Bill of Exchange Discounting

MANAGEMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES
LESSON 15:
BILLS DISCOUNTING
Lesson Objectives be held by the bank Dr the finance company till the maturity of
• To understand the Concept of Bills Discounting and the B/E.
• Regulations related to Bills Discounting. Clean Bills These bills are not accompanied by any documents
that show that a trade has taken place between the buyer and the
Introduction seller. Because of this, the interest rate charged on such bills is
Bill discounting, as a fund-based activity, emerged as a profitable higher than the rate charged on documentary bills.
business in the early nineties for finance companies and
represented a diversification in their activities in tune with the Creation of a B/E Suppose a seller sells goods or merchandise
emerging financial scene in India. In the post-1992 (scam) to a buyer. In most cases, the seller would like to be paid
period its importance has substantially declined primarily due to immediately but the buyer would like to pay only after some
restrictions imposed by the Reserve Bank of India. The time, that is, the buyer would wish to purchase on credit. To
purpose of the Chapter is to describe bills discounting as an solve this problem, the seller draws a B/E of a given maturity
asset-based financial service. The aspects of bills discounting on the buyer. The seller has now assumed the role of a creditor;
covered include its concept, advantages and disadvantages, bills and is called the drawer of the bill. The buyer, who is the
market schemes, procedures and processing, post-securities debtor, is called the drawee. The seller then sends the bill to the
scam position and some gray-areas. The main points are also buyer who acknowledges his responsibility for the payment of
summarised. the amount on the terms mentioned on the bill by writing his
acceptance on the bill. The acceptor could be the buyer himself
Concept or any third party willing to take on the credit risk of the buyer.
According to the Indian Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881:
Discounting of a B/E The seller, who is the holder of an
“The bill of exchange is an instrument in writing containing an accepted B/E has two options:
unconditional order, signed by the maker, directing a certain
1. Hold on to the B/E till maturity and then take the payment
person to pay a certain sum of money only to, or to the order
from the buyer.
of, a certain person, or to the bearer of that instrument.”
2. Discount the B/E with a discounting agency. Option (2) is
The bill of exchange (B/E) is used for financing a transaction in
by far more attractive to the seller.
goods which means that it is essentially a trade-related instru-
ment. The seller can take over the accepted B/E to a discounting
agency bank, NBFC, company, high net worth individual] and
Types of Bills obtain ready cash. The act of handing over an endorsed B/E
There are various types of bills. They can be classified on the for ready money is called discounting the B/E. The margin
basis of when they are due for payment, whether the docu- between the ready money paid and the face value of the bill is
ments of title of goods accompany such bills or not, the type called the discount and is calculated at a rate percentage per
of activity they finance, etc. Some of these bills are: annum on the maturity value.
Demand Bill This is payable immediately “at sight” or “on The maturity a B/E is defined as the date on which payment
presentment” to the drawee. A bill on which no time of will fall due. Normal maturity periods are 30,60,90 or 120 days
payment or “due date” is specified is also termed as a demand but bills maturing within 90 days seem to be the most popular.
bill.
Advantages : The advantages of bill discounting to investors
Usance Bill This is also called time bill. The term usance refers to and banks and finance companies are as follows:
the time period recognized by custom or usage for payment of
bills. To Investors
Documentary Bills These are the B/Es that are accompanied by 1. Short-term sources of finance;
documents that confirm that a trade has taken place between the 2. Bills discounting being in the nature of a transaction is
buyer and the seller of goods. These documents include the outside the purview of Section 370 of the Indian
invoices and other documents of title such as railway receipts, Companies Act 1956, that restricts the amount of loans
lorry receipts and bills of lading issued by custom officials. that can be given by group companies;
Documentary bills can be further classified as: (i) Documents 3. Since it is not a lending, no tax at source is deducted while
against acceptance (D/A) bills and (ii) Documents against making the payment charges which is very convenient, not
payment (DIP) bills. only from cash flow point of view, but also from the point
D/ A Bills In this case, the documentary evidence accompanying of view of companies that do not envisage tax liabilities;
the bill of exchange is deliverable against acceptance by the 4. Rates of discount are better than those available on ICDs;
drawee. This means the documentary bill becomes a clean bill and
after delivery of the documents.
DIP Bills In case a bill is a “documents against payment” bill
© Copy Right: Rai University
and
98 has been accepted by the drawee, the documents of title will 11.671.3
5. Flexibility, not only in the quantum of investments but Bill Market Schemes

also in the duration of investments. The development of bill discounting as a financial service
depends upon the existence of a full-fledged bill market. The
To Banks
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constantly endeavored to
1. Safety of Funds The greatest security for a banker is that a develop the commercial bills market. Several committees set-up
B/E is a negotiable instrument bearing signatures of two to examine the system of bank financing and money market
parties considered good for the amount of bill; so he can had strongly recommended a gradual shift to bills finance and
enforce his claim easily. phase-out of the cash credit system. The most notable of these
2. Certainty of Payment A B/E is a self-liquidating asset with were: (i) Dehejia Committee, 1969, (ii) Tandon Committee,
the banker knowing in advance the date of its maturity. 1974, (iii) Chore Committee, 1980 and (iv) Vaghul Committee,
Thus, bill finance obviates the need for maintaining large, 1985. This section briefly outlines the efforts made by the RBI
unutilised, ideal cash balances as under the cash credit in the direction of the development of a full-fledged bill
system. It also provides banks greater control over their market.
drawls.
Bill Market Scheme, 1952
3. Profitability Since the discount on a bill is front-ended, the The salient features of the scheme were as follows:
yield is much higher than in other loans and advances,
i. The scheme was announced under Section 17(4)(c) of RBI
where interest is paid quarterly or half yearly.
Act which enables it to make advances to scheduled banks
4. Evens out Inter-Bank Liquidity Problems The development against the security of issuance of promissory notes or bills
of healthy parallel bill discounting market would have drawn on and payable in India and arising out of bona fide
stabilized the violent fluctuations in the call money market commercial or trade transaction bearing two or more good
as banks could buy and sell bills to even out their liquidity signa-tures one of which should be that of scheduled bank
mismatches. and maturing within 90 days from the date of advances;
Discount Rate and Effective Rate of Interest Banks and finance ii. The scheduled banks were required to convert a portion of
companies discounting bills prefer to discount LlC (letter of the demand promissory notes obtained by them from their
credit)-backed bills compared to clean bills. The rate of discount constituents in respect of loans/overdrafts and cash credits
applicable to clean bills is usually higher than the rate applicable granted to them into usance promissory notes maturing
to LlC-based bills. The bills are generally discounted up-front, within 90 days to be able to avail of refinance under the
that is, the discount is payable in advance. As a consequence, the scheme;
effective rate of interest is higher than the quoted rate (dis-
iii. The existing loan, cash credit or overdraft accounts were,
count). The discount rate varies from time to time depending
therefore, required to be split up into two parts, that is:
upon the short-term interest rate. The computation of the
effective rate of interest on bills discounting is shown in a. one part was to remain covered by the demand
following illustration promissory notes, in this account further with-drawals
or repayments were as usual being permitted;
Illustration
b. the other part, which would represent the minimum
The Hypothetical Finance ltd. discounts the bills of its clients at
requirement of the borrower during the next three
the rate specified below:
months would be converted into usance promissory
i. L/C - backed bills, 22 per cent per annum notes maturing within ninety days.
ii. Clean bill, 24 per cent per annum iv. This procedure did not bring any change in offering same
Required: Compute the effective rate of interest implicit in the facilities as before by banks to their constituents. Banks
two types of bills assuming usance period of (a) 90 days for the could lodge the usance promissory notes with RBI- for
L/C - based bill and (b) 60 days for the clean bill and value of advances as eligible security for borrowing so as to replenish
the bill, Rs 10,000. their loanable funds.
Solution Effective Rate of Interest on L/C - based Bill: v. The amount advanced by the RBI was not to exceed the
Value of the bill, Rs 10,000 amount lent by the scheduled banks to the respective
Discount charge Rs. 550 (Rs 10,000x 0.22 x 90/360) borrowers.
Amount received by the client, = Rs 9,450 (Rs 10,000 - Rs 550)
vi. The scheduled bank applying for accommodation had to
Quarterly effective interest rate = 5.82% [Rs 90 x 100/Rs. 9450]
certify that the paper presented by it as collateral arose out
Annualised effective rate of interest, [(1.0582)4- 1] x 100 = 25.39%
of bona fide commercial transactions and that the party was
Effective Rate of Interest on Clean Bill:
Value of bill Rs 10,000
creditworthy.
Discount Charge, = Rs 400 (Rs 10,000 x 0.24 x 60/360) vii. The RBI could also make such appropriate enquiries as it
Amount received by the client = Rs 9,600 (Rs 10,000 - Rs 400) deemed fit, in connection with eligibility of bills and call for
any further information from the scheduled banks
Quarterly rate of interest = 4.17% (Rs. 400/Rs 9,600)x100 concerned.
Effective rate of interest per annum, = 17.75%. viii. Advances to banks under the scheme, in the initial stages,
were made at one-half of one per cent below the bank rate.

