The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday launched three major initiatives, including a mobile app, to enable retail investors to participate in the government securities (G-Secs) market.
RBI governor Shaktikanta Das launched the initiatives, namely the PRAVAAH portal, the Retail Direct Mobile App and a FinTech Repository.
PRAVAAH Portal
The central bank launched the PRAVAAH portal for any individual or entity to apply online for various regulatory approvals in a seamless manner.
‘PRAVAAH’ (Platform for Regulatory Application, Validation and Authorisation) portal is a secure and centralised web-based portal for any individual or entity to seek authorisation, license, or regulatory approval on any reference made by it to the Reserve Bank.
Sharing features of the portal, the RBI statement said, 60 application forms covering different regulatory and supervisory departments can be submitted online.
On the portal, an entity can track/monitor the status as well as RBI can send a decision related to a specified application in a time-bound manner.
More application forms would be made available as may be required, it said.
Mobile Application for RBI Retail Direct portal
The retail direct portal was launched in November 2021 to facilitate retail investors to open their Retail Direct Gilt accounts with the Reserve Bank of India under the Retail Direct Scheme. The scheme allows retail investors to buy G-Secs in the primary auctions as well as buy and sell G-Secs in the secondary market.
With the launch of the retail direct mobile app, retail investors can now transact in G-Secs using the mobile app on their smartphones. The mobile app can be downloaded from the Play Store for Android users and App Store for iOS users.
Fintech Repository
The third initiative Fintech Repository, will be a data storehouse of Indian FinTech firms for a better understanding of the sector from a regulatory perspective and facilitate in designing appropriate policy approaches.
The FinTech Repository aims to capture essential information about FinTech entities, their activities, technology uses, etc. FinTechs, both regulated and unregulated, are encouraged to contribute to the repository.
Simultaneously, a related repository for only RBI-regulated entities (banks and NBFCs) on their adoption of emerging technologies (like AI, ML, Cloud Computing, DLT, Quantum, etc.), called EmTech Repository, is also being launched.
The FinTech and EmTech Repositories are secure web-based applications and are managed by the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH), a wholly-owned subsidiary of RBI.
The repository would enable the availability of aggregate sectoral-level data, trends, analytics, etc., that would be useful for both policymakers and participating industry members.
Reserve Bank of India encourages the FinTechs and Regulated Entities to actively contribute to the repositories, it said.
