PM Modi launches new RBI schemes aimed at retail investment and addressing grievances

PM Narendra Modi launched two schemes by the central bank, the RBI Retail Direct and Reserve Bank Integrated Ombudsman Scheme in an effort to ease retail investor access.

Under the Retail Direct scheme, retail investors can now invest in Central Government securities, Treasury Bills, State Development Loans and Sovereign Gold Bonds via a portal. Individual investors can access the online portal to open a securities account with RBI, bid in primary auctions and buy and sell securities in the market. No fee will be charged for any of the services provided under the scheme.

The second initiative, the Integrated Ombudsman scheme, aims at bolstering the grievance redress mechanism for resolving customer complaints against banks, NBFCs and non-bank payment system participants. This scheme will be based on ‘One Nation-One Ombudsman’ with one portal, one email, and one address for the customers to lodge their complaints. At present, RBI has three separate ombudsmen — for banks, NBFCs and digital payments. These are operated from 22 RBI ombudsman offices across the country. These will be integrated into one centralised scheme to make the grievance redress mechanism simpler and much more effective