11.671.3 99
The confessional rate of interest was withdrawn in two embodied in section 17(2)(a) of the Reserve Bank of India Act,
stages of one quarter of one per cent each and ceased to be which authorise the purchase, sale and rediscount of bills of
operative from November 1956. exchange and promissory notes, drawn on and payable in India
ix. As a further inducement to banks, the RBI agreed to bear and arising out of bona fide commercial or trade transactions,
half the cost of the stamp duty incurred in converting bearing two or more good signatures, one of which should be
demand bills into time bills. that of a scheduled bank or a state co-operative bank and
maturing:
x. In the initial stages the minimum limit for an advance
which could be availed of from the RBI at any time was a. In the case of bills of exchange and promissory notes
fixed at Rs 25 lakh and the individual bills tendered for the arising out of any such transaction relating to the export of
purpose were not to be less than rupee one lakh. goods from India, within one hundred and eighty days;
Subsequently, however, the scheme was liberalised and the b. In any other case, within ninety days from the date of
minimum amounts were reduced from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 10 purchase or rediscount exclusive of days of grace;
lakh (reduced further to Rs 5 lakh in February 1967) and c. The scheme is confined to genuine trade bills arising out of
from Rs I lakh to Rs 50,000. The scheme, which was genuine sale of goods. The bill should normally have a
initially, restricted to licensed scheduled commercial banks maturity of not more than 90 days. A bill having a maturity
having deposits (including deposits outside India) of Rs 10 of 90 to 120 days is also eligible for rediscount, provided at
crore or more was later extended to all licensed scheduled the time of offering to the RBI for rediscount it has a
commercial banks, irrespective of the size of their deposits. usance not exceeding 90 days. The bills presented for
The scheme virtually ceased to function in 1970. The main rediscount should bear at least two good signatures. The
reasons being: signature of a licensed scheduled bank is treated as a good
i. Lack of specialised institutions for discharging the functions signature;
of acceptance and discount houses; d. Bill of exchange arising out of the sale of commodities
ii. Paucity of usance bills-both domestic and foreign; covered by the selective credit control directives of the RBI
have been excluded from the scope of the scheme to
iii. Traders found cash credit facility conveniently available from
facilitate the selective credit controls and to keep a watch on
banks and avoided usance bills as an instrument of credit;
the level of outstanding credit against the affected
iv. Export bills were negotiated by banks under letters of credit commodi-ties; and
opened by foreign importers and foreign correspondent
e. The following types of bills are acceptable to RBI for the
banks;
purpose of re-discount:
v. Banks got refinance against declaration of export bills from
i. Bills drawn on and accepted by the buyer’s bank,
RBI Exim-Bank when needed;
ii. Bills drawn on buyer and his banker jointly and
vi. Lack of practice of discounting the bills with other banks
accepted by them jointly,
having excess liquidity;
iii. Bills drawn on and accepted by the buyer under an
vii. Criteria for creditworthiness of the traders was not evolved
irrevocable letter of credit and certified by the buyer’s
to avoid risk of defaults of redemption on maturity of the
bank which has opened the letter of credit in the
bills.
manner specified by RBI, that is, that the terms and
Bill Market Scheme, 1970 conditions of the letter of credit have been duly
In pursuance of the recommendations of the Dehejia Commit- complied with by the seller.
tee, the RBI constituted a working group (Narsimham Study iv. Bills drawn on and accepted by the buyer and endorsed
Group) to evolve a scheme to enlarge the use of bills. Based on by the seller in favour of his bank and bearing a legend
the scheme suggested by the study group, the RBI introduced signed by a licensed scheduled bank which should
with effect from November 1, 1970, the new bill market scheme endorse the bill, confirming that the bill will be paid by
in order to facilitate the re-discounting of eligible bills of bank three days before the date of maturity,
exchange by banks with it. To popularise the use of bills, the
scope of the scheme was enlarged, the number of participants v. Bills drawn and accepted in the prescribed manner and
was increased, and the procedure was simplified over the years. discounted by a bank at the instance of the drawee.
The salient features of the scheme are as follows: Where the buyer’s bank is not a licensed scheduled bank, the bill
Eligible Institutions All licensed scheduled banks and those should additionally bear signature of a licensed scheduled bank.
which do not require a licence (i.e. the State Bank of India, its Procedure for Rediscounting Eligible banks are required to
associate banks and natioanlised banks) are eligible to offer bills apply to the RBI in the prescribed form giving their estimated
of exchange to the RBI for rediscount. There is no objection to requirements for the 12 month ending October of each year and
a bill accepted by such banks being purchased by other banks limits are sanctioned /renewed for a period of one year running
and financial institutions but the RBI rediscounts only such of from November 1 to October 31 of the following year. The
those bills as are offered to it by an eligible bank. RBI presents for payment bills of exchange rediscounted by it
Eligibility of Bills The eligibility of bills offered under the and such bills have to be taken delivery) by the rediscounting
scheme to the RBI is determined by the statutory provisions banks against payment, not less than three working days before

100 11.671.3
the dates of maturity )f the bills concerned. In case bills are any case not more than 90 days. The derivative promissory note

retired before the dates, pro-rata refund of discount is allowed is exempted from stamp duty.
by the RBI. The re-discounting facility from the RBI has gradually slowed
For rediscounting purposes, bills already rediscounted with RBI and banks have been encouraged to rediscount bills, with one
may be lodged with it. The un-expired period of the usance of another as well as with approved financial institutions such as
the bills so offered should not be less than 30 days and the bills LIC, GIC, UTI, ICICI, IRBI, ECGC, selected cooperative
should not bear the endorsement of the discounting bank in banks and mutual funds and so on. Processing/Precaution/
favour of a party other than the RBI. Defaults/Grey Areas Credit Assessment Banks and NBCFs (the
Banks to Hold Bills Rediscounted In the first year of the main discounting agencies) undertake a detailed ap-praisal of a
operation of the scheme, the banks are required to lodge all customer and thoroughly assess his creditworthiness before
eligible bills with the RBI for availing themselves of the providing the bills discounting (BD) facility. Regular credit
rediscounting facilities. 11 November 1971, actual lodgement of limits are fixed by banks and NBFCs for individual parties for
bills of the face value of Rs 2 lakh and below was dispensed purchase and discounting of clean bills and documentary bills
with od the banks were authorised to hold such bills with separately. These limits are renewed annually and are based on
themselves. This limit was increased to Rs 10 lakh in November the following considerations:
1973. The banks are required to make declarations to the effect i. Quantum of business undertaken by the party, that is,
that they hold eligible bills of a particular aggregate value on turnover of inventory;
behalf of the RBI as its agents, and on this basis the RBI pays ii. Credit worthiness of drawer (client);
to them the is counted value of such bills. The discounting
iii. Credit worthiness of drawee and details of dishonor, if
banks are also required to endorse such bills in favour of the BI
any;
before including them in the declarations and also re-endorse
the bills in their own favour when they “e retired. Since 1975, iv. Nature of customer’s industry.
banks are permitted to rediscount bills with other commercial Appraisal of the customer is done through several means:
banks as well as ~rtain other approved financial institutions. 1. The most important step is a careful scrutiny of the
Since June, 1977, there is a ceiling on the rate of rediscount on customer’s operations and its financial viability. For this, a
Ich bills which has been varied by the banks from time to time. detailed analysis of his financial statements is carried out.
The bill rediscounting scheme over the years has been gradually 2. Since the liability of the drawee also arises in case he accepts
restricted and at present this facility is treated by the RBI on a and dishonors the bill, credit informa-tion about the
discretionary basis. During the year 1981-82 (July-June) no fresh drawee is also collected. The drawer is asked to furnish a list
bill rediscountin-g limits were sanctioned to the banks and as of his purchasers and their banks so that a report of their
such there were no outstanding under the scheme from credit risk can be compiled. This is especially easy for banks,
October 23, 1981. The amount of bills rediscounted each year as a confidential report can be easily routed through banking
has shown wide variations, but during each . the four years channels.
(1974-75 to 1977-78) (April-March), the volume had been well
3. Banks have access to frequently published Indian Banks
over Rs 1,000 crore; in sequent years a comparative declining
Association (IBA) bulletins which indicate the names of
trend set in the utilisation of the facility due to its being
unsatisfactory drawees banks and their default rates.
available only on discretionary terms.
4. Both banks and NBFCs have built up substantial credit
In order to revitalise the bill market scheme, several committees
intelligence database which are constantly updated based on
made recommendations in the light of experience of the
market information. Once a client defaults, he is blacklisted
operations of the scheme. On the basis of these, several
and may find it difficult. to discount his B/E subsequently.
measures were initiated by the n to promote bill financing. The
important ones being: (1) a ceiling on the proportion of Thus, in case of an existing client it is assessed that there is no
receivable (75 per cent) eligible for financing under the cash credit overdue bill pending and the clients’ limits cover the amount of
system, (2) discretion to banks to sanction additional hoc limits the bill submitted for discounting. In the case of a new client
for a period not exceeding 3 months, upto an amount equiva- thorough enquiry about the creditworthiness of the party is
lent to 10 per cent of the existing I limit subject to a ceiling of made from the banker of the client, market and other finance
Rs 1 crore, (3) stipulation on ratio of bill acceptance to credit companies. Once satisfactory report is obtained, a limit is
purchases (25 per cent), (4) setting up of the Discount and normally fixed for the party. An effort is made to ensure that
Finance House of India (DFHI) to buy/sell/discount short- the risk is well spread amongst several drawees. In order to keep
term Is, (5) reduction in the discount rate on usance bills, (6) a proper control, there should be proper follow up of the bills
remission of stamp duty on bills drawn on/made ‘in favour of due and the limits fixed for the clients should be reviewed/
a bank/cooperative bank. The procedure requiring the bill to the reassessed at an appropriate interval of time. Special attention is
endorsed and delivered to re discounter at every time of paid to the following points while reviewing bills discounting
rediscounting has been done away with. A derivative usance limits:
promissory note is issued by the discounter on the strength of i. The earlier sanctioned limits are fully utilised by the client;
the underlying bills which have tenor corresponding to, or lesser ii. The bills were promptly paid on maturity date;
than, tenor of the derivatives usance promissory note and in
iii. In case of unpaid bills, funds were paid by the drawer.

