The government will work to enable all 2.9 lakh common service centres (CSCs) in the country to operate as business correspondents of banks, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday.
Business correspondents are retail agents engaged by banks for providing services at locations other than a bank branch or an ATM.
Permitted services include identification of borrowers, collection and preliminary processing of loan applications, collection of small value deposit, disbursal of small value credit, sale of micro insurance, MF products and pension products.He added that the option to set up extended bank counters at CSCs to provide banking and financial services in rural areas will also be explored. Mr. Goyal was speaking at an event for the signing of an MoU between the Ministry of Railways and the CSCs, which come under the Ministry of Electronics and IT. “Now, CSCswill be able to work as IRCTC agents and would also be able to book general tickets,” Electronics and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
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He further added that on June 15, Prime Minister Narendra will address 2.9 lakh CSCs, which employ about 10 lakh people.