RBI announces Measures towards promoting Financial Inclusion / Dec 27, 2005 / Webindia

From Indiapensions

RBI announces Measures towards promoting Financial Inclusion

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today announced a slew of measures aimed at taking banking services to the small man, as a part of Financial Inclusion.

The circulars issued by the Central bank covered areas such as widening the scope of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), introduction of General Credit Card (GCC) and one-time settlement (OTS) scheme for small borrowers.

The RRBs have been advised to offer 'no frills' account facilities with zero or low minimum balance requirements as also nominal charges, so as to make such accounts available to the vast sections of the population.

They have also advised to explore the provision of small clean overdraft facility in such accounts without linkage to purpose. The procedures for opening such accounts, including KYC compliance, would be simple.

In order to make RRBs important vehicles of credit delivery in rural areas, RBI has announced a special package designed to give fillip to their resource base. These measures will enable them to avail lines of credit from sponsor banks at reasonable rates of interest, access to inter-RRB term money/borrowings and also to repo/CBLO markets.

RRBs have been permitted to set up ATMs, issue debit/credit cards and also to handle pension/government business as sub-agents of banks authorised to conduct Government business.