has been transferred through the digitally powered direct benefit transfers ( dbt ) under 314 schemes benefiting 176 crore beneficiaries. over the business standard, 2024. rbi's'treds'platform bridging $ 600 bn funding gap for smaller firms. october 22. based on tracxn database, accessed as on october 17, 2024. rbi staff estimates based on household consumption expenditure survey 202223 unit level data. based on tracxn database, accessed as on october 22, 2024. pwc, 2024. embedded finance : a strategic outlook. rbi staff estimates based on data available on etaal ( electronic transaction aggregation and analysis layer ) portal for the year 2024 against 2023. years, these dbts have resulted in estimated cumulative cost savings of ₹3. 5 lakh crore up to march 2023 31. iv. digitalisation and the reserve bank of india ( rbi ) the reserve bank of india ( rbi ) has been at the forefront of digitalisation, aiming to leverage technology for productivity and efficiency gains across the financial ecosystem. some of the critical milestones in digital payments are the introduction of real time gross settlement ( rtgs ) and national electronic funds transfer ( neft ) in 2004 and 2005, respectively – which now operate 365 * 24 * 7 – followed by the establishment of the national payments corporation of india ( npci ) in 2008. the launch of the upi in 2016 is a significant milestone with positive externalities that are transcending our national borders. in recent years, the reserve bank has continued to foster financial innovation by introducing central bank digital currency ( cbdc ) pilots and setting up the reserve bank innovation hub ( rbih ). the reserve bank has also announced a new technology platform called the unified lending interface ( uli ) which is set to transform the lending landscape in india by making credit more accessible to underserved populations such as small businesses and rural borrowers through reducing documentation requirements and simplifying the loan application process. india is also closely involved with international organisations that are exploring the linkage of open finance api - based frameworks of different countries in a multilateral construct through initiatives like project nexus and mbridge. under india ’ s g20 presidency, the global digital public infrastructure repository has been mooted as a resource base for key direct benefit transfer https : / / dbtbharat. gov. in ( dbt ). 2024. homepage. retrieved from : lessons and knowledge

issue. ultimately, it is the statutory auditors ’ certification that is taken as the “ true and fair ” statement of the accounts of a bank and is disclosed to all stakeholders. it is therefore of prime importance that there is no underestimation of provisioning requirements while finalising financial statements of banks. value systems 31. finally, let me turn to the sensitive and important issue of a value system. recent months have witnessed an agitation across the country about erosion of values in the public domain. the norms of a society are determined by the dominant sections of that society, and the accounting profession is certainly a dominant section of society. the value system you bis central bankers ’ speeches practise in your professional conduct influences the value system of the society. sadly, we see several transgressions. 32. take the case of worldcom. worldcom indulged in major accounting misstatements which hid the precarious financial position of the company. investigations revealed that more than three billion dollars worth of costs were wrongly classified as capital expenses over a five quarter period. this boosted the reported profits, which were in fact fictitious. 33. the case of satyam computer services here in india was similar. the company ’ s chairman confessed to more than a billion dollar fraud on its balance sheet which was hidden from the company ’ s board, its senior managers and of course the auditors for several years. the truth followed a now familiar pattern – overstating profits, understating liabilities, and overstating cash causing a big hole in the balance sheet. 34. with so much accounting misconduct in big corporations, stakeholders wonder why books are not being reviewed on the default assumption that there could be fraud afoot. accounting experts explain that the kind of forensic auditing that reconstructs fraud is so time - consuming and expensive that it could bring an honest business to its knees. however, i strongly believe that a robust system of audits, a corporate culture in which ethical conduct is encouraged and exemplified and an active and independent board of directors can make such frauds harder to perpetrate, easier to detect and help restore public confidence in published results. 35. what has been rbi ’ s contribution in this regard? recognising the importance of the internal audit and inspection function as an effective management tool, in april 1994, the reserve bank advised all banks to set up an audit committee of the board ( acb ) of directors. needless to say, we