11.671.3 101
Once the party is granted a bill discounting limit, the party Grey Areas There are certain features of the Indian industry
approaches the finance company for each and every bill for which have impeded the growth of a healthy bill discounting
discounting. The following documents are submitted along market (BD):
with the letter of request: Participants Most of the customers approaching banks/
a. Invoice; NBFCs for bills discounting are SSI (Small scale industries)
b. Challan; units. For such enterprises, it is very difficult to undertake
proper credit assessment.
c. Receipt of goods acknowledged by buyer;
Kite Flying The practice of discounting accommodation bills is
d. Hundi/Promissory note;
known as kite flying. When A draws a BI E on B without there
e. Truck receipt/Railway receipt; being any underlying movement of goods and B accepts it to
f. Post dated cheque for the interest amount. accommodate A, the BI E is called an accommodation kite bill.
While fixing the limit for bill discounting the balance sheet and If A now ‘discounts it, he has uninterrupted use of funds for
profit and loss account are properly analysed and various ratios the maturity period of the bill. These funds are generally routed
are calculated to arrive at a sound business decision. into the capital market to earn a very high return on the due date
the amount of the B/E is repaid by A. This practice has
Precautions The finance companies take following precautions
severally stilted the genuine bill market, by imparting false
while discounting bills:
liquidity to the system.
i. The bills are not accommodation bills but are genuine trade
Supply Bills B/E drawn by suppliers/contractors on Govern-
bills.
ment departments are called supply bills, These are not accepted
ii. Bills are drawn on the places where the finance company is by the Government. However, contractors are able to get them
operating or has a branch office as it would facilitate contact discounted with nationalised banks. If there is a default on the
with drawee in case of exigencies. due dates, banks simply debit the dues to the ‘Government a/
iii. The goods covered by the documents are those in which c’. This practice depresses the level of cash flow in the bill
they party deals. market because a B/E is being discounted without a corre-
iv. The amount of the bills commensurate with the volume of sponding flow of cash.
business turnover of the party. Reduced Supply Several corporate houses and business groups
v. Bills are drawn on a place where the goods have been do not accept B/E drawn on them. Accepting such bills is seen
consigned. to be damaging to their pride. Such attitudes reduce the supply
vi. The credit report on the drawee is satisfactory. of bills and discourage the culture of drawing and discounting
bills.
vii. The description of goods mentioned in the invoice and
railway receipt/truck receipt are same. Stamp Duties No stamp ~duties are levied on LC (letter of
credit) backed bills upto 90 days. This has resulted in a lop sided
viii. The goods are not consigned directly to the buyer. growth in the bills market with practically no bills being drawn
ix. The goods are properly insured. for a period exceeding 90 days. The market, therefore, lacks
x. The usance bill is properly stamped. depth.
xi. Bills offered for discount do not cover goods whose prices Present Position of Bills Discounting
fluctuate too much. Financial services companies had been acting till the early
xii The goods covered under the bill are not of perishable nineties as bill-brokers for sellers and buyers of bills arising out
nature. of business transactions. They were acting as link between
xiii. The bills are not stale. banks and business firms. At times they used to take up bills
on their own account, using own funds or taking short-term
xiv. The truck receipt is in the form of prescribed by the Indian accommodation from banks working as acceptance/discount
Banks Association. houses. They had been handling business approximating Rs
xv. The bills are drawn in favour of the finance company and 5,000 crores annually. Bill discounting, as a fund-based service,
have been accepted by the drawee. made available funds at rates I per cent lower than on ash credit
Dealing with Default The cycle of liabilities in a bill discount- finance and bill finance constituted about one-fourth of bank
ing transaction is as follows: The drawee is liable to the drawer; finance.
and the drawer to the discounting agency. However, the bank/ However, the bill re-discounting facility was misused by banks
INBFC looks mainly to its customer (drawer or drawee) for as well as the bill-brokers. The Jankiraman Committee ap-
recovery of its dues. In case of default, the discounting agency pointed by the RBi which examined the factors responsible for
can resort to noting and protesting as laid down by the the securities-scam identified the following misuse of the
Negotiable Instrument Act. In reality, however, since litigation scheme:
is both cumbersome and expensive, a combination of negotia- Banks have been providing bill finance outside the consortium
tion and compromise is used. At worst, some dues ,may be without informing the consortium bank-ers;
written off. NBFCs generally build-in a large number of
safeguards to guard against default. Banks generally dis-count
LC- backed bills which are default-proof.
102 11.671.3
• They have been drawing bills on companies and they Financing Working Capital: Emerging

