RBI has, by its Circular dated February 7, 2020, issued guidelines to scheduled commercial banks (excluding regional rural banks) and small finance banks (‘Select Banks’) in relation to deferment of the date of commencement of commercial operations (‘DCCO’) for projects in the commercial real estate (‘CRE’) sector. The Select Banks have been permitted, upon a determination on the viability of the CRE project and the restructuring plan, to extend the DCCO by up to one year and the repayment schedule for an equal or shorter duration, without classifying the account as restructured, subject to all other terms and conditions of the loans remaining unchanged. Further, in case of standard accounts, where the CRE project is delayed for reasons beyond the control of promoter(s), Select Banks have been entitled to permit a further extension of up to one year in the DCCO without revision to the asset classification. However, this is contingent upon the account continuing to be serviced as per the revised terms and conditions under the restructuring. Select Banks have also been permitted to fund cost overruns arising on account of the extension in DCCO, in accordance with extant regulations on funding cost overrun.

RBI has, by its Circular dated April 17, 2020, extended the above mentioned guidelines to loans given by non-banking financial companies to CRE sector.