RBI Opens Public Comment on Draft AI Model Risk Management Framework

By Subhra Bishnu, Co-Founder & Director, OrangeTree Global — Connect on LinkedIn
24 June 2026 — open for comment until 24 July 2026

The Reserve Bank of India published a draft Model Risk Management Framework requiring banks and NBFCs to implement formal governance and controls over every material model used in decision-making — whether built in-house or sourced from a vendor — including AI and machine-learning models. This builds on RBI’s earlier FREE-AI framework (Framework for Responsible and Ethical Enablement of AI) and signals that AI-driven analytics in Indian financial services is moving from experimentation to formal regulatory oversight. For any analytics or training firm working with BFSI clients, this is a framework worth tracking closely.

What this means for our clients: If your organisation runs credit, risk or fraud models — in-house or vendor-sourced — this is worth a compliance review now, ahead of the 24 July deadline. Our AI consulting team can help assess where your model governance stands against this framework.

Source: Surepass — “RBI Draft AI Model Risk Management Framework 2026”