"Prior approval of the Reserve Bank of India is required before acquiring controlling stake in a deposit taking NBFC." Do you agree? Justify your answer.

Yes, I agree with the statement. Prior approval of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is required before acquiring a controlling stake in a deposit-taking NBFC. Justification: As per the Non-Banking Financial Companies (Deposit Accepting) (Approval of Acquisition or Transfer of Control) Directions, 2009, any takeover or acquisition of control of a deposit-taking NBFC, whether by acquisition of shares or otherwise, or any merger/amalgamation of a deposit-taking NBFC with another entity, or any merger/amalgamation of an entity with a deposit-taking NBFC, shall require prior written approval of the Reserve Bank of India. The Reserve Bank of India may, if it considers necessary for avoiding any hardship or for any other just and sufficient reason, exempt any NBFC or class of NBFCs, from all or any of the provisions of these Directions either generally or for any specified period, subject to such conditions as the Reserve Bank of India may impose. This regulation is in place to ensure financial stability and to prevent undesirable entities from gaining control over deposit-taking NBFCs, which play a crucial role in the financial system.