PM Modi launches scheme for retail participation in government securities

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched two innovative and customer-centric initiatives of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) through video-conferencing.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das also attended the event.

The two schemes -- the retail direct scheme and the integrated ombudsman scheme – will be launched with a view to easing access to government securities market for retail investors.

The schemes are aimed at deepening the debt market and improve customer grievance redressal mechanism. The RBI Retail Direct Scheme is aimed at enhancing access to the government securities market for retail investors, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has said in a statement. It offers them a new avenue for directly investing in securities issued by the Government of India and the state governments.

The investors will be able to easily open and maintain their government securities accounts online with the RBI for free, the statement said. The scheme places India in a list of select few countries offering such a facility.

The Reserve Bank-Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS is aimed at further improving the grievance redress mechanism for resolving customer complaints against entities regulated by the central bank, it said.

As per the PMO, the central theme of the scheme is based on "One Nation-One Ombudsman" with one portal, one e-mail address and one postal address for the customers to lodge their complaints.

“Retail Direct Scheme will give strength to the inclusion of everyone in the economy as it will bring in the middle class, employees, small businessmen and senior citizens with their small savings directly and securely in government securities”