New Delhi: The Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have taken various measures to strengthen cooperative banks’ financial health, governance and digital inclusion along with enhancing deposit security, credit availability and prudent regulation, said Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

As part of efforts to support business expansion, Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) have been permitted to open new branches, enabling wider outreach and improved customer access. In a move aimed at boosting credit flow, the permissible housing loan exposure of UCBs has been raised to 25 per cent of their total loans and advances, from the earlier limit of 10 per cent.

To improve governance continuity, amendments to the Banking Regulation Act have increased the maximum tenure of directors of cooperative banks from eight years to ten years, allowing experienced boards to provide longer-term oversight.

To promote digital payments and financial inclusion, the licensing fee for onboarding cooperative banks to the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) has been reduced, lowering entry barriers for smaller institutions.

The government has also strengthened institutional support for cooperative banks through the creation of new entities. The National Urban Co-operative Finance and Development Corporation Limited (NUCFDC) was established as a non-deposit-taking, non-banking financial company to serve as an umbrella organisation for UCBs, providing information technology infrastructure and operational support.

For rural institutions, a Shared Services Entity (SSE) named Sahakar Sarthi has been established to deliver common technological services to Rural Cooperative Banks, improving efficiency and reducing operational costs.

Further strengthening customer protection, Rural Cooperative Banks have been brought under the RBI’s Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, providing customers with access to a unified grievance redressal mechanism.

On deposit safety, the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) continues to insure deposits of all cooperative banks up to Rs 5 lakh per depositor per bank, including both principal and interest, providing enhanced confidence to depositors.

Recently, it was also announced that loans sanctioned by banks to the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), as of January 19, 2026, for on-lending to cooperative societies, are eligible for classification as priority sector lending under the respective categories.

The first Instagram, TikTok and Facebook posts by members of the public promoting weight-loss jabs have been banned by the advertising regulator.

The posts used discount codes and referral links to advertise the injections, including Mounjaro, for the online pharmacies Voy, Zava, MedExpress and the online prescribing service UK Meds Direct, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said.

Weight-loss injections are a prescription-only medicine and therefore cannot be advertised to the public.

Affiliate or referral schemes typically allow individuals to share links or discount codes and give them a reward or other benefit if someone else uses them.

The ASA warned that, in practice, this could mean members of the public promoting prescription-only medicines to friends, family, followers and the public, sometimes without realising that their posts may be ads or that strict rules apply to them.

The regulator said its rulings made clear that both brands and individuals are responsible for sticking to advertising rules, and that posts that include affiliate or referral schemes can still count as ads, even if they appear on personal social media accounts.

The banned posts promoted the medicines by naming them directly, using related hashtags, showing images of injection pens or encouraging followers to start their own weight-loss ‘journey’, alongside offering discounts or incentives.

The ASA ruled that they were advertising prescription-only medicines because they were public posts.

It also found that although the companies had not directly asked for the posts to be made, they did control how their affiliate and referral schemes worked.

This meant they were also responsible for making sure the advertising rules were followed.

The ASA warned that weight-loss prescription drugs were powerful medicines that should be used only under the supervision of a qualified medical professional, adding: “Promoting them irresponsibly and illegally can put people at serious risk, which is why this is a priority area for us.”

Catherine Drewett, investigations manager at the ASA, said: “Today’s rulings send a clear message that affiliate marketing is not a loophole and that promoting prescription medicines through social media, whether as a brand, influencer or customer, is against the law and our rules.

“We’ll continue take swift action in this area to make sure the rules are followed and that people are protected from harmful and irresponsible ads.”

A spokeswoman for Voy said: “The posts referenced in the ruling were made independently by customers of our service back in 2024 as part of a referral scheme for our weight-loss programme.

“These posts were first brought to our attention in June 2025, and since we have strengthened our controls around referral activity and influencer engagement. Clinical decisions — including whether medication is suitable — are always made privately between patients and qualified clinicians, and no influencers or referrers play any role in diagnosis, prescribing or medical advice.”

