Lok Sabha Question No. 3754 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-16
Subject: EASE Reforms Agenda for Public Sector Banks
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: Shri Hasmukhbhai Somabhai Patel, Shri Miteshbhai Rameshbhai Patel, Shri Amar Sharadrao Kale

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO- 3754

ANSWERED ON MONDAY, 16 MARCH, 2026/PHALGUNA 25, 1947 (SAKA)

## EASE Reforms Agenda for Public Sector Banks

†3754 . SHRI AMAR SHARADRAO KALE: SHRI MITESHBHAI RAMESHBHAI PATEL: SHRI HASMUKHBHAI SOMABHAI PATEL:

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:-

- (a) whether any notifications, circulars or performance frameworks have been issued and implemented during 2025-26 under the Enhanced Access and Service Excellence (EASE) Reforms Programme for Public Sector Banks, if so, the details thereof;
- (b)  the  key  governance,  customer  service,  digital  credit  lending  and  risk  management  measures introduced  or modified  under  these  reforms,  along  with the prescribed timelines for their implementation;
- (c)  the  progress  made  by  Public  Sector  Banks  in  achieving  the  EASE  targets  following  the  latest revisions,  including  improvements  in  customer  grievance  redressal,  asset  quality  and  operational efficiency; and
- (d) whether any evaluation has been conducted with regard to such progress and reforms, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SHRI PANKAJ CHAUDHARY)

- (a)  to  (d):  EASE  Reforms  Agenda  for  Public  Sector  Banks  (PSBs)  was  initiated  in  2017  as  a comprehensive reform framework aimed at strengthening key areas across PSBs.

EASE Reform Agenda is finalised on yearly basis at the start of each financial year (FY), under the guidance  of  EASE  Steering  Committee  of  member  PSBs  u nder  the  aegis  of   Indian  Banks' Association.  The  Reforms  Agenda  is  objectively  assessed  and  reviewed  quarterly  by  the  EASE Steering Committee.

In FY2025-26, EASE 8.0 Common Reforms have been launched as EASERise with four themes on Risk and Resilience, Innovation, Socio-economic Impact and Excellence. This comprehensive reform agenda  is  focused  on  risk  &  resilience,  Gen-Artificial  Intelligence  (AI)  &  Agentic  AI  adoption, inclusive banking, sustainability, customer experience, and operational excellence with the objective to strengthen  PSBs  as  agile,  future-ready  and  customer-centric  institutions.  The  details  of   major initiatives introduced or revised in EASE 8.0 are as under:

## (1) Governance:

- (i) Inclusive Governance Framework to ensure Divyangjans representation in Customer Service Committees, Grievance Redressal Cell, and setting up a dedicated Accessibility Cell having Accessibility employees
- (ii) Dedicated outbound sales team governance structures
- (iii) Enhanced Learning and Development governance
- (iv) Environmental,  Social  and  Governance  Scorecard  integration  and  dedicated  Customer Retention Squad governance framework
- (v) Artificial Intelligence roadmaps and leveraging its use cases for operational efficiency
- (2) Customer Service:
- (i) Specifically designed asset and liability products for Gig/platform workers, Youth, Women and Startups
- (ii) Multilingual Customer service in Regional Languages (Digital Channels and Service forms)
- (iii) Enhanced  Mobile-App  capabilities  for  Retail  and  Micro,  Small  &  Medium  Enterprises (MSMEs) customers
- (iv) Asset and Liability digital assisted journey for customer onboarding
- (v) Virtual Relationship Managers for identified customers
- (vi) End-to-end digital journeys for trade finance solutions
- (vii) Self-service touch points for Divyangjans
- (3) Digital Lending:
- (i) Digital journeys for Retail, MSME and Agri-loan products.
- (ii) Digital assisted framework for customer convenience
- (iii) Integrating advanced capabilities in loan management system for MSME underwriting
- (iv) Integration with Account Aggregator ecosystem
- (v) Automatic credit appraisal generation capabilities and use of  analytics/AI in underwriting
- (4) Risk Management:
- (i) Focus on Expected Credit Loss models
- (ii) Digital portal/platforms for monitoring of Operational Risks taxonomy and Early Warning Signals
- (iii) Fraud prevention and Anti-Money Laundering checks in the existing as well as new bank customers' onboarding journey
- (iv) Enhanced models for mule account identification and enhanced customer due diligence
- (v) Technology  Modernisation  and  resilience  of   IT  Applications  by  setting  up  Resiliency Operation Centre and efficient third-party risk management
- (vi) Digital forensic readiness for cyber incidents
- (vii) App/platform/portal-based recovery and collection monitoring mechanisms

Under EASE Reforms, normally timelines are defined within the FY, and the metrics are scheduled for operationalisation from April onwards during the FY, to ensure structured implementation.

