Doorstep banking for elderly people to be available soon: Report

The Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance has proposed to notify a new guide for bankers soon. The guide will make the doorstep provision of banking services mandatory for some bank branches for the senior citizens and differently-abled individuals. As per a report in the Mint, the scheme will provide services like fixed deposits, opening of accounts, insurance, pension services, investment and loans. The Indian Banks Association (IBA) has finalised the draft of the guide in consultation with DFS. The draft will be presented to the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD) before being notified. The IBA, as part of the deliberations, was advised to update the 2017 Bankers’ Guide. This was done in May. The updated guide is set to become the new guide. Over 50 million senior citizens above the age of 70 years and an equal number of differently-abled individuals could expect to get basic banking services at their doorstep soon. Sources told the Mint that identified bank branches are going to offer doorstep delivery banking for a nominal user-fee payment. A universal phone number may be there for requesting these services. To discuss the scheme, DFS held a meeting in June with representatives from Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), Oriental Insurance, and the IBA. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Lalit Kumar, economic advisor of DFS. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has already mandated the doorstep banking services. The banks were given two separate deadlines for implementation- 31 December 2017 and 20 April 2020. But pan-India application of the services continues to be weak and patchy. It is likely that the doorstep delivery will not be restricted to banking services because the government also wants to bring in some insurance and currency services under its ambit. Manuals are also going to be issued for infrastructure facilities at ATMs and bank branches to support easy delivery of services to the elderly and differently-abled individuals. Banks have been directed to properly update their website and show the list of branches which are providing such doorstep services. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.