Mumbai, April 6 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday proposed that banking correspondents should be classified into two categories based on their assignments and suggested uniformity in fixing their wages.
In the draft norms on branch authorisation released on Monday, the central bank proposed defining three types of delivery points – bank branches, Business Correspondent-Banking Outlet (BC-BO), and Business Correspondent-Banking Touchpoint (BC-BT).
It also proposes to bring uniformity in the BC ecosystem with respect to the payment of commission or remuneration they get.
Banking correspondents are assigned in remote areas to perform retail banking operations, expanding the reach of banks and helping in financial inclusion.
At present, there is no classification among business correspondents, while the commissions they get paid vary from bank to bank. As of June 2025, there were over 16 lakh business correspondents engaged by various lenders.
The draft norms released by RBI also propose to simplify the eligibility criteria for engaging the BCs and subsume Business Facilitators (BFs) under the BC model, according to a release.
The central bank has invited comments and feedback from regulated entities, the public and other stakeholders by May 5, 2026, the release added.
Draft norms were prepared based on the recommendations of the committee set up by the central bank. The committee, which consisted of officials from the Reserve Bank, Department of Financial Services, Indian Banks Association, and NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development), comprehensively examined their operations and made recommendations for enhancing their efficiency, the RBI said.
The draft norms were initially announced by the central bank in its February monetary policy.
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