Extracts from RBI Act:
Section 45-I(c):
“financial institution” means any non-banking institution which carries on as its business or part of its business any of the following activities, namely :—
(i) the financing, whether by way of making loans or advances or otherwise, of any activity other than its own;
(ii) the acquisition of shares, stock, bonds, debentures or securities issued by a Government or local authority or other marketable securities of a like nature;
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Section 45-I(f):
“non-banking financial company” means—
(i) a financial institution which is a company;
(ii) a non-banking institution which is a company and which has as its principal business the receiving of deposits, under any scheme or arrangement or in any other manner, or lending in any manner;
(iii) such other non-banking institution or class of such institutions, as the Bank may, with the previous approval of the Central Government and by notification in the Official Gazette, specify.]
[Requirement of registration and net owned fund.
45-IA. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Chapter or in any other law for the time being in force, no non-banking financial company shall commence or carry on the business of a non-banking financial institution without—
(a) obtaining a certificate of registration issued under this Chapter; and
(b) having the net owned fund of twenty-five lakh rupees or such other amount, not exceeding two hundred lakh rupees, as the Bank may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify.