The North News
New Delhi, December 3
The Centre government has said that banks must strengthen the use of regional languages in customer services, as part of new guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the RBI’s framework sets out detailed directions to ensure banking services are aligned with local linguistic needs.
Under the guidelines, banks must display indicator boards, provide service booklets, and offer all customer-facing materials — including account-opening forms, pay-in slips and passbooks — in Hindi, English and the relevant regional language. Banks have also expanded multilingual contact centres and digital channels to assist customers in local languages.
The Department of Financial Services has instructed public sector banks to fully comply with the RBI’s directives, while the Indian Banks’ Association has urged institutions to frame recruitment policies that prioritise hiring local bank officers to improve communication, especially in rural and semi-urban branches. Chaudhary added that customer service associates in public sector banks are now required to pass a local language proficiency test before deployment, a step aimed at improving frontline communication and service delivery.