Zava said: “We are committed to being a responsible and compliant healthcare organisation that follows regulation and guidance from the ASA.

“While we were disappointed by the ruling, we note that we had no commercial or affiliate relationship with the social media users who created the posts in question, and as a business we do not have oversight or control over content shared independently by members of the public on their own social media channels.”

Julian Beach, interim executive director of healthcare quality and access at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), said: “We welcome today’s rulings from the ASA. Prescription-only weight-loss medicines carry real risks and must only be prescribed following a proper clinical assessment.

“The promotion of these medicines through affiliate schemes and social media circumvents important safeguards that exist to protect patients.

“We will continue to work closely with the ASA and General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) to take action against those who break the rules and put people’s health at risk.”

Dionne Spence, chief enforcement officer at the GPhC, said: “These rulings from the ASA send a clear message that online providers are responsible for making sure that advertising rules are followed, including when working with individuals through affiliate or referral schemes.

“We welcome the action taken by the ASA and we have taken action to follow up with the pharmacies registered with us.”

MUMBAI: For Indian companies with a global footprint, navigating regulatory complexity has moved from the sidelines to the centre of corporate strategy. Rules on trade, tariffs, the environment, labour, data, and taxation are changing rapidly and increasingly shaping business outcomes.Import restrictions, carbon taxes, anti-dumping duties, subsidies, and localisation norms are altering cost structures, market access, and competitiveness, directly affecting product pricing, profit margins, and capital allocation. Companies now factor regulation into core business planning, rather than treating it as a compliance exercise. Tata Steel‘s management, which oversees operations in India, the UK, the EU and Canada, highlighted this in a recent earnings call. Managing regulatory complexity, CFO Koushik Chatterjee said, has become a strategic imperative across geographies. He pointed to Tata Steel’s Netherlands operations as an example. During 9MFY26, the unit reported operating profit of 210 million euros after absorbing carbon emission-related costs of 150 million euros and an impact of 50 million euros from US tariffs. Without these regulatory-linked costs, operating profit would have topped 400 million euros-showing how policy has weighed on the bottom line.Smaller players face similar pressures. Jyoti Steel Industries partner Pankaj Chadha said fast-changing regulations leave little room for manoeuvre, often forcing companies to rely on customers for real-time intelligence. In one case, a Mexican customer told him Japanese steel was cheaper than Indian steel due to a zero-duty trade arrangement versus a 35% import duty on Indian steel. “Can you believe Japanese steel was cheaper than Indian steel? I had never heard of it until then. Understanding and incorporating regulations is now part of the business. Meetings start with this,” said Chadha, also chairman of engineering exports body EEPC.Law firm Sarvaank Associates founder Ankita Singh calls this the start of an era of “regulated strategy,” where navigating the global legislative maze becomes a competitive advantage. “Regulatory risk is no longer a cost centre but a survival metric, prompting boards to move from a ‘wait and see’ approach to a ‘preventive vigilance’ model, embedding compliance into the very architecture of products and supply chains,” she said. Madhavan Srivatsan, senior partner at Emerald Law, concurs. “Gone are the days when Indian companies treated regulatory issues lightly,” he said. “With increased regulatory scrutiny, mandatory self-reporting obligations, and the risk of stringent penalties, compliance is now one of the most critical functions.” Responsibility is also moving up the management chain. “Any instance of non-compliance can expose directors to civil and even criminal liability, in some cases on a strict liability basis where intent is irrelevant,” Srivatsan said. While conditions have improved for Tata Steel’s Netherlands unit after the EU imposed carbon costs on emission-intensive imports from Jan 1, the same measures have raised costs for India’s exports of steel, cement, aluminium and fertilisers to the bloc. From June, the EU will also cut import quotas and raise duties on volumes above those limits from 25% to 50%, further favouring domestic producers. Meanwhile, Chadha hopes India cuts a trade deal with Mexico.