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Monday, June 23, 2014
A pat for institutional coordination - Dr.A.Vasudevan
Confused FSLRC
My View on "Needed, more deliberation":
The dissenting notes recorded by 4 out of 7 members who signed the final report are well-argued documents, which inter alia plead the case for maintaining the basic features of RBI and assert the need for allowing the central bank to carry on with its present mandates. One wonders what motivated the FSLRC Chairman to finalize the report ignoring the difference of views expressed especially by K J Udeshi, P J Nayak and Y H Malegam. It would appear that the Commission did not get opportunity to understand the present relationship between the RBI and GOI. The regulatory apparatus plus legislations in financial sector in India are in working condition. It has to be admitted that till Dr Rajan’s emergence as an acceptable leader of the Indian financial sector, the FSLRC’s effort to re-invent the institutional structure of regulatory bodies had pushed the regulators and supervisors with the exception of RBI to a confused state, making intelligent debate difficult.
- M G Warrier, Mumbai
Nayak Committee report: Spotlight on PSE governance
...........The report states that more competitive public sector banks will enhance financial returns to the government with no effective dilution of control. I am uncomfortable with these observations. Should the government stay invested in a commercial enterprise to earn attractive return on investment? The answer is no. The government should continue its investment in a PSE only if it serves public interest. The argument that the government's control will not get diluted with dilution of ownership is not tenable.........
RBI seminar to help banks with FEMA rules
`Investment Affected More by Uncertainty than High Rates'
C Rangarajan has played an influential role in India's economic and monetary policy making sphere for three decades. On reflection, the former governor of RBI, who stepped down after heading the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council for close to a decade, says the UPA government's weakness in implementing projects and management of food inflation, coupled with RBI's earlier policy of raising interest rates in baby steps, could have led to the slide in growth. Excerpts from a recent interview ............
Read - ET
Read - ET
Letter to GoI Regarding Denial of 100% DA to Old Retirees and Other Similar Issues
......... he periodical review of Pension scheme is the responsibility of the Managements of the Banks. It cannot be tagged to bipartite settlements which have adversely affected the pensioners and ultimately the pension scheme remains as an archaic one in the Banking Industry. As and when there are improvements in the central Govt. Pension scheme.
- Therefore, they form a separate class and when the pay scales of different cadres of Officers are revised then the up-gradation of pension to the Pensioners Class cannot be denied.
- That when the class of Pensioners is requires to be taken as one class this mini classification is writ large since different classes have been created as on 01.07.1993, 01.04.1998, 01.11.2002 and 01.11.2007 for the present. But since the pensioners are still EMPLOYEES as defined in the Pension Regulations, they are also entitled to updation/upgradation of their pension, which is a DEFERRED WAGE as per the law laid down time and again by Hon’ble Apex Courts therefore, they form a separate class and when the pay of different scales of Officers are revised the wages of this Class cannot be denied..............
Unfortunate to be unresolved
My View on "AIRBEA - Resolution on Increase in Ex-gratia for P...":
It is unfortunate that an enlightened employer like the Reserve Bank of India is dragging this issue and leaving the uncertainty surrounding it unresolved eternally. Associations and several individuals including me have taken up this issue with RBI on several occasions. This is an issue which should not be messed up with wage revision. Here, the affected parties are not able to 'argue' their cases and are at the mercy of the institution. RBI can afford to safeguard the interests of the surviving few and history may find it impossible to pardon further delay in decision-making.This is not an issue to be 'negotiated' with associations and unions.
- M.G.Warrier
RBI should allow these left out ex-rbites as a good gesture on humanitarian angle. RBI has funds sufficient to cope up this just demand.
- Chandrbhan Gupta
People at the seats of administration and enabling decision making by the top management, should also ponder over the issue and display a positive attitude towards reducing the difficulties of the super senior ex-Rbites (who had contributed in no mean way to the RBI's image), so that they get the benefits they richly deserve.
Succession plan
My View on "FinMin mulls fixed 5-year term for PSB chiefs":
It is comforting to find that long last there is some move to ensure continuity of incumbents in top positions for a reasonably long period (now proposed as 5 years). Government should aim at a long term policy for succession plans at higher levels in government and pubic sector and guide private sector which are dependent on public funds and government support to adopt transparent norms for top level appointments.
The policy should, besides factoring in eligibility criteria and skill requirements take into account:
(i) The need to allow extended periods beyond the present retirement age so that any appointee is able to continue at the post for a minimum of 5 years. For the purpose changes in the present retirement age may be necessary. The retirement age in India has not been revised upwards for a long time for various reasons.