themselves discounted such bills to avail of rediscount Options
facilities; Sampat P Singh, Member of Faculty, NIBM, Pune
• In cases where banks provided additional finance outside ASCI - Journal of Management, Volume 20, No. 2-3.
the consortium arrangement by way of billlimits covering In this paper an attempt has been made to cover conceptual,
sales of goods, the sales proceeds had been unavailable to decisional, and policy issues concerning financing of working
them to provide production finance; capitaL Most of the issues in this area are controversial Both in
• Bill finance had been provided to dealers/ stockiest of large thought and in action, the area of management and financing
manufacturing companies without proper appraisal of their of working capital has, in modem history, always been
credit needs; characterised by bifoculism, paradox, and ambiguity. This has
• Bills discounted by front companies set up by industrial happened mainly because of the conceptual ambiguities which
groups on their parent companies which were obviously have always been taken advantage of by the practitioners. This
accommodation bills were discounted/ rediscounted by paper attempts to clarify some of the basic concepts. It brings
banks; out the emerging options in this growing field. It concludes
that in the days to come the varieties of instruments will
• The rediscounting of bills by finance companies with banks
proliferate, but cautions that they will become popular only
was done at a much lower rate of interest;
with the introduction of CDs and CPs.
• Although bills are essentially trade documents, bills related
The conceptual bi-foculism can be traced back to Adam Smith’s
to electricity charges, custom charges, lease rentals etc. were
Wealth of Nations published towards the end of the 18th
also discounted. This was mainly due to the lack of depth
century. This was also evident in the classic controversy between
in the bills market and NBFCs felt the need for new
the banking and the currency schools in the 19th century (Singh,
instrument or schemes to increase their business.
1975). It is also current in the present day world as the differ-
• No records regarding bill discounting were ever maintained ence in views of the economist and the businessman.
by banks.
In other words, there have always been two focuses on working
In order to stop misuse of the bill discounting facility by banks, capital and its financing. The economist has been concerned
the RBI issued guidelines to banks in July 1992. The main largely with real investment and real output. and, with the real
elements of these guidelines are as follows: assets and their financing. This focus has, therefore, mainly
i. No fund/non-fund based facility should be provided by been on the balance sheet, the stock variables, the credit
banks outside the consortium arrangement; allocation and the credit multiplier. Further, in this line of
ii. Bill finance should be a part of the working capital credit thinking, the emphasis has been on investment (in inventory
limit; and book debts), the operating cycle, and the optimisation of
the turnover of the working capital or what has sometimes
iii. Only bills covering purchase of raw materials/inventory for
been called the circulating capital. It is generally assumed that
production purposes and sale of goods should be
the coefficients relating the stock variables of inventory and
discounted by banks;
book debts to output and sales are technologically determined
iv. Accommodation bill should never be discounted; and fixed in the short run. However, in real life, these coeffi-
v. Bill re-discounting should be restricted to usance bills held cients have tended to vary with innovations in managerial
by other banks. The banks should not rediscount bills practices and, in some cases, have tended to assume even zero
earlier discounted by finance companies; values. The economist has, in general, also considered finance
vi. -Funds accepted by banks for portfolio management should as superfluous or mere numeraire.
not be deployed for discounting bills. The other focus has always been held by the businessmen.
vii. Overall credit limit to finance companies including bills They consider finance having its own significance. Atypical
discounting should not exceed three times the net worth of illustration is that of a partner withdrawing his capital and
such companies; and I therefore affecting the liabilities side of the balance sheet, and
viii. For discounting LC-backed bills by NBFCs, the bill must be not the assets side. The dominant focus of the business world
accompanied by a no-objection certificate from the has been the cash flow: the flow variables, the cash gap, or the
beneficiary bank. surplus or the deficit arising out of differences between the total
cash inflows and the total cash outflows during a given period
As a result, there was substantial decline in the volume of bill of time.
discounting. Presently, the volumes are on an average Rs 80-100
crore per month and Rs 800 - 900 crore per year. The ban on re- In this line of thinking, the funds or the money or the
discounting has also resulted in falling margins for the NBFCs. purchasing power (defined as cash plus credit) has to be viewed
They are not able to find cash rich companies/individuals ready as flows into and out of a common pool. It implies that it is
to discount/rediscount bills. not very relevant to link the specific sources of financing to
either the circulating or fixed assets. The cash gap is determined
Research Papers, Articles in Journals and Magazines on Bills by the totality of financial flows arising as a result of either
Discounting acquisition or sale of any type of asset, and, also as a result of
(for reference) contracting of new liabilities or paying off of the old ones. The

11.671.3 103
typical businessman does not feel comfortable with any linkage In other words, the ratio between the current assets and the
of specific type of liability to any specific type of asset. For him, current liabilities should always be greater than one. One reason
money is money, and it has to be managed on the basis of which supports the principle is that the excess of current assets
overall cash surpluses or cash deficits arising out of the over current liabilities, the net working capital, represents the
operations during a particular period of time. Of course, the safety margin available to the creditors of the firm, and
financial world has always made a distinction between the capital therefore, represents the liquidity strength of the company. It
employed or the resource finance on the one hand, and the determines in a large measure its creditworthiness in the market.
short-term credit or the recourse finance, on the other. They The other reason is that the core part of investment in working
have always linked the short period cash gaps with financial capital assets which has the character of long-term investment
credit. should be financed not out of financial credit or recourse
The two views are no doubt different. The economist would finance but out of the resource finance or the capital funds.
like to correlate the usage of financial credit with the output and Most of the current controversies in the area of financing
seek to maximise the credit multiplier. This is the basic working capital in India today are based on the conceptual
reasoning relating investment and output, on the one hand, differences presented above. In the latter part of the paper, an
and with money and prices, on the other, with which the central attempt will be made to highlight these in the context of the
monetary authorities all over the world are always concerned. emerging scenario in India.
Viewed in this perspective, no doubt, it makes sense. But, the It may also be added, as part of introduction, that the statistical
business world has always looked beyond such relationships data used in the paper are contained in the three tables in the
and asserted that financial credit should be related to cash gaps text. All the figures have been taken from various publications
arising not only as a result of investment but also because of of the Reserve Bank of India. Data on variables relating to the
changes in the liabilities. Thus far, this reasoning appears to be corporate world are taken from the Reserve Bank studies on
justified. The trouble arises when the businessman’s view is financing of large and medium sized companies in India based
extended and assumes the character of money games, what on a sample of 1,650 companies. The Reserve Bank has been
Iacocca (1985) calls as going beyond manufacturing and changing the size of the sample. The statistics contained in the
marketing to earn money on money. Such games always carry tables used in this paper has been worked out on the basis of
with them the element of controversy. They can, and generally the uniform size of the sample for all the years, from 1969 to
have degenerated into market crashes. Moreover, the history 1989.
has always faced the ethical question of earning rewards without
Historical Context
any sacrifice or taking of risk. In today’s world when attempts
In general, it can be stated that bank credit has all over the world
are being made to popularise the Islamic banking, the ethical
been a major source of financing the working capital. However,
issue of Riba cannot be totally set aside.
in their details, policies and practices in India have been very
The other important conceptual issue is the distinction between different from those obtaining in the developed countries. In
the two definitions of working capital. Assuming the the west, the major focus has been on short-term financing or
economist’s identification of the problem as that of financing the seasonal bank credit to meet the requirements of the
investment in working capital assets, one definition of working fluctuating component of the cash gaps. In other words, the
capital is the investment in circulating assets, or in inventory and banks in the developed countries provide financial credit for
book debts comprising the operating cycle of a manufacturing- filling short-term cash gaps as part of the working capital
cum-marketing firm. With trade creditors or the account finance and not the fixed component or the long-term cash
payable deducted, it is also known as the net operating cycle. It gaps.
may also be noted that investment in assets comprising the
Moreover, the amount of bank credit made available to
gross operating cycles are conventionally called the current assets.
industry is determined by cash gaps and not by the amount of
These, in turn, are defined as assets which in normal course of
investment in inventory and book debts. This has two
operations are meant to be converted into cash within a period
implications. First, the availability of financial credit from banks
not exceeding one year. Correspondingly, for the concept of
is determined by the need for cash liquidity and the lending is
current liabilities the definition restricts them only to those
not related to the availability of security of current assets. The
liabilities which, in normal course of operations, are meant to
banks try to carefully assess that the borrowing company will be
be paid within a period of next 12 months. It is apparent that
able to repay the short-term loans/credit within a period of 365
circulating working capital or current assets, and, current
days, that is, bring liability to bank to zero for some time
liabilities are basically in the nature of renewable aggregates.
during the year. The banks provide credit on the strength of
Their levels fluctuate within a year. There may be higher or
the creditworthiness of the borrowing company which, in turn,
lower degrees of seasonalities in their levels for different firms.
is also determined by the strength of the current ratio and the
But there is always a core element which may keep continuously
amount of net working capital. In other words, a sizable part,
rising over the long run.
the fixed component of investment in working capital, is
The other concept is that of the net working capital. It is financed out of long-term capital funds.
defined as the difference between the current assets and the
In India, the present policies and practices have evolved in a
current liabilities. Implicit in this definition is the principle that
particular historical context. It may be stated that in this country
the entire amount of current assets should not be financed out
creditworthiness as judged by the strength of the current ratio
of current liabilities which includes short-term financial credit.

