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New Delhi : Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman on September 9, 2020, inaugurated Doorstep Banking Services by PSBs and participated in the awards ceremony to felicitate best performing banks on EASE Banking Reforms Index. Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Debasish Panda, and Chairman IBA Rajnish Kumar were also present at the virtual event.
Doorstep Banking Services by PSBs : As part of the EASE Reforms, Doorstep Banking Services is envisaged to provide convenience of banking services to the customers at their doorstep through the universal touch points of Call Centre, Web Portal or Mobile App. Customers can also track their service request through these channels. The services shall be rendered by the Doorstep Banking Agents deployed by the selected Service Providers at 100 centres across the country, according to a PIB release.
At present only non-financial services viz. Pick up of negotiable instruments (cheque / demand draft / pay order, etc.), Pick up new cheque book requisition slip, Pick up of 15G / 15H forms, Pick up of IT / GST challan, Issue request for standing instructions, Request for account statement, Delivery of non-personalised cheque book, demand draft, pay order, Delivery of term deposit receipt, acknowledgement, etc., Delivery of TDS / Form 16 certificate issuance, Delivery of pre-paid instrument / gift card are available to customers. Financial services shall be made available from October 2020.
Performance of PSB on EASE 2.0 Index : A common reform agenda for PSBs, EASE Agenda is aimed at institutionalising clean and smart banking. It was launched in January 2018, and the subsequent edition of the programme ― EASE 2.0 built on the foundation laid in EASE 1.0 and furthered the progress on reforms. Reform Action Points in EASE 2.0 are aimed at making the reforms journey irreversible, strengthening processes and systems, and driving outcomes.
PSBs have shown a healthy trajectory in their performance over four quarters since the launch of EASE 2.0 Reforms Agenda. The overall score of PSBs increased by 37% between March-2019 and March-2020, with the average EASE index score improving from 49.2 to 67.4 out of 100. Significant progress is seen across six themes of the Reforms Agenda, with the highest improvement seen in the themes of ‘Responsible Banking’, ‘Governance and HR’, ‘PSBs as Udyamimitra for MSMEs’, and ‘Credit off-take’.
Bank of Baroda, State Bank of India, and erstwhile Oriental Bank of Commerce were felicitated for being the top three (in that order) in the ‘Top Performing Banks’ category according to the EASE 2.0 Index Results. Bank of Maharashtra, Central Bank of India & erstwhile Corporation Bank were awarded in the ‘Top Improvers’ category basis EASE 2.0 Index. Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India, and Canara Bank were also recognised for outstanding performance in select themes.
Major Reform achievements between March 2018 to March 2020
- Most PSB customers now have access to 35+ services such as IMPS, NEFT, RTGS, intra-bank transfer, account statement, cheque book request on mobile/ Internet banking and 23 services such as chequebook issuance, cheque status, issuance of form 16A, block/activate debit card on the call centre. The availability of services has nearly doubled over the last 24 months.
- Nearly 4cr active customers on mobile and internet banking with 140% increase in financial transactions through mobile and internet banking channels and almost 50% of financial transactions through digital channels.
Like in the previous year, progress made by PSBs was tracked quarterly through a published EASE Reforms Index leading up to the annual review. In addition to the inclusion of the EASE Reforms Index in the evaluation of Whole Time Directors of PSBs, it has now been made part of the annual appraisal of PSB leadership up to two levels below the Whole Time Directors.