PUBLIC TECH PLATFORM (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Economy)

Context: The RBI announced a pilot programme for ‘Public Tech Platform for Frictionless Credit’ which would strive to deliver frictionless credit by “facilitating seamless flow of required digital information to lenders.”

Public Tech Platform for Frictionless Credit

• About: It is developed by the RBI’s subsidiary Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH).

• It aims to streamline the credit delivery process by enabling seamless digital information flow to lenders.
• It intends to simplify the credit assessment by providing an end-to-end digital ecosystem that facilitates the smooth exchange of essential digital data among stakeholders.

• Features of the Platform

• Open Architecture: The platform adopts an open architecture model, fostering interoperability and collaboration among various financial sector players.

• Plug and Play Model: The open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and standards enable seamless integration and interaction among participating entities.

• Efficiency and Scalability: The platform aims to enhance lending efficiency, reduce costs, expedite disbursement, and scale up lending operations.

• Launch and Scope

• Calibrated Rollout: The platform launched as a pilot project on August 17, 2023, with gradual access to information providers and use cases.

• Initial Focus: The pilot phase will focus on credit products like Kisan Credit Card loans, dairy loans, collateral-free MSME loans, personal loans, and home loans.

• Integration and Services: The platform will integrate services such as Aadhaar e-KYC, state government land records, satellite data, PAN validation, Aadhaar e-signing, account aggregation, and more.