Chapter V — Penalties

Section 58B: Penalties

Reviewed by CA Nikhil Gupta · Last reviewed 18 September 2026

Section 58B contains the principal criminal penalties for specified contraventions of the RBI Act, including false statements, failures to produce information/returns, breaches by NBFCs and prohibited deposit-related conduct according to the relevant sub-section.

Operative provisionOfficial sources mappedProvision-specific decode

Finin2min - Section 58B in 2 minutes

Legal effectSection 58B contains the principal criminal penalties for specified contraventions of the RBI Act, including false statements, failures to produce information/returns, breaches by NBFCs and prohibited deposit-related conduct according to the relevant sub-section.

Operative rulePenalty selection is breach-specific: identify the substantive duty, the exact Section 58B limb, whether the default continues and whether an administrative penalty route under Section 58G is available instead of or before prosecution.

Connected lawAmounts and continuing-default consequences have been amended over time, so use the current official text on the breach date rather than an old penalty table.

File evidenceAn enforcement memo should set out violated provision/direction, responsible person/company, breach period, evidence, applicable 58B limb and prosecution/administrative route.

Statutory structure and clause / subsection decode

This map separates the operative limbs of this provision so thresholds, powers, conditions and exceptions are not collapsed into a single summary.

58B(1)

Wilfully false material statement or material omission in applications, returns, information, prospectus/advertisement: imprisonment up to 3 years and fine.

58B(2)

Failure/refusal to produce documents, furnish required information or answer questions: fine up to Rs 1 lakh per offence plus up to Rs 5,000 per continuing day after the first.

58B(3)

Contravention of Section 31: fine up to the amount of the relevant bill, hundi, promissory note or engagement.

58B(4)

Prohibited disclosure under Section 45E: imprisonment up to 6 months, or fine up to Rs 1,000, or both.

58B(4A)

Contravention of Section 45IA(1): imprisonment 1-5 years and fine Rs 1 lakh to Rs 25 lakh.

58B(4AA)

Auditor failure to comply with a Section 45MA direction/order: fine up to Rs 10 lakh.

58B(4AAA)

Failure to comply with a Section 45QA(2) order: imprisonment up to 3 years plus at least Rs 5,000 per continuing day.

58B(5)

Specified unauthorised deposit / Chapter IIIB direction / prospectus-advertisement contraventions: imprisonment up to 3 years plus the clause-specific fine linked to deposit received/called for.

58B(5A)

Section 45S contravention: imprisonment up to 2 years or fine up to twice deposit received or Rs 2,000, whichever is more, or both, subject to the statutory minimum-sentence proviso.

58B(6)

Residual contravention/default: fine up to Rs 1 lakh plus up to Rs 10,000 per continuing day after the first.

Worked practical example

Facts. A late NBFC return should not be assigned a fine by analogy to a different 58B offence; map the return duty and the exact current penalty limb first.

Compliance points and common mistakes

Do not decide the issue from the heading alone. Map the facts to the operative words of Section 58B and to each relevant subsection, clause, proviso or explanation shown above.
Keep the statutory question separate from the operational overlay. Amounts and continuing-default consequences have been amended over time, so use the current official text on the breach date rather than an old penalty table.
Do not convert an exception, exemption or discretionary RBI/Government power into an automatic entitlement. Record the authority, conditions and effective date.
Where the provision is historical, omitted or repealed, state that status prominently and do not present it as a current compliance obligation.

Connected provisions and instruments

Section 58B has no universal instrument dependency in this package. Add an RBI circular or direction only when its subject, entity and effective date cover the issue being analysed.

Questions and answers

What is the purpose of Section 58B?

Penalties: Section 58B contains the principal criminal penalties for specified contraventions of the RBI Act, including false statements, failures to produce information/returns, breaches by NBFCs and prohibited deposit-related conduct according to the relevant sub-section.

Which statutory limb should be checked first?

58B(1) - Wilfully false material statement or material omission in applications, returns, information, prospectus/advertisement: imprisonment up to 3 years and fine.

What is the next legal boundary?

58B(2) - Failure/refusal to produce documents, furnish required information or answer questions: fine up to Rs 1 lakh per offence plus up to Rs 5,000 per continuing day after the first.

What record should support the conclusion?

Section 58B file evidence: An enforcement memo should set out violated provision/direction, responsible person/company, breach period, evidence, applicable 58B limb and prosecution/administrative route.

Primary sources

Source control for Section 58B: use the official consolidated RBI Act for the statutory text and footnotes, then separately reconcile any post-Finance Act 2022 amendment, commencement notification or RBI instrument relevant to the event date.