Credit card rules to change from July 1: 5 important things to keep in mind

By Team Newsable  |  First Published Jun 30, 2022, 1:45 PM IST

The RBI has released recommendations addressing the issue, billing, and closure of credit cards under the new credit card laws in order to assist the ordinary man. From July 1, new credit card rules will take effect, including those governing card issue, invoicing, and closure.


The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released new credit and debit card issuing criteria in a notice. These include new limitations on credit card cancellation, invoicing, and so on. The RBI notification stated that "every Scheduled Bank (except Payments Banks, State Co-operative Banks, and District Central Cooperative Banks) and all Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) operating in India are subject to the credit card-related provisions of the RBI (Credit Card and Debit Card - Issuance and Conduct) Directions, 2022."

The RBI has released recommendations addressing the issue, billing, and closure of credit cards under the new credit card laws in order to assist the ordinary man. From July 1, new credit card rules will take effect, including those governing card issue, invoicing, and closure.

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No delay in credit card billing statements
According to the RBI master advice, card issuers must ensure that bills/statements are delivered immediately through email and that customers have at least one fortnight to pay before interest is charged.

Response within 30 days after complaint filing
The card issuer shall respond to a cardholder who challenges a charge within 30 days after the date of the complaint with an explanation and, if required, documentary proof.

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Credit card billing cycle
All credit card companies do not follow a conventional billing cycle. To offer flexibility in this area, cardholders will have a one-time opportunity to customise the credit card's billing cycle.
The amount of the refund will be modified to reflect the amount owing. Any credit amount resulting from refunds, failed, reversed, or similar transactions for which the cardholder has not made payment will be adjusted to the "payment due" and reported to the cardholder prior to the payment due date.

Closure rules of credit cards
To honour requests to close a credit card, the bank must notify the consumer immediately through email, SMS, or other means. Customers must be given many alternatives for closing their cards, such as a helpline, dedicated email address, Interactive Voice Response (IVR), a clearly visible link on the website, online banking, a mobile application, or any other manner; they cannot insist on a certain path.

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Card cancellation and more
The master directive requires the credit card issuer to honour any request to terminate a credit card within seven business days, provided the customer has settled all outstanding obligations. Following the cancellation of the account, any credit amount remaining in the cardholders' accounts will be transferred to their bank account. If card issuers do not already have access to the cardholder's bank account information, they must get it.

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