Since  the  latest  revisions,  under  the  EASE  reform  programme,  the  progress  made  by  PSBs  on various  parameters  including  improvements  in  customer  grievance  redressal,  asset  quality,  and operational efficiency are as under:

- (i) Improved customer grievance redressal mechanism by enabling remediation action tagging and integrating complaints to Bank's Customer Relationship Management Portal
- (ii) Enhanced  asset  quality:  PSBs  have  embedded  multiple  advanced  capabilities  in  their  Loan Management  Systems,  which inter  alia include  bureau  analysis  tools,  automated  retrieval  of financial statements from the Ministry of  Corporate Affairs' portal, bank statement integration through  Account  Aggregators,  data-driven  underwriting  models,  and  GST  integration.  These

enhancements have significantly improved portfolio quality while also strengthening resilience to potential credit shocks

- (iii) PSBs have dedicated sales team for Current Account Savings Account acquisition through digital assisted journeys for customer convenience and outreach
- (iv) 11 PSBs have set up Resiliency Operations Centres to strengthen IT governance and resilience of IT infrastructure
- (v) Seven PSBs have deployed at least one Gen-AI use case to enhance operational efficiency and customer service
- (vi) Seven PSBs have established centralised Business Intelligence units to proactively assess market potential and identify leads for outbound field sales and branches
- (vii) Five PSBs have governance framework with representation of Divyangjans in Customer Service Cell  and  Grievance  Redressal  Cell  along  with  setting  up  of   Digital  Accessibility  Cell  and appointment of Nodal officers
- (viii) PSBs  have  strengthened  accessibility  for  Divyangjans  and  Senior  Citizens  customers  through initiatives  including  rollout  of   Braille-enabled  debit  and  credit  cards,  priority  call  routing  to trained  agents,  regional  language  interfaces,  and  dedicated  service  cells  reflecting  a  stronger emphasis on empathy and inclusivity across PSBs
- (ix) Effective collections mechanism through customer specific and product wise collection strategies across  various  digital  channels.  11  PSBs  have  a  collection  mobile  application  for  better monitoring and follow-up features to reduce collection operational cost
- (x) 10 PSBs have AI-driven voice bots and WhatsApp chatbots for recovery actions
- (xi) PSBs have Digital tool/portal/platform for monitoring SARFAESI/DRT/NCLT cases

A structured quarterly evaluation is overseen by EASE Steering Committee comprising stakeholders from all  PSBs,  to  assess  the  progress  and  improvements  based  on  defined  metrics,  quarterly  data submissions/review, and relative performance among PSBs.

The evaluation framework systematically captures performance outcomes by measuring improvements  across defined reform  indicators. Progress is assessed through periodic data submissions,  trend  analysis,  and  relative  performance  among  PSBs  to  ensure  objectivity  and comparability.

EASE has served as a catalyst in the transformation journey of  PSBs through its structured approach to reforms. As per RBI's provisional data, as on 31.12.2025, below are key highlights that illustrate the significant impact witnessed by PSBs throughout this remarkable journey.

- (i) During FY2024-25, all PSBs were profit making with highest ever aggregate net profit of ₹ 1.78 lakh crore, as against the loss of ₹ 85,371 crore reported by PSBs in FY2017-18. Further, the net profit of PSBs during the first nine months of FY2025-26 was ₹ 1.46 lakh crore.
- (ii) Gross NPA ratio of PSBs have declined to a fresh low of 2.10% ( ₹ 2.54 lakh crore) in Dec-25 from 4.97% ( ₹ 2.79 lakh crore) in Mar-15, and from a peak of 14.58% ( ₹ 8.96 lakh crore) in Mar18.
- (iii) Capital adequacy has improved significantly with Capital to Risk- weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) of PSBs improving by 401 bps to reach 15.46% in Dec-25 from 11.45% in Mar-15.
- (iv) During  FY202425,  no  PSB  was  under  RBI's  Prompt  Corrective  Action  (PCA)  as  against FY2017-18 where 11 PSBs out of 21 were under PCA.
- (v) In FY2024-25, all PSBs have digital journeys across Retail, Agriculture and MSME sectors, while no such journeys were offered in FY2017-18.
- (vi) Now all PSBs have a centralized integrated grievance redressal portal, while manual grievance redressal system existed in FY2017-18.
- (vii) In FY2024-25, PSBs have achieved an Annualised Return on Total Assets of 1.10%, which was 0.87% in FY2017-18.

*****