104 11.671.3
and the net working capital has never been the overriding It is in this background that the Tandon Committee (1975)

criterion for the commercial banks to decide to lend funds for reviewed the bank credit policies and practices in the early 70s. It
financing the working capital. The major consideration has recommended that adequate information on prescribed format
been the current assets charged in favour of the bank as security should be made available by the borrowing companies to the
against borrowing. Therefore, the correlation between the bank commercial banks to enable the latter to practice need based
credit available to industry and the holding of inventory and lending. Secondly, it also recommended norms for investment
book debts by it should be positive and very high. In reality, in inventories and book debts, so that the borrowing compa-
this is not so because the security basis is, in fact, not followed nies should not cross the outer limits of reasonable
strictly. Compliance is largely only on paper. requirements of working capital finance. Thirdly, it also laid
Further, it also implies that bank credit in large part is not down that a certain minimum amount of investment in
meant to assume the character of the filler of short-term cash working capital should be financed by long-term capital funds
gaps. Under the Indian conditions, banks, in general, finance which really meant laying down a minimum current ratio. Its
the fixed component or investment in core current assets as recommendations were implemented; they formed the basis of
well. No distinction is made in practice between the fixed and policies and practices in 70s and the 80s.
fluctuating components of the working capital finance by the Two points are important in this connection. First, the Tandon
commercial banks. The result is that in a vast majority of cases, committee emphasised need based credit, but it could not
and most of the time, the current ratios are low, and the net adequately provide for the criterion of creditworthiness. It
working capital is thin. ignored the fact that Indian commercial banks were moving
There are reasons to justify this major deviation from the into a position in which they were taking more than normal
international practice. India has in recent years built up a big risking lending. A distinction between fixed and fluctuating
industrial set-up and is generally rated, judged by the size of components of bank credit was made. But on the requests of
investment in its industry, as the eighth or the ninth -industrial the banker and the borrowers, the policy makers decided later to
nation in the world. This industrial growth has been made drop this feature after a brief experimentation. Second, it
possible because of the national policies aiming at targeted cannot also be claimed that the guidelines issued by the Reserve
investment for deliberate import substituting industrialisation. Bank to the commercial banks based on the Tandon Committee
Easier access to bank credit has, no doubt, contributed towards recommendations were in practice implemented with adequate
faster growth of investment in industry. care during the two decades. However, on paper, the guidelines
still remain the basis to be followed by the commercial banks
In short, in an economy engineered by national planning, the
for providing working capital finance to the industry.
economist’s view has dominated the policy formulation. This
means that the focus has largely been on relating bank credit to Despite many attempts for improvement (including Tandon
investment in working capital. This approach has also derived Committee formulations), policies and practices in the area of
its strength from the long-standing practice of the banks of financing working capital by commercial banks in India are full
lending against the security of the assets. of bifoculism, paradoxes, and ambiguities. The fact is that
three different sets of criteria which in many respects do not
While in the two decades of the 50s and the 60s, the emphasis
agree with each other are being followed simultaneously in
was on asking the banks to lend, or, as it has euphemistically
practice. The first is the basis laid down by the Tandon
been called to provide larger short-term bank credit to industry,
Committee which is used in - credit appraisals for determining
the underlying idea was to get away from “security based”
the credit needs of the borrowing companies so as to enable the
lending to “need based” lending. During those years, it was felt
commercial banks to fix and sanction credit limits which cannot
that the banks were restricting the availability of credit to
be exceeded during the period for which they are sanctioned.
industry by following strict norms relating to margins and by
These are based on the calculation of the maximum permissible
lending against the security of current assets. The industry
bank finance worked out as per the norms and the method laid
wanted security margins to be lowered and more credit made
down originally by the Tandon Committee and revised
available to them by the banks so as to meet the need for more
marginally by the Reserve Bank of India in subsequent years.
investment in inventory and book debts so as to keep their
operations growing. For an illustration, let it be assumed that the maximum
permissible bank finance, and based on that the total limit
Liberalisation of policies and practices during those years led to
sanctioned works out to Rs 100 crores in the case of Company
criticism in the banking circles. It was said that the banks were
X. The practice also demands simultaneous observance of the
getting farther and farther away from financing the fluctuating
old security criterion. In other words, the company would not
or the short-term requirements of the industry and were getting
be permitted on any day during the period for which the limit
involved deeper and deeper into financing of what was
has been sanctioned, to draw an amount exceeding its drawing
described as permanent core financing by the Dehejia Commit-
power, which is arrived at by deducting the stipulated margins
tee report in the late 60s. It was also asserted that the
from the book value of the inventories and book debts
relationship between the availability of bank credit and growth
hypothecated to the banks as securities. This drawing power, in
of industrial output was getting weaker, because bank credit
practice, is most likely to be either more or less than Rs. 100
was being utilised for acquiring long-term fixed assets and for
crores for the company X, that is, the total limit sanctioned.
holding speculative and flabby inventories.
Therefore, interesting situations arise where companies have

11.671.3 105
higher limits sanctioned but lower drawing power and vice total current assets were financed by long-term capital funds (or
versa. Then there is the third paradox. As part of reality, there the net working capital), whereas the minimum required by the
will be actual drawings from the bank(s) by the companies RBI guidelines based on the Tandon Committee guidelines was
which will fluctuate on day-to-day basis. These drawings are 25 per cent to reach the 1.33 current ratio. These two indicators
made, in accounting terminology, largely from the cash credit lead to the conclusion that high interest rate has been caused
accounts. It is interesting to note that this account which is the largely because of the low levels of the two critical ratios.
centrepiece of the Indian system is operated on the basis of 3 In table 3, the compound annual rates of growth have been
cash flow mechanism. Any cheque, irrespective of the fact, worked out in percentage for the RBI sample of 1,650 large-
whether it is related to payments in respect of current assets or and medium sized companies over the years 1971-72 and 1986-
fixed assets or repayment of current or non-current liabilities, 87. These growth rates show that the interest expenses grew at
can be debited to this account. The same applied to credits. In the rate of 16.1 per cent per year, whereas the sales grew only by
other words, the essence of the matter is that operationally the 12.1 per cent per year. It is also interesting to observe that the
borrower finances the overall cash gap based on cash flows. inventory grew over the period only qt an annual compound
Since, in practice, for the company X all three figures of the total rate of 7.5 per cent. But, at the same time, the book debts
limit sanctioned, the drawing power and the drawings are at any increased by 17.4 per cent which is much higher than the rate of
time not likely to equal I 00, it gives rise to dissatisfaction, growth of sales thereby affecting the over-all investment in
criticism, and lack of faith in the wisdom of the policies and inventory plus book debts. This did not permit improvement
practices. in over-all ratio of turnover of current assets. At the same
Empirical Context time, because of the current ratio and net working capital
A look at the statistical facts relating to the last two decades position did not improve the short-term borrowing from
leads to interesting results. Important conclusions are as banks increased for the sample companies at an annual rate of
follows: 16.5 per cent It may also be noted that the increase in net
investment in fixed assets increased by 15 per cent per year, that
I It can be said that availability of bank credit which has been
is, faster than the sales, necessitating a much higher rate of
the main source of financing working capital of the Indian
growth of 26.4 per cent per year in long-term borrowings. All
industries has not been a problem. More credit flowed to
these factors put together explain the high rate of increase in
industry with the passage of time. In other words, demand
interest expenses. Therefore, as it has already been pointed out
and supply matched very well. On an average, during the two
earlier, the high interest costs have been a cause of serious
decades of the 70s and 80s, bank credit availed by industry in
concern of the Indian industry, particularly now when the
India grew at a linear rate of 14.4 per cent per year. This takes
environment is becoming more competitive.
care of the average annual rate of growth of industrial output
of 5.6 per cent per year plus the inflation rate of 8.6 per cent. Year Wholesale price index [% rate of growth] Industrial
This was made possible largely because of easy market condi- production [% rate of growth] Total Industry Small Industry
tions or the high liquidity position of the banks. During these Large & Medium Industry
years, the savings rate was high and the bank deposits grew, on 1970-71 5.5 5.1 29.7 38.5 36.4
an average, by about 20 per cent per year. 1971-72 5.6 4.4 24.1 15.6 25.9
1972-73 10.0 5.9 10.2 19.2 8.3
Although more credit was allocated to the priority sectors, the 1973-74 20.2 0.5 22.6 32.8 20.4
industry could be accommodated fully to meet its growing, 1974-75 25.2 1.9 22.0 18.5 22.9
1975-76 1.0 5.3 16.4 12.8 17.3
demand of bank credit to finance its working capital. Access to
1976-77 2.0 12.2 2.6 23.9 2.2
credit has not been a problem, but interest burden on the 1977-78 5.2 3.4 10.8 19.9 8.3
industry has been growing fast and the cost of credit has been a 1978-79 0.0 6.9 7.6 26.5 1.6
major area of concern. This has largely been caused by high 1979-80 17.1 1.2 17.8 22.1 16.1
1980-81 18.2 0.7 14.2 19.1 12.2
rates of interest, high borrowings, and high investment in 1981-82 9.3 9.2 19.4 26.1 16.4
inventories and book debts; which, in turn, happened because 1982-83 2.6 3.1 33.9 12.9 44.1
the industry tended to record a low turnover of their current 1983-84 9.4 6.7 1.5 20.7 5.5
assets and because lower percentage of capital funds were used 1984-85 7.0 8.5 10.3 21.3 4.9
1985-86 5.7 8.7 12.6 19.8 8.7
for financing the working capital. 1986-87 5.3 9.1 16.0 16.6 15.7
2 Tables 1 -3 show that on an average, the ratio between 1987-88 7.6 7.5 30.0 4.3 48.8
chargeable current assets and the sales, or, the turnover for RBI 1988-89 - - 19.4 17.2 20.4
1989-90 - - 27.3 22.5 29.4
sample companies during the 70s and the 80s was 2.42. As per Average rate of growth 8.61 5.6 14.4 20.4 13.8
its norms, the Tandon Committee laid down a minimum
turnover ratio of 2. The Indian industry has at macro-level been Recent Past
close to the minimum. Along with low turnover ratio of Taking an overall view, the two decades of the 70s and the 80s
working capital assets the current ratio indicating availability of were characterised by the domination of the economists’ view
capital funds to finance working capital has been too low. On over the view of the business community. There are several
an average, it was around 1.21 which is lower than the mini- important implications on this development.
mum ratio of 1.33 laid down by the Tandon Committee. Or,
First, it is difficult to judge the success of the new need based
to put it differently, on an average, only 16.9 per cent of the
basis of lending followed by commercial banks for working

