

RBI’s SBR framework, issued on October 22, 2021, divides NBFCs into four regulatory layers:

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  • Base Layer: the lowest layer of the SBR structure.
  • Middle Layer: a higher level of regulation for NBFCs that meet the framework’s Middle-Layer criteria.
  • Upper Layer: NBFCs specifically identified by RBI as requiring enhanced regulation because of their size, risk profile or systemic importance.
  • Top Layer: expected to remain empty, but available for an NBFC-UL if RBI believes its potential systemic risk has increased substantially.

Being large does not, by itself, create a single asset-value threshold that captures every large NBFC. The automatic rule is narrower and precise: the top ten eligible NBFCs by asset size must be in the Upper Layer.

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The automatic top-ten rule

RBI’s framework states: “The top ten eligible NBFCs in terms of their asset size shall always reside in the upper layer, irrespective of any other factor.” This means an NBFC that is both eligible and ranked among the ten largest by assets is placed in NBFC-UL without needing to win a separate risk-score comparison.

Two details matter when applying this rule:

  • It is a ranking, not a universal size cut-off. The rule depends on an NBFC’s position among eligible companies. The framework does not establish one rupee amount at which every NBFC automatically becomes Upper Layer.
  • Eligibility still matters. A company should not be treated as automatically included merely because its balance sheet is large; the relevant comparison is the top ten eligible NBFCs by asset size.

How RBI scores NBFCs outside the automatic ten

For other companies, RBI runs an annual identification exercise. The scoring uses the NBFC’s position as of March 31, so the relevant balance-sheet and risk information is tied to that date rather than to an arbitrary point during the year.

Who enters the annual candidate pool?

The SBR scoring appendix describes a pool made up of:

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  • the top 50 NBFCs by total exposure, including the credit equivalent of off-balance-sheet exposure, after excluding the top ten by asset size that already enter NBFC-UL;
  • NBFCs that were designated NBFC-UL in the previous year; and
  • additional NBFCs that supervisors bring into the process using supervisory judgment.

Total exposure is therefore broader than on-balance-sheet assets for this part of the exercise. Guarantees, commitments or other off-balance-sheet items that receive a credit equivalent can affect an NBFC’s place in the candidate pool.

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The 70:30 scoring balance

RBI’s framework gives 70% weight to quantitative parameters and 30% to qualitative parameters. The broad categories are:

  • Quantitative: size and leverage, interconnectedness, and complexity.
  • Qualitative: the nature and type of liabilities, group structure, and segment penetration.

The weights show how the process is balanced, but they do not turn the result into a mechanical pass-or-fail formula. The detailed sub-parameter weights should be taken from the controlling RBI appendix when a precise calculation is required; the broad categories and the 70%/30% split are the published framework-level description.

Why a score is not the whole decision

RBI can add candidates through supervisory judgment, and its published annual list shows that a scoring result does not guarantee inclusion. The regulator reported that Piramal Enterprises Limited qualified for identification under the scoring methodology but was not included in the 2024–25 NBFC-UL list because of ongoing reorganisation in its business group.

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RBI also recorded that Tata Sons’ inclusion was without prejudice to its pending application for de-registration. That qualification demonstrates why an annual list must be read together with RBI’s explanatory notes and the company’s regulatory status, rather than inferred from a score alone.

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Identification, formal advice and the three-year listing deadline

An NBFC becomes subject to the Upper-Layer listing requirement when RBI identifies it as NBFC-UL and advises it through the Department of Regulation. RBI’s framework says that “NBFC-UL shall be mandatorily listed within 3 years of identification as NBFC-UL.”

The transition provisions create several milestones:

  1. RBI issues the classification advice. The Department of Regulation formally tells the NBFC that it has been identified as Upper Layer.
  2. Within three months, the NBFC must put in place a board-approved policy for enhanced regulation and an implementation plan.
  3. Within a maximum of 24 months from the advice, the company must meet the enhanced regulatory requirements specified by the framework.
  4. Within three years of identification, the NBFC must complete its mandatory listing.

Before the actual listing, the board-approved policy must provide disclosure requirements on the same lines as those applicable to a listed company. The three-year period is therefore not a suggestion to consider a future listing; it is the outer deadline attached to the NBFC-UL designation.

