The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is India's central bank and regulatory body and is responsible for the issue and supply of the Indian rupee and the regulation of the Indian banking system. It also manages the country's main payment systems and works to promote its economic development. Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran is one of the specialised divisions of RBI through which it prints & mints Indian bank notes and coins. RBI established the National Payments Corporation of India as one of its specialised division to regulate the payment and settlement systems in India. Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation was established by RBI as one of its specialised division for the purpose of providing insurance of deposits and guaranteeing of credit facilities to all Indian banks.

Until the Monetary Policy Committee was established in 2016, it also had full control over monetary policy in the country. It commenced its operations on 1 April 1935 in accordance with the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. The original share capital was divided into shares of 100 each fully paid. Following India's independence on 15 August 1947, the RBI was nationalised on 1 January 1949.The overall direction of the RBI lies with the 21-member central board of directors, composed of: the governor; four deputy governors; two finance ministry representatives (usually the Economic Affairs Secretary and the Financial Services Secretary); ten government-nominated directors; and four directors who represent local boards for Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, and Delhi. Each of these local boards consists of five members who represent regional interests and the interests of co-operative and indigenous banks.

It is a member bank of the Asian Clearing Union. The bank is also active in promoting financial inclusion policy and is a leading member of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI). The bank is often referred to by the name 'Mint Street'.On 12 November 2021, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, launched two new schemes which aim at expanding investments and ensuring more security for investors. The two new schemes include the RBI Retail Direct Scheme and the Reserve Bank Integrated Ombudsman Scheme. The RBI Retail Direct Scheme is targeted at retail investors to invest easily in government securities. According to RBI, the scheme will allow retail investors to open and maintain their government securities account free of cost. The RBI Integrated Ombudsman Scheme aims to further improve the grievance redress mechanism for resolving customer complaints against entities regulated by the central bank.