Just like in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector, banking and access to credit too will be ‘sachetised’ to make it more accessible and affordable for the masses once the Public Credit Registry (PCR) is set up, according to the Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Viral Acharya.

“We want that even a small tea shop vendor should be able to take a ₹500 loan at fair rates, say, for only a week, based on such data,” he said at the annual FIBAC 2018, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA).

The Deputy Governor said it is desirable to have a special comprehensive legislation, overriding the prohibitions contained in all other legislations on sharing of information required for the PCR.

Governance issues

In India, a PCR Act can enable us to transparently address the entire gamut of governance issues, including data acquisition and its dissemination through access rights by various users, he added.

The RBI is proposing to set up a PCR, which will be an extensive database of credit information for all credit products in the country, from point of origination of credit to its termination (repayments, restructuring, default, resolution), eventually covering all lender-borrower accounts without a size threshold. With PCR, lenders can get a 360 degree view of the borrower’s other outstanding credits and past performance, allowing better screening at the time of credit origination and superior monitoring during the life of the credit.

“The notice and choice framework to secure an individual’s consent is fundamental to data processing practices in a digital economy. It is based on the act of an individual providing consent for certain actions pertaining to his/ her data.

“It is essential that users provide consent to an entity sharing data (the data provider) before they share data with an entity requesting access (the data consumer),” said Acharya.

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