The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday said it has decided to reopen licensing for urban co-operative banks (UCBs), ending a two-decade pause on issuance of fresh licences. It has released draft guidelines for the same. Due to deteriorating financial conditions in the urban co-operative banking sector, the RBI had stopped issuing fresh licenses in June 2004. Over the time, they have made a turnaround, aided by consolidation and closure of many weaker entities. Considering the improvement, the RBI floated a discussion paper on January 13. Based on the feedback, it proposed a framework on Wednesday.