Regional Rural Banks are the banking organizations being operated in different states of India. They have been created to serve the rural areas with banking and financial services. However, RRB's may have branches set up for urban operations and there area of operation may include urban areas too.
History:
Regional Rural Banks were established under the provisions of an Ordinance passed on 26 September 1975 and the RRB Act. 1976 to provide sufficient banking and credit facility for agriculture and other rural sectors. These were set up on the recommendations of The Narasimham Working Group during the tenure of Indira Gandhi's government with a view to include rural areas into economic mainstream since that time about 70% of the Indian Population was of Rural Orientation. The development process of RRBs started on 2 October 1975 with the with forming the first RRB, the Prathama Bank. Also on 2 October 1975, five regional rural banks were set up on with a total authorised capital of Rs. 100 crore ($ 10 Million) which later augmented to 500 crore ($ 50 Million). There were five commercial banks, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of India, Syndicate Bank, United Bank of India and United Commercial Bank, which sponsored the regional rural banks. Earlier Reserve Bank of India had laid down ceilings on the rate of interest to be charged by these RRBs. However from August 1996 the RRBs have been granted freedom to fix rates of interest, which is usually in the range of 14-18% for advances.
Functions:
The main purpose of RRB's is to mobilize financial resources from rural / semi-urban areas and grant loans and advances mostly to small and marginal farmers, agricultural laborers and rural artisans. The area of operation of RRBs is limited to the area as notified by Government of India covering one or more districts in the State. RRB's also perform a variety of different functions. RRB's perform various functions in following heads • Providing banking facilities to rural and semi-urban areas. Carrying out government operations like disbursement of wages of MGNREGA workers, distribution of pensions etc. • Providing Para-Banking facilities like locker facilities, debit and credit cards.
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