Page 8 - Banking Finance September 2020

RBI CORNER

switch over to pension facility from the measure the deepening and penetra- Bill, 2020 replaces an ordinance that
contributory provident fund (CPF). It tion of digital payments across the was promulgated on June 26.
was a long-standing demand by the country," he said while addressing a Replying to the debate on the bill, Fi-
central bank employees. webinar organised by the US-India nance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
"This will be the last such option given Business Council. said this legislation is for depositors'
to eligible serving/retired employee/ A comprehensive index has also been safety and not for undermining powers
family members of deceased employ- recommended by a high-level commit- of the Registrar of Cooperative Societ-
ees to switch over from CPF scheme to tee headed by Nandan Nilekani on ies.
pension scheme and no further option deepening digital payments in the Powers of the Registrar of Cooperative
will be given in future," RBI said in an country. Societies have not been encroached
internal note. Earlier, in February, the RBI said that upon but banking activity of coopera-
The decision has been taken in consul- the DPI would be based on multiple tives will be regulated by the Reserve
tation with the government. All exist- parameters and reflect the penetra- Bank of India (RBI), she said.
ing employees who joined RBI before tion and deepening of various digital Urban cooperative banks and multi-
January 1, 2012 will get this benefit. payment modes. state cooperative banks will be
For retirees, the cut-off date is Novem- brought under the RBI's supervision
ber 1, 1990, the date of introduction Compliance officers: RBI process applicable to commercial
of the pension scheme at RBI.
issues norms for banks banks.
The switch over option will be available
The Reserve Bank of India has pre- There are about 1,482 urban coopera-
till November 15. Those who will be
scribed guidelines for 'Compliance tive banks and 58 multi-state co-opera-
availing themselves of the facility tive banks with a depositors base of
would be eligible to draw pension from Functions in Banks' and creating a about 8.6 crore.
July. "No arrears of pension will be paid 'Role of a Chief Compliance Officer' to
for the period prior to July 1, 2020," bring uniformity of approach and to
align the supervisory expectations Interest of bank deposi-
RBI said.
from CCOs with best practices. These tors has to be protected:
guidelines cover policy (which should be
Reserve Bank to construct reviewed at least once a year), tenor Das
digital payment index and appointment of a CCO, and report- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) gov-
ing requirements and duties and re- ernor Shaktikanta Das warned that
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is in
sponsibilities of the compliance func- India's economic recovery will be
the process of constructing a digital
payment index to assess the extent of tion, among others. gradual and argued strongly in favour
digitisation and innovation in existing The RBI observed that banks currently of protecting the interest of depositors
modes and channels to bridge the digi- follow diverse practices vis-a-vis 'com- amid a contentious Supreme Court
tal divide, said a senior official with the pliance the functions and the role of hearing on waiver of interest during
central bank. CCO'. the loan-moratorium period.
Observing that digital payments in In- India's lead economic indicators, which
dia have been growing rapidly, RBI LS passes bill to bring co- had shown an uptick in June and July,
Executive Director, T Rabi Sankar, said operative banks under RBI appear to be levelling off, Das said at
there is still a lot of catching up to do an event organised by the Federation
as per-capita penetration is still quite supervision of Indian Chambers of Commerce &
low. In a bid to protect the interest of de- Industry (Ficci).
positors, the Lok Sabha passed an "The end-August press release of the
"The RBI is in the process of ...con-
structing and periodically publishing a amendment to the Banking Regulation National Statistics Office (NSO) was a
composite digital payment index (DPI) Act to bring cooperative banks under telling reflection of the ravages of
to capture the extent of digitisation. the supervision of the RBI. Covid-19... the recovery is not yet fully
The DPI could be the key to accurately The Banking Regulation (Amendment) entrenched in some sectors," he said.

8 | 2020 | SEPTEMBER | BANKING FINANCE