RBI excludes RRBs from appointing internal ombudsman
Mumbai : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday asked all scheduled commercial banks with more than 10 branches to appoint an internal ombudsman (IO).
The apex bank has, however, excluded regional rural banks (RRBs) from appointing IOs.
The internal ombudsman scheme was introduced by the RBI to strengthen the internal grievance of banks and to ensure that the complaints of the customers are redressed.
In order to further enhance the independence of the IO and also to strengthen the monitoring system over functioning of the IO mechanism, the central bank said it has reviewed the arrangement in the form of ‘Internal Ombudsman Scheme, 2018’.
“The IO shall examine customer complaints which are in the nature of deficiency in service on the part of the bank, that are partly or wholly rejected by the bank,” RBI said. The scheme covers, appointment/tenure, roles and responsibilities, procedural guidelines and oversight mechanism for the IO.
The central bank further said as the banks shall internally escalate all complaints, which are not fully redressed to their respective IOs before conveying the final decision to the complainant, the customers need not approach the IO directly. The implementation of IO Scheme, 2018 will be monitored by the bank’s internal audit mechanism apart from regulatory oversight by the apex bank.
In May 2015, the RBI had advised all public sector and select private and foreign banks to appoint IO as an independent authority to review complaints that were partially or wholly rejected by the respective banks.
8.46-tn gold bought in FY18
MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has bought 8.46 tonne of gold in financial year 2017-18, the first purchase of yellow metal by the apex bank in almost nine years, a report said. RBI held 566.23 tonne of gold as on June 30, 2018, compared with 557.77 tonne as on June 30, 2017, according to RBI’s latest annual report for 2017-18. “The increase is on account of addition of 8.46 tonne of gold during the year,” the report said. Last time the apex bank purchased gold was in November 2009, when it had bought 200 tonne of yellow metal from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Of 566.23 tonne of gold reserves, 292.30 tonne is held as backing for notes and is shown as an asset of the Issue Department, and the balance 273.93 tonne is treated as an asset of the Banking Department.
The value of gold held as asset of Banking Department rose by 11.12 per cent to Rs 69,674 crore as on June 30, 2018, from Rs 62,702 crore as on June 30, 2017. This increase was primarily on account of depreciation of rupee as against the dollar and the addition of 8.44 tonne of gold during the year, RBI report said.
RBI works on steps to beef up cyber security in FY19
Mumbai : In view of growing incidents of cyber frauds, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is working towards further enhancing security mechanism as part of its agenda for this fiscal, especially when digital transactions are witnessing a significant rise.
The central bank’s agenda for 2018-19 include, enhanced level of protection against cyber risks to ensure continuous protection against the changing contours of internet based security threats.
“With the emerging threat landscape, where organised cybercrime and cyber warfare are gaining prominence, the Department (of Information Technology) is working towards ensuring continuous protection against the changing contours of cybersecurity threat,” as per RBI’s annual report.
The RBI’s report said the 2018-19 agenda include taking effective steps to “further enhance” the levels of protection against cyber risks.
The RBI will proactively initiate the process of developing a cybersecurity culture, endeavour to make cybersecurity a responsibility and ensure confidentiality, integrity and availability of information system and resources.
“An Audit Management Application portal to handle various supervisory functions of the cybersecurity and information technology examination cell in the Reserve Bank and to fully automate monitoring of returns has been envisaged in order to facilitate consistency and efficiency of the offsite monitoring mechanism,” the report said. New private sector and foreign banks accounted for 36 per cent each of all cyber frauds reported in debit, credit and ATM cards, among others.
“In an endeavour to strengthen the cybersecurity posture of Indian banks, focused and theme-based IT examinations are planned during 2018-19. Targeted scrutiny, as and when required, would also be conducted for appropriate policy and supervisory intervention,” the RBI said.
