Context:

Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das unveiled three major initiatives of the Reserve Bank, namely the Pravaah portal, the Retail Direct Mobile App and a FinTech Repository.

More on the News

These initiatives were previously announced in RBI's bi-monthly Statements on Development and Regulatory Policies:

• Pravaah Portal: Announced in April 2023.
• Retail Direct Mobile App: Announced in April 2024.
• FinTech Repository: Announced in December 2023.

PRAVAAH Portal:

Purpose: The PRAVAAH (Platform for Regulatory Application, VAlidation, and AutHorisation) portal aims to streamline the process of seeking regulatory approvals from the RBI.

Features:

• Individuals or entities can apply online for various regulatory approvals seamlessly.
• Users can track and monitor the status of their applications.
• The RBI can seek clarifications or queries related to the application.
• Decisions are provided in a time-bound manner.

Retail Direct Mobile App:

Objective: The Retail Direct Mobile App facilitates retail investors’ participation in the government securities (G-Secs) market.

Features:

• Provides seamless and convenient access to the Retail Direct platform.
• Enables ease of transacting in G-Secs.

Background: The Retail Direct portal was initially launched in November 2021 to allow retail investors to open their Retail Direct Gilt accounts with the RBI.

FinTech Repository:

Purpose: The FinTech Repository contains information on the Indian FinTech sector from a regulatory perspective.

Benefits:

• Helps policymakers and regulators understand the FinTech landscape.
• Facilitates the design of appropriate policy approaches.