Page 113 - DMGT303_BANKING_AND_INSURANCE

Banking and Insurance

Notes Extending the concept of grid-based clearing to cover other regions in the country will be
reviewed based on experience gained from the operationalisation and functioning Chennai
and New Delhi grids.
6.6.8 Cheque standardisation will be endeavoured which would build more security features
to cheques and thus reduce incidence of frauds. Standardisation will also facilitate OCR
capture of information contained in the cheques, thereby enabling straight- through-
processing and least manual intervention. Cheques with enhanced security features when
presented through CTS will provide the level of comfort expected by presenting banks
and drawee banks alike.
6.6.9 All cheques in the country, including the cheques used by the Government departments
will be completely migrated to the MICR mode. Non-MICR clearing presently operational
in a few locations in the country (on a once-per-week basis or otherwise) will be
discontinued.

6.6.10 The clearing infrastructure in place at various locations have the advantages of faster
clearing cycle, low cost, uniform practices, better dispute resolution and are functioning
since long. Bilateral arrangements function outside the clearing infrastructure and do not
contribute to the efficiency of the system in all situations. Therefore, all the Bilateral
Clearing arrangements between banks would be reviewed and allowed to continue only
where necessary.
6.7 New frontiers

6.7.1 There has been an increase in the various new payment systems initiatives / products.
Introduction, usage and acceptability of the new on-site and off-site delivery channels viz.
Core Banking Solutions (Branch Banking), Computers (Net Banking), Cards (Prepaid
Payment Instruments), Mobiles (Mobile Banking), Automated Teller Machines, Points-
Of-Sale Terminals, Hand-held Devices, Interactive Voice Response Modes and the like
will be carefully monitored, nurtured and actively pursued. Some of these initiatives have
been very popular on account of low cost, convenience and high efficiency. The increasing
popularity is reflected in their fast increasing customer / user base.
6.7.2 Effectiveness and reach of Business Correspondents (BCs) and various modalities including
eligibility criteria, area of operations, appointment of subagents, etc., will be periodically
reviewed and streamlined, if necessary, in the interest of increased outreach and expansion
of banking services to the rural populace.
6.7.3 Review of the policy on ATMs in terms of increasing the number, criteria for setting up
on-site and off-site ATMs, levy of charges, safety of transactions on ATMs, activities
permitted to be carried out through ATMs, security features for ensuring the privacy and
safety of transactions, resolution of grievances, complaint handling, accessibility of other-
bank ATMs, inter-ATM networks, etc., will be closely watched and appropriate measures
will be put in place to protect usage and prevent misuse.

VII New Projects / Major Initiatives

7.1 Major projects intended to be pursued would include -
Implementing a new and feature rich RTGS system – The need to migrate to a new
version of RTGS that could leverage on advancements in technology, provide for
scalability in volumes, parameterise more features in line with similar facilities
available in other countries, result in more flexibility in operations, better liquidity
saving features, etc., would be pursued.

108 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY