DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

Subject : Governance

Context : The Finance Ministry has sought feedback from key stakeholders in the financial system on whether compliances under major Acts administered by the Department of Financial Services (DFS) can be rationalised.

Concept:

• This exercise is aimed at making the regulatory framework simple and to rationalise the compliance burden for citizens and business.
• The ministry, which sought feedback from banks, insurance companies, microfinance institutions and a couple of large non-banking finance companies, said the key objective of this exercise is to provide services in a time-bound, transparent, and predictable manner with minimum human interface.
• The major Acts administered by the DFS that are being considered for rationalisation of compliances are: the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act, 1934; the Banking Regulation (BR) Act, 1949; the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) Act, 1999; the Insurance Act, 1938; the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005; and the National Housing Bank (NHB) Act, 1987.

About the DFS

• The Department of Financial Services covers Banks, Insurance, and Financial Services provided by various government agencies and private corporations.
• It also covers pension reforms and Industrial Finance and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise. It started the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.
• PFRDA, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) is a statutory body which also works under this department.