The Reserve Bank of India today advised scheduled commercial banks (including Local Area Banks) to take necessary action towards implementation of the Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme for farmers at the earliest. It has been further advised that implementation of the Scheme should be completed by June 30, 2008.It may be recalled that the Hon’ble Finance Minister, in his Budget Speech (paragraph 73) for 2008-09 had announced a debt waiver and debt relief

The Reserve Bank of India has today placed on its website www.rbi.org.in the Report of the Working Group on Improvement of Banking Services in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep. With a view to improving the outreach of banks and their services, promoting financial inclusion and supporting the development plans of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep (UTL), a Working Group was constituted under the Chairmanship of Shri S.Ramaswamy, Regional Director, Kerala and UTL, Res

The Reserve Bank of India today placed on its website (www.rbi.org.in), the Report of the Working Group on Rehabilitation of Sick SMEs for wider dissemination and comments. Comments on the Report could be sent to the Chief General Manager-in-Charge, Rural Planning & Credit Department, Reserve Bank of India, Central Office, Fort, Mumbai-400001 or could be <a href=# onclick=javascript:document.open('Bs_RbiEmailMaster.aspx?name=rbi51','query_pop','width=460,height

The Reserve Bank of India today constituted an Internal Working Group under the Chairmanship of Shri V.S.Das, Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India, to Examine the Recommendations of the Radhakrishna Expert Group on Agricultural Indebtedness. The Internal Working Group would consist of members from various departments of Reserve Bank, viz., Rural Planning and Credit Department, Department of Banking Operations and Development, Department of Economic Analysis and P

The Reserve Bank of India today placed on its website the report of the Working Group set up to suggest measures to further simplify the procedures and processes for agricultural loans, especially for small and marginal farmers. While the Reserve Bank has already implemented certain recommendations of the Working Group in its Annual Policy for 2007-08, it has released the report of the Working Group stating that the other recommendations of the Working Group have rele

Notwithstanding the policy initiatives taken by the Central Government, RBI and NABARD to facilitate hassle-free flow of credit from the institutional financial sector to the agricultural/rural sector, the Indian agriculture has been facing difficult times and the Indian farmers have been experiencing extreme distress. The spate of suicides by farmers in different parts of the country is a palpable manifestation of this unfortunate state of affairs. In order to addres

Bank customers can now appeal against the decision of the Banking Ombudsman where he has rejected the customer's complaint relating to matters falling within the grounds of complaints specified under the scheme. The Reserve Bank of India has amended the Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006 to enable the customers to appeal against the Banking Ombudsman's decision. The amendments are available on the RBI website. Before the scheme was amended, the bank customers could appeal

The Reserve Bank of India has today placed on its website (www.rbi.org.in), the report of a Working Group on improvement of banking services in Uttaranchal. The Reserve Bank had set up the Working Group under the chairmanship of Shri V. S. Das, Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India to examine the problems/issues relating to banking services in the State and prepare an action plan to be implemented for the purpose. The Working Group reviewed the role of banks and f

It may be recalled that, the Reserve Bank of India had, on January 25, 2006, set up a committee to achieve greater financial inclusion and provision of financial services in the North-Eastern region (NER) and also to prepare an appropriate state-specific monitorable action plan for the region. Deputy Governor, Smt. Usha Thorat was the Chairman of the Committee. The Committee has since submitted its report, which is now placed in the Reserve Bank's website. The Committ

The Reserve Bank of India today constituted a Working Group to suggest measures to assist distressed farmers including provision of financial counselling services and introduction of a specific Credit Guarantee Scheme under the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (DICGC) Act for such farmers. The members of the Working Group will be: 1. Prof. S.S. Johl, Vice Chairman, Punjab State Planning Board – Chairman 2. Dr. Y.S.P. Thorat, Chairman, Nation