Reserve Bank of India - RBI

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RBI (Reserve Bank of India)


ESTABLISHMENT


ü  RBI is the Central Bank (Apex Bank)
ü  The RBI was established on the recommendations of Royal Commission on Indian currency and Finance also called Hilton-Young Commission.
ü  The Reserve Bank of India Act was passed in the year 1934
ü  In accordance to RBI Act of 1934, the RBI was set up in the year 1935
ü  The RBI commenced its operations on April 1st, 1935
ü  The first Governor of RBI was Sir Osborne Smith
ü  The first Indian to be the Governor is Sir Chintaman Deshmukh
ü  The current Governor is Raghuram Rajan
ü  After the independence in 1947 it also acted as the Central bank for Pakistan up to June 1948.
ü  Note: In 1948 Pakistan set up its own Central Bank called State Bank of Pakistan
ü  The RBI was originally a private bank (share holders) and it was nationalised with effect from January 1st, 1949 on the basis of RBI (Transfer to Public Ownership) Act 1948.
ü  Up to 1960s RBI also played an important role in the development also especially in agriculture.
ü  Various institutions like UTI, IDBI, NABARD etc were set because of RBI
ü  With economic reforms in 1990s the it started focusing on its core functions like monetary policy bank regulations, development of financial market and payment systems


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LOCATION

ü  Originally set up in Calcutta (Kolkata) and shifted to Bombay (Mumbai) in the year 1937


RTI (Right to information Act)

ü  The Parliament has enacted RTI Act in the year 2005.
ü  The RTI Act came into effect on October 12, 2005
ü  The RTI Act empowered the citizens to access the information under the control of public authorities to promote transparency and accountability in these organisations. The act provided for the appointment of Chief Public Information officer to deal with the request for such information.
ü  RBI is a public authority and it provides the information
ü  In RBI the chief Information officer is called Transparency officer




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FUNCTIONS:
ü  The functions are described in the Preamble of RBI
ü  It regulates the issue of bank notes and keeping the bank reserves to secure monetary stability.
ü  It operates the currency and credit system of the country


What is monitory policy?
ü  This is evolved under three objectives
ü  Maintaining price stability
ü  Ensuring adequate flow of credit to sustain the growth momentum
ü  Securing financial stability

ü  It is the banker to the government
ü  Manages public debt
ü  Banker to banking system
ü  Lender of the last resort

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HOW RBI OPERATES?
ü  It operates through the central board governed by board of directors
ü  The directors are appointed by the government
ü  They are categorised into official and non-official directors
ü  There are 4 local boards in the country located in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and New Delhi
ü  There are 19 regional offices of RBI located in different states

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Main functions of RBI:
ü  Monetary Authority: formulates and implements the monetary policy
ü  Regulator and supervisor of the financial system: prescribes the broad parameters of banking operations within which the country’s banking and financial system functions
ü  Manager of foreign exchange: Manages Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) 1999.
ü  Issuer of currency: issues and exchanges or destroys currency and coins that are not fit for circulation
ü  Banker to the government:
ü  Banker to the banks: Maintains banking accounts
ü  The RBI based on the demand requirement indicates the volume and value of bank notes to be printed each year and after mutually agreed by the GOI it prints the new notes. It depends on the requirement of meeting the demand for the bank notes, GDP growth, replacement of soiled notes and reserve stock requirements.

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BANKING OMBUDSMAN:
ü  It was introduced in the year 1995
ü  This is a senior official appointed by the RBI to redress the customer complaints against deficiency of certain banking services.
ü  As of now 15 ombudsman appointed in various state capitals



COINS:
ü  Coins up to 50 paise are called smaller coins
ü  Rs . 1/- and above are called rupee coins
ü  Coins like 1, 2, 3, 5, 10 and 25 paise have been withdrawn from the market
ü  As per Indian coinage act, 2011 the RBI can mint up to Rs. 1000/- coin
ü  The designing and minting the coins is the responsibility of the GOI
ü  The coins are minted at Mumbai, Hyderabad, Noida and Kolkatta


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CURRENCY:
ü  Indian currency is called Indian rupee
ü  These notes are called bank notes
ü  The current denominations are 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 notes
ü  As per the RBI Act, 1934 it can print up to Rs. 10000/- notes
ü  The highest denomination that was printed in India so far was Rs. 10000/- in the year 1938 and 1954
ü  Rs. 1000/- and 10000/- notes that were in circulation were demonetized in the year 1946 to curb unaccounted money
ü  Rs.1000/-, 5000/- and Rs. 10000/- currency notes were reintroduced in the year 1954 and again demonetized in the year 1978.
ü  Rs. 1/- currency notes were printed under currency ordinance, 1940
ü  Design of the currency notes need to be accepted by the government on the recommendation of central board
ü  The currency paper is made of cotton and cotton rag
ü  Notes are printed in Nashik (Maharashtra), Dewas (MP), Mysore (Karnataka)and Salboni (West Bengal)



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CURRENCY CHEST:
ü  These are store houses of currency and the coins
ü  There are 4209 currency chests in India
ü  They distribute currency notes and coins to other branches




LANGUAGE PANEL:

ü  This is a place where the languages are printed
ü  There are 15 languages printed
ü  On the reverse side it is in English language


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BANK NOTES:
ü  The first banknote that was introduced in India after independence is the Rs. 1/- in the year 1949
ü  Symbol of Lion Capital of Ashoka pillar at saranath replaced the portrait of King George
ü  In the year 1996 Mahatma Gandhi series was started and it was extended to all the currency notes.
ü  Now each currency note will have a water mark and also the portrait of Gandhi and the Ashok Pillar was shifted to the left lower corner



OVI:
ü  It stands for optically variable ink
ü  This is a colour shift ink used for security purpose
ü  When kept flat the numerals appear in green but at an angle it appears black




CLEAN NOTE POLICY OF RBI:

The people are requested
ü  Not to staple the bank notes
ü  Not to write on the notes
ü  Not to rubber stamp
ü  Not to use bank notes to make garlands/toys
ü  Not to decorate pandals/places of worship



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PAPER THAT IS USED FOR CURRENCY IN INDIA:
ü  So far India is importing the paper from countries like Japan and Australia.
ü  Estimates says that it is costing Rs.1800/ crore to 2400/- crore each year
ü  In the year 2015 India is going to have its own paper for printing currency.
ü  A special making facility is being set up in Mysore a joint venture project involving the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd and the Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited which is a subsidiary of RBI.
ü  It is also planning to print currency notes in plastic and polymer.

ü  Note: Australia and New Zealand are already using the polymer notes

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