106 11.671.3
capital investment based on the system recommended by the moving away from norms and models to strategic choices

Tandon Committee. Statistically, there was some improvement (Singh, 1988).
in inventory turnover ratios, but there was no impact on book Fourth, it is also necessary to realise that banking and finance
debts resulting ultimately in higher short-term borrowings and have all over the world also undergone a sea-change during the
higher interest expenses. The net working capital position also 80s. The major idea underlying the new environment is
did not improve. But, in qualitative terms, the improvement in deregulation and consequently greater reliance on market
terms of greater awareness and systemic changes within mechanisms. The business world has grown weary of the
industry as well as within the commercial banks was significant. edifice of controls engineered by the economists and the.
Many companies in the country started taking management of planners to achieve better allocation of resources and better rates
their working capital and its financing more seriously than of growth. It is felt that they are tending to become counter-
before. productive. The new wave is against micro-level controls and
Table : Financing of Current Assets there is demand for the central monetary authority keeping only
Year Sales / CCA NWC / TCA x 100 CR = CA /CL eyes on but hands off. As a matter of fact, a stage has come
1971-72 2.19 17.9 1.21 when bypass banking is tending to overtake regulation engi-
1972-73 2.32 17.3 1.21 neering. As the new environment is beginning to develop,
1973-74 2.24 16.4 1.20
1974-75 2.25 20.4 1.26 disinter mediation and securitisation are growing resulting, in
1975-76 2.31 17.8 1.22 the development of new options for raising finance by industry,
1976-77 2.50 18.4 1.23 and they promise lower costs of funds.
1977-78 2.54 6.6 1.10
1978-79 2.52 16.8 1.20 New Developments
1979-80 2.48 17.9 1.22 Recent developments have interesting features. They imply
1980-81 2.51 17.9 1.22
1981-82 2.49 17.9 1.22 more competition among banks, breakdown of the concept of
1982-83 2.40 17.1 1.21 commercial banking and movement towards diversified
1983-84 2.45 17.1 1.21 banking. They also imply activation of money and capital
1984-85 2.57 15.6 1.19
1985-86 2.49 17.5 1.21
markets, development of new financial products and services all
1986-87 2.42 17.6 1.21 leading towards lower costs of funds. But what is most
Average ratios 2.42 16.9 important to note is that these developments bring in the
creditworthiness to the centre of the stage. They are based on
Table : Compound Annual Rates of Growth more disclosure, more transparent and clean balance-sheets,
Particulars 1971-72 1986-87 Compound rate better information systems and better rates for higher credit
of growth in %
1. Sales 7851 43861 12.1
rated borrowing companies.
2. Changes in the balance sheet Amounts of 302 897 7.5 It may be useful to highlight some of the basic elements of the
inventory
3. Net investment of funds in fixed assets during 404 3301 15.0 new approach before the current Indian scene is examined in
the period
4. Change in the level of trade credit changed 82 915 17.4 detail. There is now a distinction emerging between the
5. Change in the level of trade credit obtained 106 626 12.5 operating and the financing side of financial management in the
6. Change in the level of short term borrowings 85 843 16.5
7. Change in the level of long term borrowings 48 1631 26.4 corporate sector. The operating side includes better manage-
8. Interest expenses 257 2403 16.1 ment of inventories and book debts. But what is new is the
emergence of the role of the money manager or the treasurer
Second, the business community reacted sharply to some of the
on the financing side, and a larger and sharper focus on the
rigidities and conditionalities built into the new system of bank
management of the cash flows. It appears that the emphasis is
lending for working capital. It can be argued that there was a
shifting from economics to finance. It also appears that the
genuine need for laying down of a few norms by the central
treasurer’s or money manager’s office is tending to become a
monetary authority in the country, in the early 70s. They have
separate profit centre in its own right.
served a useful historical purpose in focusing on the criticalities
of management of industrial finance. That phase is now over. This shift away from variables of assets and liabilities towards
It will be a mistake to carry forward the norm-based micro-level variables of cash flows can easily be seen as the expansion and
approach into the future. The environment has changed partition of the cash flow matrix. The conventional matrix for
significantly and a new look at the system is necessary as we cash flow management is given in Exhibit 1. It provides for
move into the 90s. planning and control of various items of receipts and disburse-
ments of cash under separate heads for different planning
Third, it is also necessary to note that the statistical evidence
periods based on weekly, fortnightly or monthly columns.
against the norms is strong. Recent stud ‘ ies have shown that
Each quantity entering into this matrix has three attributes: the
if the relevant key financial ratios for RBI sample companies are
magnitude, the timing, and the uncertainty; and, a number of
taken and analysed, it is found that a large number of observa-
assumptions regarding sales, purchases, production, credit plans
tions are many standard deviations away from the mean. In
and policies. One purpose of the exercise is to forecast the
other words, statistical distributions are too flat and the reality
cumulative cash gaps for each period. Depending upon the
seems to be that almost every company has a uniqueness about
algebraic signs they take, they represent either surpluses or
i4 and, it needs to be treated as such (Singh, Bhattacharyay,
deficits, or cash gaps. The other purpose of the subsequent
1989). Moreover, even in the area of management philosophy,
managerial process is to improve the bottom line by changing
the approach towards management of working capital is

