The recommendations of the Group were accepted for phased implementation and detailed guidelines on internet banking were issued by the RBI to the banks in June 2001, for adoption by the banks offering internet banking facilities.
Indeed, over one-third of those smaller banks reported having increased loans not made under previous commitments. However, many of those banks noted that the increased demand was accounted for, in part, by firms that were substituting bank loans for other funding sources. Incoming data from business surveys also indicate that lending conditions for small businesses have tightened – in some cases, significantly.