Learn · Bank liquidity
CRR and SLR returns: the fortnight, the forms, the sign-off.
Every bank in India keeps a cash reserve with the Reserve Bank of India and holds a share of its liabilities in liquid assets. It proves both through regular returns. This guide explains the two ratios, the fortnight, the forms, the sign-off and shortfalls. Rules here are as of 26 Oct 2026, from TrezCap’s dated rule table.
CRR and SLR in plain words
The cash reserve ratio (CRR) is the share of a bank’s net demand and time liabilities (NDTL, broadly its deposits and other borrowing from outside the banking system) that it must keep as a balance in its current account with RBI. RBI pays no interest on it. The statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) is the share of NDTL the bank must hold in cash, gold or approved securities, mainly government securities, at the close of every day. RBI changes both percentages from time to time, so they are not quoted here: TrezCap’s CRR & SLR screen shows each with the date it was read and its source.
The reporting fortnight
As of 26 Oct 2026, the reporting fortnight runs from the 1st to the 15th, and the 16th to the last day of each month (both days included). Since 16 Dec 2025. Before that the reporting fortnight ran from a Saturday for 14 days. The requirement for a fortnight is worked out on NDTL as on the last day of the second preceding fortnight. (Source: RBI (Commercial Banks – Cash Reserve Ratio and Statutory Liquidity Ratio) Directions, 2025 (RBI/DOR/2025-26/150), paragraphs 6(14), 9, 38A-38B.)
Form A and Form VIII
- Form A reports CRR. Fortnightly; as of 26 Oct 2026: within five days after the fortnight ends. Form A (RBI Act s.42(2)): CRR, filed on the CIMS portal with two authorised signatories. (Paragraphs 31, 38.)
- Form VIII reports SLR. Monthly; as of 26 Oct 2026: before the 20th of the month, for each fortnight-end of the month before. Form VIII (BR Act s.24): SLR, with an annex of daily positions. (Paragraphs 39-40.)
Who prepares and who signs
The liquidity or regulatory reporting team prepares the return from the ledger: NDTL by category, each day’s RBI balance and the eligible SLR holdings. A second person checks it and authorised signatories sign it before filing. Whoever prepares it does not also sign it off.
Penal interest on a shortfall
If a bank holds less than required, it pays penal interest on the shortfall. As of 26 Oct 2026, TrezCap’s rule table sets it at the Bank Rate plus 3% a year for the first day and the Bank Rate plus 5% if the shortfall continues (source: RBI (Commercial Banks – Cash Reserve Ratio and Statutory Liquidity Ratio) Directions, 2025 (RBI/DOR/2025-26/150), paragraphs 42(1), 42(2), 44, 46; and RBI circular RBI/2026-27/283, Penal interest on shortfall in CRR and SLR requirements – Change in Bank Rate, 7 Oct 2026). The Bank Rate itself changes, so it is not quoted here. A repeated shortfall is also a supervisory concern, so treasury watches the position daily.
A worked example: one fortnight in the virtual bank
How the fortnightly return comes together in TrezCap’s virtual bank (the steps, not RBI’s form; the bank and its figures are fictional):
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. NDTL | The ledger sorts each liability into demand, time, interbank, excluded or exempt, as on the reference date |
| 2. Requirement | The CRR and SLR percentages from the dated rule table are applied to NDTL |
| 3. Daily positions | The RBI balance and the eligible SLR holdings are read for every day of the fortnight |
| 4. Shortfall check | Any day or average below the requirement is flagged, with the penal interest it would cost |
| 5. Prepare | One learner prepares the return for the completed fortnight |
| 6. Sign off | A second learner checks it and signs it off, or returns it with a reason |
TrezCap prints its return in its own simplified training layout and names the statutory forms beside it; it is not RBI’s Form A or Form VIII, and nothing is filed anywhere.
Key terms
- NDTL: Net demand and time liabilities: broadly, a bank’s deposits and other liabilities to outsiders, net of certain interbank items.
- CRR: Cash reserve ratio: the share of NDTL kept as a balance with RBI.
- SLR: Statutory liquidity ratio: the share of NDTL held in cash, gold or approved securities.
- Reporting fortnight: The period over which the CRR balance is averaged and reported.
- Penal interest: Interest a bank pays on a shortfall in its CRR or SLR.
Practise it in TrezCap
Reading is the start. In TrezCap you do the job in FinTreasury Bank, our virtual bank: the platform calculates every figure, you take the decision and see the consequence. Free to try.
Bank ALM and liquidity simulations
Liquidity, funding and ALM cases in the virtual bank.
See the page →Questions
What is the difference between CRR and SLR?
CRR is cash a bank keeps with RBI and earns no interest on. SLR is a share of liabilities the bank holds in cash, gold or approved securities, mainly government securities, which it keeps on its own books.
What is Form A?
The return through which a bank reports its CRR position for each reporting fortnight. TrezCap names it beside its own training layout; it does not file it.
Who signs the CRR return?
It is prepared by one team or person and checked and signed by others: authorised signatories sign before it is filed. In TrezCap one learner prepares the return and a second signs it off.
Does this guide give the current CRR and SLR percentages?
No. They change, so they are not typed here. TrezCap's CRR and SLR screen shows each figure with the date it was read and its source.
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