(ii) To make succession smooth, empanel prospective candidates sufficiently early and allow her/him to join six weeks to six months in advance of the retirement of the person whom s/he will succeed.
(iii) Make those appointed as CMDs/CEOs and other positions like Chief Justice, CAG etc ineligible for appointment to positions eligible for remuneration for a minimum period of 2 years post-retirement. Compensating them with some allowance or pension during this period would be in order.
- M G WARRIER, Mumbai
Rare collections offer a peep into the past
..................Visitors get to know how coins evolved from stones to glass and metals. The Reserve Bank of India is a prominent attraction with its currencies of various denominations. Banknotes from different countries and from the times of the British India and the French India are also on display.......
Change over
...........On the streets of Chandni Chowk, one of the busiest markets of Old Delhi, I came across some pavement vendors with a spread of a variety of 25 paisa and 50 paisa coins belonging to different eras — 1957 to 2009. Taj, the vendor, gave me a strange look as I picked up a handful of coins just to sense how my grandmother would have felt while buying the daily groceries with these minted treasures or my father when he got a bunch of them on winning a match or performing well in his exams.............
Community Chronicles: A note on old money
...........“The Reserve Bank of India stopped printing them some years ago but each note is clean and crisp still, ideal for a collector like you.” Loose notes per piece are for Rs.10 but if I want a bundle which contains 100 pieces of one rupee note, it will cost Rs.3000,....................
Rare coin auction
..................Gold pagodas in the shape of a bowl, minted by the Chalukyas of Badami from the early Andhra-Karnataka region are to be auctioned by the city-based auction house Marudhar Arts. Rare Ramtanka tokens in gold, probably issued during the Vijayanagar dynasty, are also among those put on the block, said a release from the auction house. A Chola gold coin minted during the reign of Rajendra Chola besides ......
Coins distributed
Following RBI instructions on overcoming paucity of small change, The Kanakamahalakshmi Co-operative Bank on Sunday morning distributed coins in return for currency at the Rythu Bazar at .........
RBI च्या बनावट कॉलपासून सावधान!
मी रिझर्व्ह बँकेच्या कॉल सेंटरमधून बोलतोय, तुमचे डेबिट कार्ड तीन तासांत बंद होणार आहे. ते बंद होऊ द्यायचे नसेल, तर आम्हाला आवश्यक माहिती द्या....'...असा कॉल तुम्हाला आला असेल, तर सावध व्हा. हा कॉल फसवा आहे. रिझर्व्ह बँक कोणाकडूनही माहिती मागवत नसल्याने तुम्ही दिलेली माहिती तुम्हालाच नव्या संकटात टाकू शकते आणि त्यातून तुमचेच आर्थिक नुकसान होण्याची शक्यता आहे. गेले काही दिवस अनेक ग्राहकांच्या मोबाइलवर किंवा लँडलाइनवर अशा प्रकारे फोन येत आहेत. कॉल करणारी व्यक्ती आपण रिझर्व्ह बँकेच्या कॉल सेंटरमधून बोलत असल्याचा दावा करते..........
The customer is not always right
........Reserve Bank of India has come out with “Banking Ombudsman Scheme”, which came into force January 01, 2006. The Banking Ombudsman is a quasi judicial authority appointed by the RBI to take care of consumers’ complaints and has the power to summon both the consumer and the bank and resolve the conflict by meditate. The ombudsman for Maharashtra & Goa currently is Mrs Rose Mary Sebastian. Her official address is.............
Indian Bank to employ jail inmates at its Tihar branch
......“We have been associated with Tihar Jail for the past several years and our branch there today has a business of Rs100 crore. A proposal to employ Tihar Jail inmates at non-sensitive positions in the branch has been approved and will soon be implemented,” ..........
SBI offers Chennai Metro touch cards
........Senior level sources said that the proposal was to have a payment card that will have dual functionality. At one level it will work like a regular debit or credit card and at the same time it will incorporate a chip to allow the card to be used to pay for the metro ride. Unlike credit cards which need to be either swiped or dipped into a chip reader, contactless cards can complete a payment almost instantly and ........
How to e-file Income Tax Returns?
Considering the ever increasing usage of internet these days, the Income Tax Department has made the returns filing procedure easier for us taxpayers by enabling us to file returns electronically by visiting https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/. With the huge number of taxpayers, this comes across as a very practical option. Now before getting any further into how the ITR e-filing procedure works, here are a few things you should be aware of............
