RBI to compensate banks for loss in NE service

Shillong, Mar 23: Having prioritised to provide banking service to the people of North-East, Reserve Bank of India had decided to compensate commercial banks for revenue loss in the process, RBI officials said today.

"RBI will compensate 100 per cent revenue loss to banks for five years as an incentive to push banking inclusion in the region," Deputy General Manger RBI, T Jamang told PTI here on the sideline of an annual payment conference of RBI here. The parameters set by RBI was that each village or cluster of nearby villages with a population of 2000 people should have a banking facility by March 2012, he said.

However, relaxation would also be given in certain areas in which the population is more than 1000 and more, Jamang said. "Our intention is to have villages covered by way of banking correspondent and mobile individuals to sensitise people and have them included in banking services," the RBI official said.

Further, the official said the RBI is working on a strategy to improve e-banking penetration in the region which is aimed at giving people easy access to banking. "We would like to give people mobile banking facilities in which banking transaction need not take place at the banks but at their fingertips," he said.

PTI