11.671.3 107
magnitudes, timings, uncertainties, by changing underlying company by way of public deposits. As it has already been
policies and practices relating to the management of the argued earlier, a part of the investment in working capital assets
working capital, in essence, the inventories, credit and collec- is always of long-term nature. Recent attempts to raise funds
tions, or, the operating cycle. for financing working capital through public deposits and
The Indian scenario has been changing. The practice has, in through bonds and debentures in the capital market although
recent years, undergone significant changes. In the early 70s relatively few in number, are in the right direction because they
when the rates of interest for lending to the corporate sector strengthen the net working capital position and, therefore,
were in one go almost doubled, the general practice changed improve creditworthiness of the concerned companies and also
over to avoid credit balances in current deposit accounts. As the bring down the over-all cost of funds. As it happens, interest
interest rates jumped up from about 8 or 9 per cent to 17 or 18 rates on short term borrowings in India are still higher com-
per cent, it was considered unwise to maintain credit balances in pared to the rates prevalent for long-term borrowings.
current accounts because they did not earn interest. Recent changes in the short-term money market are more
However, towards the end of the 70s after experiencing two significant for raising the working capital finance. With passage
credit squeezes, the corporate finance managers started lament- of time, most of these recent developments are likely to
ing the loss of financial flexibility arising out ofcomplete assume great significance during the 90s. The way things are
dependence upon commercial banks for filling their cash gaps. developing, it appears that the exclusive dependence of the
Therefore, with early 80s the tendency to draw whenever Indian companies on commercial banks for financing their
possible money from banks and to keep credit balances in working capital will, in large number of cases, no longer be
current deposit accounts again came back into practice. And, in necessary.
later half of the 80s as new opportunities started emerging, the There is a healthy trend towards better management of cash
corporate finance managers started parking their temporarily idle movements and money manages position is gradually being
cash balances for earning interest revenue on them with a view involved. Although, only a few companies have got themselves
to minimising the interest burden on their companies. More- involved thus far, serious attempts have been started to
over, this also coincided with the emergence of many decentralise cash collection and to speed up collection with the
cash-surplus companies on the scene which were all set to take help of services provided by some of the banks in the country.
on to the new developments. This is meant to reduce the float and improve the bottom-line
What has really happened is that the traditional matrix has got of the cash flows. Further, attempts are also being made to
expanded and partitioned into two matrices. The second streamline the working capital management and to reduce the
matrix is given in Exhibit 2. It starts with cumulative cash gap need for working capital finance. Focus: the first matrix. But
and moves on to current account balance, short-term borrow- what is more important is the growing active interest in
ings from banks and the market, drawing power from banks, generating cash surpluses and parking them in short-term
and, investment in money market instruments or other short- investments as and when they are available. These attempts
term quick assets coming under the purview of money lead to faster recycling of funds, reduction in need for borrow-
manager. They include management of cash collections and ing and lowering of the interest burden. Focus: the second
payments and float to improve the bottom line and parking of -matrix, demanding policy and operational decisions on all
idle funds to earn money on money. rows.
It appears, in future, the focus in the area of financing the With a view to activating the money market, the banking system
working capital in India would not only be on current assets, in India has introduced two new instruments. Treasury bills
current liabilities, net working capital, and the current ratio. and commercial bills are already available. To these certificates of
There will also be another major area of focus: the bottom-line deposits issued by commercial banks and commercial paper
and the portfolio of investment in quick assets. This would issued by the corporate bodies have been specifically for use by
make quick ratio not only relevant but also important for a large the corporate sector. The certificates of deposit provide an
number of companies, and, that is what makes the situation opportunity to the corporate manager to raise short-term funds
formally bifocal. in the money market. The Reserve Bank has issued guidelines
for issuing the two new money market instruments. These
Towards New Scenario guidelines are highly restrictive in character because the eligibility
During the second half of the 80s, the national policies in India criteria have been set too high. There have been some subse-
were modified with a view to liberalising regulations and to quent liberalisation too. It is expected that as the experiment
activate capital and money markets. Trends towards greater succeeds, the eligibility criteria will be further liberalised to
financialisation of savings and greater securitisation of financial permit larger number of companies to use CDs and CPs. It is
assets have already started. With the activation of the capital also expected that the variety and range of instruments would
market, larger volume of funds are being raised through also widen, and the secondary market would get itself estab-
debentures, and many debenture issues are being made, lished.
specifically to make more funds available for financing working
In this connection, it is relevant to point out that the basic idea
capital. Many public sector units also raised funds through
underlying the introduction of new money market instruments
bonds. The corporate sector, in general, has been more active in
and supportive new financial services, is to enable the corporate
raising, funds through public deposits as well. The current
sector to raise funds more easily, to use funds already available
regulations restrict the amount of funds that ran be raised by a

108 11.671.3
more effectively and to reduce the interest burden. An active the banks get used to the new game. There are, however, some

money market is meant to provide short-term funds at rates of banks and also some corporate money managers and private
interest much lower than long-term rates of interest. Treasury matchmakers who believe that in a country like India, demand
bills are, to some extent, used but only by the banks. They and supply position of money is likely to keep the rates in the
themselves also accept term deposits for short periods. In these call market often times as high as 30 or 40 per cent. They are
cases, the rates of interest have fluctuated around 8 to 10 per gearing themselves up for business opportunities under such
cent. It is expected that under ideal conditions these should be conditions. In recent months, things have gone to the extent
the rates around which short-term money market in India that some corporate money managers have availed credit
should fluctuate. A prime rate would emerge and the CDs and facilities from some commercial banks at 16 per cent and
CPs would also get related to it. through matchmakers lent them back through commercial
It is no doubt true that the Reserve Bank is overcautious. It is banks at 30 or 4O per cent to other commercial banks. The
also not yet ready to exercise control over the monetary system matchmakers have also been busy in arranging inter-corporate
if new developments pick up fast. All its control instruments short-term borrowings and lendings at rates above 20 per cent.
and policies were developed in the past to meet the then In such transactions, commercial banks have also been involved.
prevailing conditions. It will have to review its own working On the other hand, discounting of commercial bills which carry
and devise new control measures. This is what in the new interest rates lower than 15 percent has not been so popular
environment, is called re-regulation. With more freedom because the rediscount rates have not been higher.
available to banks, as well as players on the other side of the These two parallel developments described above are apparently
market it will be necessary to change regulations so that non contradictory. On the other hand, the authorities at the national
fund and off the balance sheet business of banks and all other level have been trying to deregulate, to activate money and
financial institutions can be regulated to achieve the national capital markets, to introduce new money market instruments in
objectives. the expectation that money market would offer opportunities
For this purpose, some of the old ideas may have to be to the corporate money managers and banks to do more
drastically revised. For example, it is not necessary to look at business and earn reasonable profit and, at the national level, to
new money market instruments in the Tandon Committee raise more funds in the market at reasonable cost of funds. On
perspective. It is no doubt true that more active use of CDs the other hand, the matchmakers in the market are using the
and CPs would drastically alter the nature of other current assets new freedom to arrange inter corporate borrowing and lending,
and current liabilities on corporate balance-sheets. That would lending surplus funds to banks to meet their cash reserve
demand a major reconsideration of the present system. But it requirements and to continue the short-term portfolio manage-
is not wise to link operations relating to new money market ment service by replacing buyback arrangements with forward
instruments to maximum ‘permissible bank finance or not to purchases. There have been several occasions in the recent past
permit revolving underwriting arrangements and instead, when liquidity in the market was tight and several companies
permit only standby agreements within the credit limit sanc- have been made fabulous profits through such transactions,
tioned by the banks. In other words, it will have to be and, these profits have been earned through totally risk-free
understood that if new developments are to be encouraged in transactions. They cannot be considered functional.
the 90s, one cannot restrict them by the wisdom of the 70s. The situation is, therefore, paradoxical. There is the hope that
There is the other side of the picture; it is also necessary to take gradually things will, in due course, settle down and both the
note of the developments beyond the official market. What banks and the corporate money managers will start using
has really been happening in the unofficial market in the last few available instruments and play the game within the guidelines
years is somewhat dysfunctional. The first major development and the policies of the Reserve Bank and help in achieving the
in the market was the emergence of the financial service called national objectives. There is also the fear that the new environ-
portfolio management. Since the Reserve Bank regulations did ment might promote more of bypass banking, and ultimately,
not permit, it emerged as a sort of bypass banking. It was not the experiment in freeing the call market rate may have to be
prohibited either. Some banks started offering interest rates considered a failure.
around 12 per cent to the corporate sector for their cash As against this, it might be noted that many Indian companies
surpluses. The money was invested in either UTI units or with the help of commercial banks have been gaining access to
public sector bonds and the banks made some profit for foreign funds raised in international money markets through
themselves. To ensure absolute liquidity, the banks signed the issue of commercial paper at fairly low rate of interest. This
buyback agreements with their corporate clients. This meant not only makes cheaper funds available to the Indian industry
reward without risk and also a more than normally expected but also helps in bridging the foreign exchange gap.
reward on short-term deposits in India. The RBI prohibited All innovations in financial world get popularised with passage
portfolio management for periods shorter than a year. of time. As attempts in India are being made to broaden the
Another most important development has been the removal of range of options available to corporate managers to finance
the ceiling of 10 per cent interest rate for the call market. their working capital through more deregulation, disinter
Therefore, the call rates have on many occasions risen too high mediation, securitisation, institutionalisation, and
touching sometimes even 50 per cent and more. It is expected internationalisation, it should be recognised that to begin with
that the rates would somewhat stabilise in the near future, as only a few companies and a few banks would be involved. As

11.671.3 109
these developments proliferate, with passage of time, the investor will issue a cheque of Rs189,500.This figure is arrived
number of players and the variety of instruments will increase. at as follows:

