Under Section 5(b) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, 'banking' means:

Section 5(b) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 defines banking as accepting, for the purpose of lending or investment, of deposits of money from the public, repayable on demand or otherwise, and withdrawable by cheque, draft, order or otherwise. The definition collects several ingredients: deposits from the public rather than only from members, acceptance for the purpose of lending or investment, repayability on demand or otherwise, and withdrawal by cheque or similar instruments. A company transacting this business is a banking company under Section 5(c) of the Act. Acceptance of deposits alone, lending alone, or mutual deposit-taking among members does not satisfy the statutory definition, so the second option is the complete and correct description.