Perils of uncontrolled plastic money usage
The ‘buy now pay later’ concept has made significant inroads into the Indian consumer psyche. While making purchases with repayment on instalment basis usually forces one to adhere to some kind of fiscal discipline, using plastic money in the form of debit and credit cards is a different thing altogether. Unplanned purchases from either can have far reaching consequences. While debit cards are considered.............
Expert panel to study drawbacks in TDR scheme
The State government has decided to constitute a panel of experts comprising officials of the Reserve Bank of India, and Urban Development and Planning departments to suggest amendments to the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act to make Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) more transparent and lucrative for landowners in Bangalore and other cities............
Read - The Hindu
Overdraft will attract foreclosure charges
........This latest directive by RBI brings in uniformity, greater transparency and brings new as well as existing borrowers on the same plane. In other words, the pre-payment waiver directive will benefit existing borrowers as well as new borrowers. So you are within your right, if you meet the criteria explained above, to seek nil pre-payment charges with immediate effect, thanks to the regulatory diktat...........
Finance ministry may veto Shome recommendations on revenue boards
................Finance ministry officials also said abolishing the post of revenue secretary is not feasible as he has the broader vision and perspective while framing tax policies. According to officials, changing the target in line with economic growth is not possible as tax collections always come with a lag effect. Besides, they argue,......
Banks occupy moderate news space on TV compared to advertising budgets: Esha Media
........According to a study conducted by Esha Media Research, State Bank of India (SBI) among all the other banks including the regulator –the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) occupied the maximum space on TV of 20.30 hours in the month of May 2014 that was equivalent to spending Rs 32.73 crore on advertising. “In other words, SBI, which has an annual budget of close to Rs 400 crore as per its annual report, got itself covered on the merit of news worth Rs 32.73 crore,”.......
Read........
ADC asks banks to bring rural areas under Banking Ambit
.............Mr Malik enjoined upon all banks and Govt. Depts. to make an earnest endeavor to improve their efficiency so that the common man who is centre of activities of all the concern is benefitted under various Govt sponsored schemes. The meeting was attended by AGM, RBI, Dinesh Gupta , Director RSETI, K S Bhadwal and other senior officers of Banks and Govt Departments.
MP receives SKOCH Financial Inclusion and Deepening Award
.............The State has written a new chapter of progress through inclusive growth in rural areas. Special attention has been paid to availability of banking services in remote rural area. Economic uplift can be ensured only through financial inclusion, it said. According to the statement, ultra small banks are being opened in the radius of every five kms in rural areas of the state.........
Rule shift sought as microfinance institutions told to eye housing, education loans
........RBI’s efforts come against the backdrop of a sharp decline in poverty levels and a perceived increase in the aspirational level of low-income earners, now seeking to build a better life for themselves and their families. Between 2004-05 and 2011-12, a net of 137 million people, or 15% of the population, lifted themselves out of poverty, the Planning Commission estimated last year, bringing down the national poverty rate to 22%. MFIs, which source funds from commercial banks and offer small loans to low-income borrowers, typically at 24-36%, say RBI’s idea will be difficult to implement within the existing regulatory framework, which restricts not only the amount that can be loaned, but also the kind of lending.................
MFIs showing signs of maturity
...........Indeed, MFin has been acting as a de facto SRO for its members and the RBI recognition merely represents a shift from de facto to a de jure positionm but the task ahead is arduous. In India, often an SRO overlooks its real objectives and tries to play the role of a lobby group. MFin should refrain from doing so as the biggest challenge before it is put its house in order. Nobody else but the MFI industry is to be blamed for the crisis that followed the promulgation of the Andhra law as many companies deviated from the primary job of giving small loans to poor................
Banks’ Top Brass Needs to Develop Customer-Friendly Sense & IBA Needs to Work Towards Their Objectives
.........Whenever, RBI comes with dictates like stopping usurious charges for maintaining minimum balances or banning the pre-payment penalty on loans or credit card late fee payments, it is actually a castigation on banks in general and IBA in particular. Does IBA not feel that such immoral charges actually damage the good public image of banking as a service industry? If it feels so, then what action it has taken to stop banks from charging fees which have to be banned by RBI ? If they feel that banks were right, then why IBA has not the guts to protest against RBI dictates. I am of the firm view, RBI must censure IBA for being mute spectator to such fleecing of customers by banks...........
