Section 33 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949
Display of audited balance sheet by banking companies incorporated outside India.
Section 33 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 applies to a banking company incorporated outside India that carries on banking business in India. The provision requires specified audited financial statements to be displayed at the bank's principal office and at every branch office in India.
What Section 33 requires
Every banking company incorporated outside India must, not later than the first Monday in August of a year in which it carries on business, display in a conspicuous place at its principal office and at every branch office in India a copy of its latest audited balance sheet and profit and loss account prepared under Section 29.
The displayed copy must remain in place until it is replaced by the subsequent balance sheet and profit and loss account. The banking company must also display, in the same manner, copies of its complete audited balance sheet and profit and loss account relating to its banking business as soon as those accounts are available, and keep them displayed until subsequent accounts become available.
Meaning and scope of the provision
- Who is covered: a banking company incorporated outside India and carrying on business in India.
- What must be displayed: the latest audited balance sheet and profit and loss account prepared under Section 29, followed by the complete audited accounts relating to its banking business when available.
- Where: in a conspicuous place at the principal office and at every branch office in India.
- Time limit: not later than the first Monday in August of the relevant year.
- Continuing duty: the accounts remain displayed until replaced by the next set of applicable accounts.
Connection with Section 29
Section 33 expressly refers to accounts prepared under Section 29 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. Section 29 deals with the preparation of accounts and balance sheets of banking companies. Section 33 therefore operates as a disclosure and display requirement linked to the statutory accounts prepared under Section 29.
Legislative note
The expressions now appearing as "outside India" and "in India" were substituted by Act 20 of 1950, Section 3, with effect from 18 March 1950.
Practical compliance summary
For a foreign-incorporated banking company operating in India, Section 33 is a continuing public-display obligation. The bank should ensure that the prescribed audited accounts are displayed on time at all required offices and that outdated statements are replaced when the subsequent accounts become available.
Last reviewed: 13 September 2026.