Housing finance companies to be treated as NBFCs; come under RBI oversight

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her maiden Budget 2019-20 speech in early July had announced that the National Housing Bank (NHB) will not remain as the regulator for the HFCs

The Reserve Bank on Tuesday said housing finance companies (HFCs) will be treated as one of the categories of NBFCs for regulatory purposes and it will come under its direct oversight.

The Finance (No 2) Act, 2019 (23 of 2019) has amended the National Housing Bank Act, 1987, conferring certain powers for regulation of Housing Finance Companies (HFC) with Reserve Bank of India, it said in a release.

The RBI direction comes after notification issued by the central government, it added.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her maiden Budget 2019-20 speech in early July had announced that the National Housing Bank (NHB) will