banking services. the codes and rrbs 15. all banks offer the same products with variants but what distinguishes and sets apart and gives the competitive edge to a bank is the quality of customer service extended by the bank. 16. the codes are the rrbs mandate, adopted by rrbs with the specific approval of the board of directors. rrbs must take full ownership of these codes and facilitate their adoption ensuring complete adherence. 17. rrbs have undergone a sea change. they are now almost treated on par with other commercial banks. the customers of the rrbs are illiterate and poor ; there is also an asymmetry of information. hence the adoption of standards of behaviour and codes of conduct framed by bcsbi for dealing with customers is an imperative. 18. at one point we are all customers of banks. what are the ingredients of treating customers fairly? transparency, proper disclosure, non - discriminatory and non - exploitative pricing, building a robust and responsive grievance redressal mechanism within the bank and also making the customer aware of redressal available through the banking ombudsman scheme. transparency does not mean bombarding the illiterate customer with humungous bis central bankers ’ speeches amount of information which she is neither able to understand or use. it merely means no hidden charges. the customer must up front understand what she is letting herself in for ; the terms and conditions of the contract should be clearly understood. 19. the codes need to be clearly understood and fairly implemented by regional rural banks. banks are commercial establishments. they are not philanthropic organizations. however, they enjoy great leverage and an oligopolistic position simply as the borrower in the rural areas may lack choice which his urban counterpart enjoys. this casts a much greater responsibility upon the rrbs. knowledge and general awareness about the codes of the bcsbi needs to be increased. just this morning, mr mahajan shared with me that despite valiant attempts knowledge of and appreciation of the bcsbi codes was spreading very slowly and this was a cause of concern. the chairmen of the rrbs must appreciate that the poor borrower who comes to the door step of the bank is highly unlikely to meet the chairman of the bank. for him the frontline manager is the bank. the frontline manager needs to be sensitized to the importance of the code of bank ’ s commitment to customers. he must understand and believe in them. this affirmation will then translate to increased

bankers ’ speeches b. population < 2000 for villages with population less than 2000, the number of bcs registered a sharp growth. however, the rrbs failed in achieving the set target for bc outlets for the year ended march, 2013. 3. basic savings bank deposit account it is observed that most of the basic savings bank deposit accounts ( bsbda ) were opened through branches. the number of accounts opened through branches stood at 330. 10 lakh, while only 72. 84 lakh accounts were opened through bcs ( year ended march 2013 ). bis central bankers ’ speeches the graphs show the amount mobilized each year ( in percentage ) in basic savings bank deposit account ( bsbda ) through branches and bcs. in the year 2012, there was a sharp fall in the amount mobilized through bcs but it has again picked up in 2013. the total number of basic savings bank deposit accounts has increased considerably. from around 230 lakh accounts ( year ended march, 2010 ) to more than 400 lakh accounts ( year ended march, 2013 ), the growth rate has been equal to 74 %. 4. kisan credit cards bis central bankers ’ speeches the branches were successful in achieving their target number of kccs ( year ended march, 2013 ). no kccs were sourced through the bcs for the years ended 2010 and 2011. 5. general credit cards 13. the bc is utilized to externalize part of the credit cycle. he has to work towards spreading awareness of the availability of the bank ’ s products and services. bcs can be better leveraged by the rrb branches. they are in need of greater handholding and necessarily of close and continuous supervision. 14. though there has been reasonable progress with regard to extending the penetration of banking services and opening of basic bank accounts, the number of transactions through the ict based bc outlets are poor. during the period of the next 3 year financial inclusion plan i. e. 2013 – 16 rrbs should endeavour to leverage technology to the optimum. technology enables the bank to transcend the barriers of geography and to provide services at the borrower ’ s doorstep. though the initial cost is high over time it pays for itself. regional rural banks should through financial innovation try to focus on mezzanine finance, on the creation of customised products linked to the income streams of the poor borrowers and geared to meet the specific needs of the rural clientele. mobile technology can be harnessed to improve access and usage of