Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched two customer-centric initiatives of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for investors on November 12, 2021.

Key Points

• The two initiatives are- RBI Retail Direct Scheme and Reserve Bank – Integrated Ombudsman Scheme.
• With the launch of these scheme, India has opened up Government bond market for retails investors.

Significance of the scheme

• RBI Retail Direct Scheme will act as a safe medium of investment for small investors in government securities.
• Both the innovative customer-centric initiatives will help in increasing investment avenues and thus make accessing capital market easier & safer.

RBI Retail direct Scheme

Under this scheme, retail investor will get access to the government securities market. It offers a new avenue for investing directly in securities issued by Centre and state governments. Investors will be able to open and maintain government securities account online easily & free of cost, with the RBI.

RBI Integrated Ombudsman Scheme

This scheme was launched to help in improving grievance redress mechanism to resolve customer complaints against regulated entities of RBI. It will do away with the jurisdictional limitations and limited grounds for complaints. This scheme based on the principle of ‘One Nation-One Ombudsman’ comprising of “one portal, one email, and one address” for customers to file their complaints.