RBI recasts Financial Literacy Centres guidelines

MUMBAI: To spread awareness about various financial products, the Reserve Bank today revised Financial Literacy Centres (FLCs) guidelines to align them with the current financial landscape.

"Accordingly, the revised guidelines for Financial Literacy Centres of lead banks and the operational guidelines for the conduct of camps by FLCs and rural branches of banks have been prepared to be followed by lead banks," RBI said in a statement.

FLCs are the building blocks or the basic units that initiate financial literacy activities at the ground level and banks should provide the minimum basic infrastructure and strengthen the existing eco-system, it said.

The FLC being a part of the lead bank office or a rural branch should have a separate room or space with a seating capacity of minimum 10 members to address walk-in customers, it said.

It also said banks should immediately put in place board-approved policies on the modalities for engagement or recruitment of Financial Literacy Counsellors in FLCs.

Elaborating qualifications parameters of counsellor, it said, they should have prior experience in banking/related fields, working knowledge of computers and local language.

Banks should also provide fixed remuneration at market rates with incentives for better performance and also provide vehicular support.

"In a diverse country like ours, financial education should be customised to meet the requirements of different target groups, besides the basic financial literacy that every person is expected to know," it said.

In this regard, FLCs and rural branches should identify different target groups at the ground level and conduct camps for a homogeneous audience so that there could be more focus and in-depth transmission of financial education, it added.

As per the revised norms, banks should conduct a minimum one outdoor camp per month by each FLC and rural branch of banks.

"The special camps need to be conducted for a period of one year. In each camp, efforts may be taken to cover maximum number of participants," it said.