This hope will materialise only if the introduction of instru- = 200,000 x 21% x 3/12
ments like CDs and CPs becomes popular both in the banking
Thus the investor gets his/her interest before the end of the
and in the corporate world. If they are pushed aside by
period on discounting.The company on its part will issue a
somewhat clandestine and bypass banking in which the name
post-dated cheque of Rs200,000 for three months period.
of the game will only be making money on money, the bus will
be missed. Much would depend upon whether the money Here we see that the investor benefits in two ways:
game is played as chess or poker. He gets the interest element at the first day of issuing the
cheque. i.e. he does not include that part in his cheque amount.
Bill Discounting - An Avenue for Retail
Thus he can earn interest on this interest for a three-month
Investors too
period. Even a simple bank fixed deposit on it will earn @5%
Bill discounting is a short tenure financing instrument for
p.a. By investing Rs189,500 for three months, the investor
companies willing to discount their purchase / sales bills to get
earns Rs10,500 on it. A return of 22.16%.
funds for the short run and as for the investors in them, it is a
good instrument to park their spare funds for a very short Discount Rates The rates depend on the following factors:
duration. The Broker: The broker has a good influence on the rates
A lot of people believe that bills discounting falls in the offered by companies. His relations with the company and the
purview of banks and financial institutions. While this may be investor do make a difference of a couple of percentage point in
correct to a large extent, it is also true that most of the smaller discounting rates.
value bills of big corporates and smaller, but sound, companies Market Liquidity: Liquidity crunch in the market tends to hike
is undertaken by retail investors, who have funds to spare for a up the rates even in the best of the companies. Since this
certain period. instrument is a short tenure one, short-term changes in the
Bills discounting is of two types market liquidity greatly affect the discount rates.
1. Purchase bills discounting and Volume/Value of Discounting: When the volume/value of
discounting done by the investor is high, he is looking at
2. Sales bill discounting.
security more than returns. The company on its part is looking
A purchase bill discounting means that the investor discounts at savings by way of reduced legal paper work and a higher
the purchase bill of the company and pays the company, who in amount of dedicated funds for a said period and hence on the
turn pay their supplier. The investor gets his money back from whole reduced costs to the company.
the company at the end of the discounting period.
Frequency: An investor who is regular bills discounter for the
A sales bills discounting means the investor discounts the sales company may get upto 1% to 1.5% points higher interest rates
bill of the company and pays directly to the company. The than a new investor. As for the investor he is trying it out with a
investor gets his return from the company at the end of the new company and will agree to a lesser rate to ensure safety.
discounting period.
Company’s finance resources: This is one of the biggest factors
Funds The funds generally required for this type of transaction that decide the discount rates. A Public limited company
start from Rs300,000 to upto Rs2mn. The tenure, generally, generally tends to have a cheaper source of finance as against any
ranges from 60 days to upto 180 days. other form of company. Working capital financing of compa-
Procedure The procedure is that a broker will contact you with nies to a large extent manipulates the rates the companies are
proposals to discount bills of different companies at different willing to discount their bills at.
rates of discounting. The better companies command discount- Caveat The following points need to be remembered when
ing rates of 13% to 15%, while the lesser known, by size and by dealing in this instrument.
safety, have to pay discounting rates of 17% to as high as 28%.
One must have a thorough knowledge of the company whose
It is later explained what factors determine the discount rates.
bills are discounted. Their industry, competition, people at the
When an investor and the company agree to a particular bill
helm and their reputation in the market. This is necessary as it is
discounting transaction, the following is what the company
going to be the company that is going to pay you from its
gives to the investor:
earnings.
The original copies of bills to be discounted;
There is no legal fall back option in case of default by the
A hundi / promissory note; Post dated cheque. company. The company does sign a promissory note, but legal
The investor simply has to issue a cheque. The amount of respite using this will take years to happen. The investor is not a
cheque is arrived at after deducting the discount rate. The post- secured creditor for the company nor does he get any preference
dated cheque that the company gives is of the full amount of on winding up of the company.
the transaction. This can be better explained with an example as Brokers need to be people who are well known to you. Since
follows. most of the deals happen through them, you should know the
Company A wants to discount its purchase bill of Rs200,000 broker well enough to trust him and his deals. Spurious
for a period of three months. Investor P agrees to do so at a brokers are plenty out there in the market and a watchful eye
discount rate of 21%. The deal is mutually agreed. Now, the must be kept. Even after investing in the company a regular

110 11.671.3
watch on the company’s fortune and a constant touch with the Banking : Tightening the noose

broker would be warranted. HISTORY has shown that banking crisis are followed by
reforms. Bankers expect history to repeat itself in the forthcom-
RBI Tightens Norms for Bills Discounting ing monetary policy.
THE Reserve Bank of India has permitted banks to sanction
limit for bills discounting to borrowers in accordance with the Investigations into the Madhavpura Co-operative Bank episode
loan policy as approved by their board of directors. have shown that stock brokers have misused the Ahmedabad-
based cooperative bank’s funds to the extent of Rs 1000 crore.
In its guidelines on discounting and rediscounting of bills by
banks, based on the recommendations of the working group This includes the Rs 800 crore lent to stock broker Ketan Parekh
on discounting of bills by banks, the RBI has said banks and Rs 200 crore to Mukeshbabu by Madhavpura Cooperative
should lay down a bills discounting policy approved by their Bank.
board of directors and consistent with their policy of sanction- A fallout of this is expected to be RBI measures aimed at
ing of working capital limits. curbing such violation of norms. But it is unlikely that any
In a circular issued to all scheduled commercial banks, the apex dramatic changes on bank’s capital markets exposure would be
bank has said the procedure for board approval should include announced in this policy.
banks’ core operating process from the time the bills are The central banks has always debated major policy changes with
tendered till these are realised. senior bankers before implementing them. A draft report on
Banks should open letters of credit (LCs) and purchase, bank’s exposure in the capital market was circulated last week
discount, negotiate bills under LCs only in respect of genuine and comments from banks are expected only in May.
commercial and trade transactions of their borrower constitu- But in the short run, RBI is expected to announce fine turning
ents who have been sanctioned regular credit facilities by the of some of the existing prudential norms. Some bankers feel
banks. that the central bank will tighten norms in respect of the
Therefore, banks should not extend fund-based (including bills maximum conuter-party exposure in inter-bank deals.
financing) or non-fund-based facilities like opening of LCs, It is also likely that the RBI will take the first step towards
providing guarantees and acceptances to non-constituent introducing risk based supervision In the last two credit policy,
borrower or a non-constituent member of a consortium, RBI has expressed its intentions to move towards RBS.
multiple banking arrangement. RBS would imply monitoring banks by allocating supervisory
While purchasing, discounting, negotiating bills under LCs or attention according to the risk profile of each institutions. It
otherwise, banks have been asked to establish genuineness of would be done by upgrading the supervisory tools like on-site
underlying transaction documents. and off-site inspections and putting in place market intelligence
Accommodation bills should not be purchased, discounted or mechanism.
negotiated by banks. Besides this, several other draft reports which have been
Banks should be circumspect while discounting bills drawn by circulated and largely debated could be notified in the forthcom-
front finance companies set up by large industrial groups on ing policy.
other group companies. These include a draft guideline credit exposure limits which
Bills rediscounts should be restricted to usancebills held by suggest broadening the definition of net worth and thereby
other banks. Banks should not rediscount bills earlier dis- permitting higher loan exposure limits to individual and group
counted by non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) except in accounts.
respect of bills arising from sale of light commercial vehicles There are draft norms on strengthening the bills discounting
and two-/three-wheelers. mechanism and extending it scope to service sector, a paper on
Banks may exercise their commercial judgment in discounting pre-empt corrective action which will enable RBI to pre-empt
of bills of services sector. any deterioration in the banking system.
In order to promote payment discipline which would to a

certain extent encourage acceptance of bills, all corporates and
other constituent borrowers having turnover above threshold
level as fixed by the bank’s board of directors should be
mandated to disclose ‘aging schedule’ of their overdue payables
in their periodical returns submitted to banks.
Banks should not enter into repo transactions using bills
discounted/rediscounted as collateral.
Banks should follow the above instructions strictly and any
violation of these instructions will be viewed seriously and
invite penal action from the RBI.

11.671.3 111

Bill of Exchange Discounting

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MANAGEMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

MANAGEMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

© Copy Right: Rai University

© Copy Right: Rai University

MANAGEMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

© Copy Right: Rai University

MANAGEMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

© Copy Right: Rai University

© Copy Right: Rai University

MANAGEMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

© Copy Right: Rai University

© Copy Right: Rai University

MANAGEMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

© Copy Right: Rai University

© Copy Right: Rai University

MANAGEMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

© Copy Right: Rai University

number of players and the variety of instruments will increase. at as follows:

© Copy Right: Rai University

MANAGEMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

In order to promote payment discipline which would to a

© Copy Right: Rai University

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