Depositors are vital too
..............However, no nominee of the depositors, who provide core funds for the banking system, is appointed to the boards. Perhaps this is why bad debts are increasing since every stakeholder, except the depositor, has a say in the formulation of bank policies. The Banking Regulations Act should provide for nominations from this vital segment also, ............
Banks put Rs 21k-cr NPAs on block in 3 months
...........Possibly, this is after many years that NPA sale is being contemplated in the very first quarter of a financial year. Banks typically sell bad loans in the last quarter. However, since all banks rush to sell in the fourth quarter and are keen to complete the deals by March 31, there are chances they do not get the right price. Selling at the beginning of a year increases the possibility of fetching a good price........
Minimising role of politicians turned around state’s top cooperative bank: minister
.............“After objections from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) over MSCB’s functioning, we dismissed the existing board of directors and appointed IAS officers as administrators. We followed guidelines that no loans should be given to relatives or family members of the board’s directors and that individuals taking loans should have repaying capacity of thrice the loan amount.” “We cannot overlook the fact that money in these banks belongs to depositors,................
Sane advice
RBI’s advisory to the state governments that mass loan waiver schemes would adversely affect the financial health of the banks and ultimately such decisions would lead to financial instability is not only a sane advice. It also reveals AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s hollow mind as he thinks that the RBI works as per directions of the Centre, and his brinkmanship. Of late, it has become a habit with the political parties to promise the moon to the electorate giving little thought to the financial burden and how to bear it. The election laws must direct political parties to explain how such promises would be fulfilled without troubling public sector banks, or the RBI must debar banks from granting loans based on such reckless promises. Loan waiver discriminates those repaying loans promptly against the wilful or otherwise defaulters and encourages every one not to repay loans. This will be a sad state of affairs.
- Ganti Mahapatruni Rama Rao, Visakhapatnam
Nabard CGM opposes loan waiver scheme
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) Chief General Manager Jiji Mammen has expressed strong reservations against waiver of agriculture loans. Mr. Mammen, who was in West Godavari district on Friday and Saturday for a visit, said, “loan waivers across the board will vitiate credit discipline and adversely impact the financial health of banking sector”.........
Govt banks: Higher NPAs may pinch brass' pocket
.............SoI discussions have been concluded with the top management of most of banks and the finance ministry will start sending the letters assigning the targets by the end of this month. The evaluation would be done by the remuneration committee, consisting of the government nominee director, the RBI nominee director and two other directors. The Khandelwal committee on human resource issues in these banks had suggested moving away from the practice of providing uniform financial incentives, arguing each bank had its own unique characteristics and business profile. It stressed the need to give higher weightage to qualitative issues such as change in ..........
Funding worry may keep govt away from NAMCO proposal
..........NAMCO, mooted by Ficci and supported by many bankers, is meant to takeover, recover and rehabilitate the banking system’s stressed assets – non-performing assets (NPA) and restructured assets — in the infrastructure sector. “This proposal will not pass muster with the government. Clearing it may attract criticism and give the government a bad name. Anyway, we have forwarded it to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for its comments,” a finance ministry official told FE.......
RBI appoints administrator at Kapol Bank
The Reserve Bank of India has appointed an administrator to run Mumbai-based urban cooperative lender, Kapol Cooperative Bank. This follows ..........
Sebi Getting Flooded With Anonymous, Pseudonymous Complaints: Report
..........Consequently, Sebi has decided to prepare detailed notes on each such complaint and apprise its board, which includes nominees from the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as also some public interest directors besides its own whole time members. he decision has been taken "in view of the repeated nature of complaints and as a matter of good governance and transparency", ....................
Punjab National Bank Drops Plan to Enter Canadian Market
.......We have been pursuing this for 4-5 years but it did not reach a logical conclusion. So, we decided not to go forward with it," K R Kamath, chairman and managing director of the state-run lender, told PTI. The bank had plans to open a subsidiary in Canada with a capital of Rs 100 crore to serve Indian diaspora as well as to finance bilateral trade and investments...........
J&K Bank opens 2 Business Units, convenes DLRC
......Meanwhile, the bank convened a District Level Review Committee meeting of district Pulwama under Chairmanship of Additional DDC Muneer Ahmad. All the district level officers, bank officials and representatives from RBI and NABARD participated in the meeting. The meeting discussed the achievements under District Credit Plan 2013-14 for the quarter ending March, 2014. ............
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