mumbai have you walked out of a bank branch saddled with an insurance policy that you had no plans of getting or have you been worried your account will be frozen if you missed updating kyc the rbi has now come out with guidelines to improve customer service and make banking hasslefreean rbi panel has suggested several measures to reduce hassles for customers secure their interests and ensure they are treated fairly the measures include extending deposit insurance cover for balances maintained in prepaid instruments wallets having auditors check on misselling measures that will make it easier to release pledged assets complete kyc updates without service disruption and a facility for pensioners to submit their life certificate at any branch the committee report has focused on pain points that customers repeatedly face several of these measures are related to the implementation of kyc know your customer norms which have turned out to be an irritant to customers in the way they are implementedthe rbi had constituted a sevenmember committee headed by former deputy governor b p kanungo in may 2022 after an announcement by the governor in the april 2022 monetary policy the governments decision to hike deposit insurance to rs 5 lakh from rs 1 lakh followed recommendations made by the last committee on customer service recommendations headed by former sebi chief m damodaran the panel said banks must ensure uninterrupted account operations during kyc updates to make life easier for customers and bank staff it has recommended the creation of a centralised database of kyc documents some customers are required to update their kyc frequently because the bank profiles them as high risk the committee has said that banks should have a nuanced risk categorisation for customers many proposals are included for senior citizens who are adversely affected by the move of banks to discourage engagement at branches the committee wants banks to allow relatives of senior citizens to pay upfront for the doorstep services that elders will use the pensioners should be able to submit life certificate lc at any branch of the bank in which they maintain their pension account moreover they should be allowed to submit lc in any month of their choice to avoid the rush in a particular month the report said to tackle digital fraud there is a recommendation that an online facility be made available on the indian cybercrime reporting portal for registering complaints