to prevent incidents of fraud in areas of mobile / net banking and electronic fund transfer. treating customers fairly, “ tcf ”, also must ensure that there is a clear specification of liability, if things go wrong. simplicity of the product sold must be ensured and there is a duty to inform the customer about the features of the product. mis - selling will invite consequences. banks must help customers fully understand the features, benefits, risks and costs of the financial products they buy, minimize sale of unsuitable products by encouraging best practice before, during and after the sale the sense of protection which consumers expect and experience while dealing with banks is the benchmark against which we need to evaluate our customer care and customer service policulture of customer - centricity and sensitivity to the needs of the customers especially those belonging to the vulnerable sections of the society. the market forces, competition, technology will continue to help banks achieve better penetration and extend their reach, but these attributes must also result in better, affordable and easy access to banks and banking. as dr. rajan puts it, we need a frugal model. we all need to enshrine basic rights for all financial services consumers by way of a charter of bank customers ’ rights. fslrc has expressed that all financial laws and regulations must protect the interests of the consumers. it recommends a framework for customer protection against mis - selling and defrauding through the fine print stealth banking etc. we must protect customers against unfair contract terms, unjust conduct and protection of personal information through fair disclosure and redress of consumer complaints by financial services providers. annual policy statement released on april 1, 2014 by dr rajan, governor rbi has clearly spelt out that consumer protection is an integral aspect of financial inclusion. the reserve bank proposes to frame comprehensive consumer protection regulations based on domestic experience and global best practices. the banks that have internalized the codes enunciated by the bcsbi may not have much difficulty in adapting to the new statutory framework. the statutory framework also comes with explicit rights, the customers enjoy and the implicit duties that are cast on the banker. the nachiket mor committee on comprehensive financial services for small businesses and low income households has pointed out and i quote “ when the fact is considered that imbalances in information, expertise and power between the buyer and seller of financial products will only be exacerbated in the future then it becomes clear that, existing approaches to customer protection have severe limitations. the “

lesson from these episodes and do not wait for others to move first. the ecb ’ s actions reflect this learning. many observers expected that the eu environment of diffuse macroeconomic authority would lead to strategic paralysis. instead, the ecb has bis central bankers ’ speeches risen to its responsibility of ensuring control over inflation in the medium term, and has responded vigorously to any risks of inflation expectations becoming unanchored. as a result, our expanded asset purchase programme has had three tangible effects. it has prompted a reassessment of inflation prospects as priced in inflation protection contracts : the steady decline of breakeven and inflation swap forwards which occurred in the recent past have not only halted, but have reversed at all horizons. the implemented measures have also flattened the nominal term structure for safe as well as riskier fixed income securities at the longest maturities. and as a consequence of this, they have led to a drop in real rates across the entire spectrum of term contracts. v. the importance of other stakeholders nonetheless, it is clear that all stakeholders must also play their part in ensuring a swift and sustained recovery. the current environment where the real interest rate is below the real gdp growth rate is one that is, as i already intimated, very supportive and ripe for undertaking investment. but it is also not without risks. chart 4 contrasts estimates of the long - term real gdp growth rate with long - term real forward rates for the euro area. we see that since may last year the real forward curve has been declining consistently. it is now below a range of estimates for real potential growth rates and, in fact, below the zero line throughout the maturities. this chart admits two stylised interpretations. in the first interpretation, the movements of the forward real curve are just a mirror image of the compression in term premia achieved via our expanded asset purchase programme. the fact that the forward real curve has continued its descent observed since 2014 may be the result of the term premium compression, given the anticipation ( first ) and actual execution ( then ) of central bank purchases of securities held in price - inelastic portfolios. indeed, the term premium is part of the real remuneration that investors demand in order to hold on to their investments. in the second interpretation, long - term forward real rates are a measure of an equilibrium “ norm ”, rather than a reflection of a monetary - policy induced compression of term premia. another way to look at the outer maturities along the real forward