RBI's Vision 2018 for 'Less Cash' Society on the Cards

Vision 2018 document will have a view of migrating to a less cash and more digital society.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) seal is pictured on a gate outside the RBI headquarters in Mumbai October 29, 2013. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui/Files

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank today said it will soon come out with Vision 2018 document with a view to migrating to a less cash and more digital society.

"RBI will publish Vision 2018 for payment and settlement systems in the country by April-end 2016. Vision 2018 will continue to focus on migrating to a less-cash and more digital society," the first bi-monthly monetary statement for 2016-17 said.

The idea is to make regulations more responsive to technological developments and innovations in the payment space.

This will be complemented by enhanced supervision of payment system operators, improvement in customer grievance redressal mechanisms and strengthening of payment infrastructure, RBI added.

To help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), RBI will lay down a framework by September 2016 for accreditation of credit counsellors who can act as facilitators for entrepreneurs to access the formal financial system with greater ease and flexibility.

"Credit counsellors will also assist MSMEs in preparing project reports in a professional manner which would, in turn, help banks make more informed credit decisions," it said.

In order to make the process of registration of new non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) smoother and hassle free, it has been decided to simplify and rationalise the process of registering such entities.

"The new application forms will be simpler and the number of documents required to be submitted will be reduced to a minimum," it said.

Peer to peer (P2P) lending, RBI said, has shown an accelerated growth over the last one year.

"While encouraging innovations, the Reserve Bank cannot be oblivious to the risks posed by such institutions to the system. A Concept Note on P2P lending will be put up on the Reserve Bank's website for public comments by April 30, 2016 and based on the feedback, the contours of regulating P2P lending will be decided in consultation with Sebi," it said.

In order to strengthen the Business Correspondent (BC) infrastructure, RBI will set up a system of online registration and create a registry of BCs.

It also proposes to set up a framework for certification grading and training for BCs.

RBI has also decided to permit NRIs to participate in the exchange-traded currency derivatives (ETCD) market, subject to limits and other conditions that are stipulated by the exchanges recognised by Sebi.

Guidelines in this regard will be issued by the Reserve Bank in consultation with Sebi by June-end of 2016, it said.

The central bank has decided to change tack to modify the process of determining reference rate for foreign currencies like the US dollar, euro and pound sterling on the basis of actual market transactions with effect from May 2, 2016 as against the present practice of basing such rates on quotes polled from select list of contributing banks.

Further, RBI will come out with draft guidelines by July-end on improving transparency and better dissemination of information for commercial papers (CPs).

"Accordingly, it is proposed to undertake a comprehensive review of guidelines with the objective of, inter alia, strengthening disclosure requirements by issuers of CPs, reviewing the role of issuing and paying agents (IPAs) and putting in place an information dissemination mechanism," it said.