Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched two innovative customer-centric initiatives of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The retail direct scheme allows investors to invest in government securities through a free account directly opened with RBI.
The new initiatives from RBI are retail direct scheme and integrated ombudsman scheme. The integrated ombudsman scheme is based on ‘One Nation-One Ombudsman’ with one portal, one email, and one address to lodge customer complaints.
In his address during the launch, the PM said, “Retail direct scheme has given small investors in the country a simple and safe medium of investment in government securities. Similarly, one nation, one ombudsman system has taken shape in the banking sector with the integrated ombudsman scheme today.”
The Prime Minister emphasised the citizen-centric nature of these schemes. He said one of the most significant touchstones of any democracy is the strength of its grievance redressal system.
“The integrated ombudsman scheme will go a long way in that direction. Similarly, the retail direct scheme will give strength to the inclusion of everyone in the economy as it will bring in the middle class, employees, small businessmen and senior citizens with their small savings directly and securely in government securities. As government securities have the provision of guaranteed settlement, this gives assurance of safety to the small investor," he added.
According to Mr Modi, till six to seven years ago, banking, pension and insurance used to be like an exclusive club in India.
He stated, “All these facilities were not accessible to the common citizens in the country, poor families, farmers, small traders-businessmen, women, and dalits-deprived-backwards.”
Criticising the earlier system, the PM said those responsible for taking these facilities to the poor never paid any attention to it. Instead, he lamented, various excuses were made for not changing, and it was said that there is no bank branch, no staff, no internet, no awareness, no idea what the arguments were.
According to the PM, over the last few years, the banking sector in the country has undergone various reforms like inclusion and technological integration, which helped people during the pandemic. He says, “The initiatives by RBI have supported important decisions taken by the government.”
The prime minister said, “Over the past seven years, non-performing assets (NPAs) were identified with transparency, the focus was on resolution and recovery, public sector banks (PSBs) were recapitalised, one after the other reforms were carried out in the financial system and public sector banks.”
To further strengthen the banking sector, cooperative banks were also brought under the purview of RBI, he stated. Mr Modi said, “Due to this the governance of these banks is also improving and the trust in this system is getting stronger among the depositors.”
PM Modi said the unified payment interface (UPI) has made India the world’s leading country in terms of digital transactions in a very short period.
“With the help of a UPI, India has become a leading nation in digital transactions quickly. In just seven years, digital transactions have increased 19 times. Today our banking system is operational 24 hours, seven days and 12 months anytime, anywhere in the country,” he added.
Prime Minister @narendramodi launches two innovative customer centric initiatives of the @RBI.
These initiatives are RBI Retail Direct Scheme and Reserve Bank - Integrated Ombudsman Scheme. pic.twitter.com/CTRUcKPgHz
Shaktikanta Das, governor of RBI says, “The integrated ombudsman scheme will reinforce trust and confidence in the financial system. The launching of these two citizen-centric initiatives today will provide further impetus to our journey towards a more inclusive and responsive financial system.”
The RBI retail direct scheme is aimed at enhancing access to the government securities market for retail investors.
It offers them a new avenue for directly investing in securities issued by the government of India and the state governments. Investors will be able to open and maintain their government securities account online with the RBI, free of cost.
The Reserve Bank-integrated ombudsman scheme aims to improve further the grievance redress mechanism for resolving customer complaints against RBI-regulated entities.
There will be a single point of reference for customers to file their complaints, submit the documents, track status and provide feedback. A multi-lingual toll-free number will provide all relevant information on grievance redress and assistance for filing complaints.
RBI -Retail Direct Scheme Under the retail direct scheme, individual retail investors can open a retail direct gilt (RDG) account with the RBI through https://rbiretaildirect.org.in.
Investments under the scheme can be made using the following routes:
Primary issuance of government securities: Investors can place a bid as per the non-competitive scheme for participation in the primary auction of government securities and procedural guidelines for sovereign gold bond (SGB) issuance.
Secondary market: Investors can buy and sell government securities on the negotiated dealing system (NDS)-order matching (OM) (odd lot and request for quotes segments).
RBI says, "Payments for transactions can be made conveniently using a saving bank account through internet banking or UPI. Investors can obtain help and other support facilities on the portal itself and through a toll-free telephone number 1800-267-7955 (10am to 7pm) and email. Investor services include provisions for transaction and balance statements, nomination facility, pledge or lien of securities and gift transactions. No fees will be charged for facilities provided under the scheme."
The Reserve Bank - Integrated Ombudsman Scheme 2021 The scheme integrates the existing three ombudsman schemes of RBI, namely, the banking ombudsman scheme, 2006, the ombudsman scheme for non-banking financial companies, 2018 and the ombudsman scheme for digital transactions, 2019. In addition to integrating the three existing schemes, the scheme also includes under its ambit non-scheduled primary co-operative banks with deposit size of Rs50 crore and above.
Here are the salient features of the scheme...
1. It will no longer be necessary for a complainant to identify under which scheme he/she should file a complaint with the ombudsman.
2. The scheme defines 'deficiency in service' as the ground for filing a complaint, with a specified list of exclusions. Therefore, the complaints would no longer be rejected simply because "not covered under the grounds listed in the scheme".
3. The scheme has done away with the jurisdiction of each ombudsman office.
4. A centralised receipt and processing centre has been set up at RBI in Chandigarh for receipt and initial processing of physical and email complaints in any language.
5. The responsibility of representing the regulated entity and furnishing information regarding complaints filed by customers against the regulated entity would be that of the principal nodal officer in the rank of a general manager in a public sector bank (PSB) or equivalent.
6. The regulated entity will not have the right to appeal in cases where the ombudsman issues an award against it for not furnishing satisfactory and timely information/ documents.
RBI's executive director in charge of the consumer education and protection department (CEPD) is the appellate authority under the scheme.
Complaints can continue to be filed online on https://cms.rbi.org.in. Complaints can also be filed through the dedicated email or sent physically to the 'Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre' set up at Reserve Bank of India, 4th Floor, Sector 17, Chandigarh - 160017 in the format.
Additionally, a Contact Centre with a toll-free number - 14448 (9:30am to 5:15pm) - is also being operationalised in Hindi, English and in eight regional languages to begin with and will be expanded to cover other Indian languages in due course. The contact centre will provide information and clarifications regarding the alternate grievance redress mechanism of RBI and guide complainants in filing a complaint.
Comments
raviforjustice
5 years ago
'Complaints can also be filed through the dedicated email ..' But where is the e mail id?
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