RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra announces THESE consumer centric moves: re-KYC, Jan Dhan accounts, locker settlement & more

Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra on August 6 announced three consumer centric measures, after the monetary policy committee (RBI MPC) outcome today.He added that these are aimed at the interest and welfare of citizens, including those at the bottom of the pyramid.

“Let me underline that for us at RBI, the interest and welfare of the citizens of India is foremost. It is the people of India, including those at the bottom of the pyramid, who are our raison detre, or the reason of our being. In this regard, I have three consumer-centric announcements to make,” Sanjay Malhotra stated.

3 Consumer centric announcements by RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra

• Camps for re-KYC for Jan Dan accounts, micro insurance and pension schemes: As Jan-Dhan Scheme completes 10 years, Sanjay Malhotra said that a large number of accounts have fallen due for re-KYC. “The banks are organising camps at Panchayat level from July 1-September 30, in an endeavour to provide services at customer doorsteps,” he added.
• Additionally, besides opening new bank accounts and re-KYC, these camps will also focus on micro insurance and pension schemes for financial inclusion and customer grievance redress.
• Settlement of account claims, locker items for deceased family: The RBI will standardise claim settlement in respect of accounts and articles kept in bank lockers, he added. Governor Sanjay Malhotra said, “We will be standardising the procedure for settlement of claims in respect of bank accounts, and articles kept in safe custody or safe deposit lockers of deceased bank customers. This is expected to make settlement more convenient and simpler.”
• RBI Retail-Direct platform expansion: Sanjay Malhotra added that the central bank is expanding functionality in RBI Retail-Direct platform “to enable retail investors to invest in treasury bills through systematic investment plans (SIPs)”.

RBI MPC decision: Repo rate unchanged at 5.50%

Sanjay Malhotra on August 6 announced that the RBI MPC has decided to keep repo rates unchanged at 5.50 per cent. Further, the policy stance will also remain unchanged as ‘Neutral’, he added.

With regard to inflation forecast, the governor lowered the projection to 3.1 per cent from the earlier estimate of 3.7 per cent for the current financial year.

The decision comes as the central bank has already frontloaded easing through both a rate cut and a 100 basis points (bps) CRR reduction earlier this year. Headed by Sanjay Malhotra, this is the RBI's third bi-monthly monetary policy of FY26, which met from August 4 to August 6.

The MPC consists of three RBI officials — Sanjay Malhotra (Governor), Poonam Gupta (Deputy Governor), Rajiv Ranjan (Executive Director); and three external members — Nagesh Kumar (Director and Chief Executive, Institute for Studies in Industrial Development, New Delhi), Saugata Bhattacharya (Economist), and Ram Singh (Director, Delhi School of Economics).