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Home › Indian Laws › Banking Regulation Act, 1949 › Section 46
Banking Regulation Act, 1949 · Section guide

Section 46: Penalties

Reviewed by CA Nikhil Gupta · Last reviewed 18 September 2026

Section 46 — Penalties. Creates criminal penalties for specified false statements, prohibited deposits, failures and contraventions of the Act/directions; liability depends on the exact. Subsection and may include continuing-offence consequences and responsibility of persons in charge.

Official statute linkedProvision-specific anatomyPractical case + evidence file
Official text: DFS consolidated Act

Statutory structure and provision map

This map is a provision-specific explanation, not a substitute for the exact statutory text.

Core statutory rule

Creates criminal penalties for specified false statements, prohibited deposits, failures and contraventions of the Act/directions.

Condition / limitation

liability depends on the exact subsection and may include continuing-offence consequences and responsibility of persons in charge.

Source and effective-date control

Apply the wording of Section 46 that was in force on the event date; use the official Act and any applicable commencement/amending instrument linked on this page.

Professional application

an offence-by-offence penalty table, actors, mental elements, continuing defaults and company/officer liability; separate Section 47A administrative penalties.

Evidence / working-paper checklist

  • Section 46 evidence: the exact contravention and enabling provision.
  • Section 46 evidence: show-cause/complaint and service evidence.
  • Section 46 evidence: hearing submissions and adjudication/order.
  • Section 46 evidence: payment/recovery/court record and continuing-default calculation.

Retain the event date and source version with the file so the conclusion remains reproducible after later amendments.

Common mistakes to avoid

  • For Section 46, avoid calculating a penalty without first classifying the statutory contravention.
  • For Section 46, avoid missing the hearing/payment/recovery sequence.
  • For Section 46, avoid assuming a regulatory monetary penalty and a criminal complaint can always proceed in parallel.

Related sections inside the Act

Section 46A — Chairman, director, etc. deemed public servants for specified criminal-law purposesSection 47 — Cognizance of offencesSection 47A — Power of Reserve Bank to impose penaltySection 48 — Application of finesSection 45ZF — Notice of claims of other persons regarding safety lockers not receivableSection 45ZG — Priority of successive nominations

Use these links to read Section 46 in its statutory sequence, especially where the provision imports definitions, approvals, appeals, penalties or winding-up consequences from neighbouring sections.

Current-law source control

Source control: Section 46 is anchored to the official DFS consolidated text; later changes require separate Gazette verification.

Dated matters: verify any later Gazette, RBI direction or binding judgment affecting Section 46 on the event date.

Professional reading note

Professional reading note — Section 46 should be applied as a sequence, not as an isolated heading. Start with the factual trigger

for penalties, then test the operative proposition: Creates criminal penalties for specified false statements, prohibited deposits, failures and contraventions of the Act/directions.

Next confirm the limiting or interaction point: liability depends on the exact subsection and may include continuing-offence consequences and responsibility of persons

in charge. The working file should be capable of showing why the section applies to the relevant bank or person, which statutory

version governs the event date, and which documentary record proves the conclusion. Useful evidence on this page includes Section 46 evidence: the

exact contravention and enabling provision and Section 46 evidence: show-cause/complaint and service evidence. Read the provision in sequence with Section 46A —

Chairman, director, etc. deemed public servants for specified criminal-law purposes and Section 47 — Cognizance of offences. This method keeps the legal

answer tied to the provision itself while allowing RBI directions, rules and later instruments to be layered on only where their own

scope actually applies.

Disclaimer

This Finin2min page is an educational and professional reference. Banking regulation is fact-, entity- and date-sensitive. Verify the current Act, Gazette amendments and commencement notifications, applicable RBI Rules/directions and the transaction record before acting or filing.