Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch two innovative, customer-centric initiatives of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the retail direct scheme and the integrated ombudsman scheme, via video-conferencing on Friday.

       In a statement on Thursday, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said the RBI Retail Direct Scheme is aimed at enhancing access to the government securities market for retail investors.

       It offers them a new avenue for directly investing in the securities issued by the Centre and the state governments. The investors will be able to easily open and maintain their government securities accounts online with the RBI for free, it added.

       The Reserve Bank-Integrated Ombudsman Scheme aims to further improve the grievance redress mechanism for resolving customer complaints against entities regulated by the central bank.

       The PMO said the central theme of the scheme is based on "One Nation-One Ombudsman" with one portal, one e-mail address and one postal address for the customers to lodge their complaints.

       There will be a single point of reference for the customers to file their complaints, submit documents, track the status of their complaints and provide feedback. A multi-lingual toll-free phone number will provide all the relevant information on grievance redress and assistance for filing complaints.

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