भारतीय डाक विभाग ने दी बैंक बनने की अर्जी

बैंक बनने की होड़ में भारतीय डाक विभाग भी शामिल हो गया है। कल डॉक विभाग ने बैंक लाइसेंस पाने के लिए आरबीआई को अर्जी दी है। भारत में कुल 1,54,822 पोस्ट ऑफिस मौजूद हैं। लाइसेंस मिल जाने पर ये सभी बैंक की तरह काम कर सकेंगे। इससे देश के कोने कोने में लोगों को बैंक की सर्विस मिल पाएगी।
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Cheques, drafts to be valid for 3 months from April

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed that with effect from April 1, 2012, banks should not make payments against cheques, drafts, pay orders or banker's cheques if they are presented after the period of three months from date of issue.
Come April 1 and cheques and bank drafts will be valid only for 3 months, a development that RBI thinks will help mitigate frauds related to such instruments.

Zero balance in a/c need not worry you anymore

Bangalore, August 10: The Karnataka high court on Tuesday observed that banks recovering penal charges from customers not maintaining minimum balance in their accounts might have to pay back the amount with penal interest once the RBI comes out with its decision. 

The court’s observation came following a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by T S Muthukrishnan. The petitioner contended that in the name of non-maintenance of minimum balance, banks levy hefty penal charges. The petitioner said it is obvious that only the poor man, who struggles to make “both ends meet”, doesn’t maintain minimum balance. 

A division bench presided by Chief Justice J S Khehar, while disposing of the PIL, said: “The final determination will only emerge after objections from the stakeholders. It is apparent from the recommendations in the Damodaran Committee report that the final determination may relate to levy of penal charges. The issue has financial indications.
 
The banks concerned would be advised not to levy penal charges till Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lays down parameters.” 
The RBI counsel informed the court that objections have been invited from the customers and the banks concerned and a final decision will be taken after that. 

The court observed that since the issue of maintaining minimum balance and penal charges also finds mention in the Damodaran Committee report, the RBI would take a decision.


Source: indiatvnews

Conversion of POs into Banks- DOP is seeking License from RBI

The humble post office is all set to undergo a radical change with a proposal to convert over 1.5 lakh post offices across the nation into full fledged banks on the anvil.

Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal wants to reach out to the masses in the rural areas with modern banking facilities through the post offices.

"We want to commercialise the department. We will seek a licence from the RBI to convert all our post offices into banks," Sibal told PTI.

The lack of modern banking facilities in rural areas and dependence of villagers on informal sector for their credit requirements has prompted the government to work on financial inclusion by way of setting up 'postal banks'.

"The State Bank of India can't build branches all over India, but there are post offices across India. The branches are already there, so infrastructure expenditure is not required. So you can actually give banking facilities at relatively lower costs, which would be extremely beneficial to people," he said.

The post offices currently offer financial services like savings bank, postal life insurance, pension payments and money transfer services. Its total corpus stood at Rs 5,82,832.9 crore as on March 31, 2011.

DoP's revenues grew 11 per cent to Rs 6,954.09 crore in 2010-2011 from Rs 6,266.70 crore in the previous fiscal.

However, negative growth rate in some circles has pushed the Department's deficit to Rs 6,625 crore in FY'11, almost equal to the annual revenue of the Department.

"I want to make the (postal) system commercialised. By corporatising over 1.5 lakh post offices across the country, the ministry is expecting to improve the quality of services, increase profitability and reduce prices," Sibal said.

Out of the 22 DoP circles, some circles like Chhattisgarh have reported a negative growth of 19 per cent, Jharkhand 18 per cent and North East 15.9 per cent, whereas Assam (23.7 per cent), Haryana (19.5 per cent), Karnataka (13.5 per cent) and Tamil Nadu (13.9 per cent), recorded positive growth.

Among other steps, the Minister has asked members of Postal Services Board (PSB) to ensure 20 per cent revenue growth on sustainable basis.

Each member of the PSB has been asked to identify, commercialise and operationalise five major schemes of the Indian government, and partner with 5 PSUs and 10 corporate houses for commercial tie-ups with India Post with revenue potential of at least Rs 50 crore each.

DoP is also believed to be working towards setting up ATMs and offer debit cards for its customers.

"My vision is that post offices must become banks, so that an ordinary man can with Rs 10 open an account. We can set-up ATM machines for the e-banking...we can do e-retail," Sibal said.

According to officials, work for setting up 1,000 India Post ATMs is at an advanced stage and DoP has already held parleys with vendors on this front.

The Department is also working on providing skill development courses to its over 4.75 lakh employees with the Human Resources Development Ministry.

"The postman should also learn e-banking so that he can actually help the consumer on the ground. So, we are developing specialised skill development courses with the HRD Ministry," Sibal said.

source: Deccan Chronical