Independent Research and Policy Advocacy

The Great Inequality Debate

Simon Kuznets’ seminal 1955 study on income inequality is famous for the inverted ‘U’ hypothesis1 which posits that as an economy develops, inequality first increases and then decreases if a certain level of income is achieved.

Niche banking in India: Draft Guidelines for Payments Banks

The Committee on Comprehensive Financial Services for Small Businesses and Low Income Households recommended developing a vertically differentiated banking structure, in which banks specialise in one or more of three functions- payments, credit delivery and retail deposit taking.

NBFCs can now sign up to become Business Correspondents

Removing an earlier restriction that the Reserve Bank had placed on NBFCs, the RBI today has restored the permission for non-deposit taking NBFCs (NBFC-ND) to become Business Correspondents (BCs) to commercial banks, as recommended by the Committee on Comprehensive Financial Services for Small Businesses and Low-Income Households (CCFS).

Local Address Proof no longer a bottleneck to account opening

Customers attempting to open a savings bank account in a scheduled commercial bank will no longer require to furnish proof of current address if the customer is staying at a location that does not correspond with that of his or her permanent address.