RBI Rejects Tata Sons’ Application to Surrender NBFC Licence

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India’s banking regulator, has rejected Tata Sons’ application to voluntarily surrender its Certificate of Registration as a non-banking financial company (NBFC).

The decision means Tata Sons will have to comply with RBI regulations applicable to upper-layer NBFCs, including the requirement to list on stock exchanges.

Tata Sons had applied in March 2024 to surrender its Core Investment Company (CIC) registration after prepaying Rs. 21,813 crore of debt and becoming net cash positive in FY24. The RBI, however, continued to classify Tata Sons as an upper-layer NBFC and included it in its updated list of 17 upper-layer NBFCs in August 2026.

Tata Sons was first classified as an upper-layer NBFC in September 2022. Under RBI rules, such entities are required to list within three years, making September 2025 the original deadline for Tata Sons. The company remained unlisted while its deregistration application was under consideration.