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How long an NBFC remains in the Upper Layer

Upper-Layer status is not removed immediately if a company’s next annual score falls below the identification criteria. An NBFC identified as NBFC-UL remains subject to enhanced regulation for at least five years.

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Under the framework, an NBFC can move out after it has failed to meet the classification criteria for five consecutive years. The framework also describes a possible earlier exit when the company makes a voluntary strategic move to readjust its operations under a board-approved policy. That route does not apply when downsizing is caused by adverse NBFC-specific circumstances and deteriorating financial conditions.

This persistence rule prevents a company from moving in and out of the enhanced regime because of one year’s change in assets, leverage or business mix.

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Why group-asset consolidation is often misunderstood

RBI’s October 11, 2022 circular on “Multiple NBFCs in a Group: Classification in Middle Layer” directs consolidation of group NBFC assets for specified Middle-Layer classification purposes. The same provisions expressly do not apply to Upper-Layer classification.

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Consequently, adding the assets of several NBFCs in one corporate group is not, by itself, the Upper-Layer test. For NBFC-UL, use the SBR Upper-Layer rules: the eligible top-ten asset-size ranking, the annual candidate pool and scoring methodology, prior-year status, supervisory judgment and RBI’s formal identification.

How to assess whether a particular NBFC may have to list

A company-specific assessment should follow the same sequence RBI uses, while recognizing that only RBI can make the formal designation:

  1. Check the asset-size ranking. Determine whether the NBFC is among the ten largest eligible NBFCs by asset size for the relevant review.
  2. Check total exposure. Include the credit equivalent of off-balance-sheet exposure when considering whether the company falls within the top-50 candidate pool.
  3. Fix the scoring date. Use the company’s position as of March 31 for the annual exercise.
  4. Review the risk factors. Examine size and leverage, interconnectedness, complexity, liability structure, group structure and segment penetration.
  5. Check prior-year designation. An existing NBFC-UL remains in the candidate process and is protected by the minimum five-year period.
  6. Allow for supervisory judgment. RBI may add an NBFC to the pool or resolve an outcome using supervisory considerations not captured by a simple ranking.
  7. Read RBI’s published explanation. If a company qualifies under the scoring methodology but is omitted, or is included subject to a qualification, the regulator’s stated reason controls the interpretation.
  8. Use the advice date for deadlines. The three-month policy milestone, 24-month enhanced-regulation milestone and three-year listing deadline run from the formal identification advice, not merely from a company’s internal estimate of its score.

What the 2024–25 list illustrates

RBI published its 2024–25 NBFC-UL list on January 16, 2025. That dated release is useful because it records both the methodology and exceptions: Piramal Enterprises qualified under the scoring methodology but was omitted because of ongoing group reorganisation, while Tata Sons’ inclusion was stated to be without prejudice to its pending de-registration application.

The release should not be treated as a permanent roster. The rule is continuing, the scoring is annual, and RBI can publish a later list or amend the framework. Anyone checking a company’s current obligation should therefore verify the latest RBI notification and the date on which the company received its formal classification advice.

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Common mistakes when interpreting the Upper-Layer rules

  • “Every large NBFC must list.” Incorrect. The automatic provision covers the top ten eligible NBFCs by asset size; other companies are assessed through the annual process.
  • “The score alone decides the result.” Incorrect. Supervisory judgment and RBI’s stated regulatory considerations can affect the candidate pool and final list.
  • “Top 50 by assets means top 50 by total exposure.” Incorrect. The annual candidate pool uses total exposure, including credit equivalents of off-balance-sheet exposure, while the automatic rule refers to the top ten by asset size.
  • “A one-year score reduction removes Upper-Layer status.” Incorrect. The framework keeps an identified NBFC in the enhanced regime for at least five years, with a five-consecutive-year criterion for ordinary exit.
  • “Middle-Layer group consolidation determines Upper-Layer status.” Incorrect. RBI’s 2022 group-classification provisions expressly do not apply to Upper-Layer classification.
  • “The listing clock starts when the annual list appears.” The operative deadlines are tied to RBI’s identification advice, so the company must establish that formal date.

The Bottom Line

RBI’s decision combines a mandatory top-ten asset-size rule with annual risk scoring and supervisory judgment. Once RBI identifies an NBFC as Upper Layer, the company must implement the enhanced regime and complete a listing within three years, and it normally remains subject to the designation for at least five years.

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financial regulationNBFCNBFC-ULRBIScale Based Regulation

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