# RBI plans standardised loan pricing rules for greater transparency 2026-08-05T23:14:28+00:00 | Business & Economy | Indian Opinion Desk The Reserve Bank of India plans to draft rules to standardise and harmonise loan pricing across regulated lenders to improve transparency and consumer protection, Governor Sanjay Malhotra said after the Monetary Policy Committee kept the repo rate unchanged at 5.25%, Livemint reported. The RBI will examine operational differences between the marginal cost of funds-based lending rate and external benchmark-linked lending rate systems, including day-count conventions and benchmark reset dates, and said draft directions will be issued shortly. Malhotra said the exercise is a rationalisation and should not be read as a change to loan repayments or equated monthly instalments. About 67.6% of bank loans currently follow the external benchmark system. Deputy Governor Shirish Chandra Murmu said the emphasis is on transparency and is conduct-related, and Malhotra said no major requirement has been proposed for non-banking financial companies or housing finance companies, which are not required to link their loans to RBI-mandated benchmarks. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Livemint's report is a direct account of Malhotra's post-policy statement and press conference remarks, including his own clarification that no major requirement applies to non-bank lenders, and Deputy Governor Murmu's separate on-the-record remark that the exercise is conduct-related and about transparency. The central bank's own assurance that EMIs will not change is reported as stated, not tested against rules that have yet to be published. The detailed system-level banking ratios cited, deposit growth, NPA ratios, capital adequacy, describe current sector health rather than the pricing reform itself. Watch for the pricing directions RBI said it will issue shortly. ## Coverage - www.livemint.com Tags: Reserve Bank of India, Sanjay Malhotra Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/rbi-to-standardize-rules-on-loan-rates-to-improve-transparency-consumer-protection/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/rbi-to-standardize-rules-on-loan-rates-to-improve-transparency-consumer-protection/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.