Here’s what a day in the life of an RBI Grade B officer looks like. Following is the Job Profile, Nature of Work, Promotions of a Grade B 2018 Officer
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) consists of more than 30 Departments with close to 400 RBI Grade B Job Profiles.
Clearing the RBI Grade B 2018 entitles you to work in various departments. Right from the RBI’s central office which is located in Mumbai or in the Regional Office (RO) which are mostly located in the state capitals, e.g. New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai Regional Office (MRO), Hyderabad, Bangalore etc. You can see the complete list on RBI’s website.
Nature of work in RBI Grade B
- The nature of work of an RBI Grade B officer will differ from department to department. Central Office Departments are mostly engaged in the overall supervision of related functions i.e. to coordinate with the concerned department of all regional offices. It’s mostly a desk job, and a lot of correspondence is there with state governments, central government departments, and various RBI Regional Offices.
- The Central Office Departments (CO) are headed by the Principal Chief General Manager (PCGM), and they are assisted by 1–3 CGMs depending on the workload of the department. All these officers are those who had joined RBI as a Grade B Officer.
- The Regional Offices (RO) are headed by Regional Directors who is a PCGM/CGM level officer. Their rank is equivalent to the Chief Secretary/Secretary of the State Government. It is not mentioned anywhere, but this protocol is followed by all the State Governments.
Job Profile of RBI Grade B Officer
I got selected in RBI in 2011, and I had worked in RBI Ahmedabad office in Urban Banking Supervision Department till 2015.
- My job as an RBI Grade B Officer was to inspect various banks allocated to me by my General Manager. This onsight inspection was carried out as per the Banking Regulation Act 1949 and some provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act 1934. We also had to follow some of the guidelines mentioned in the Income Tax Act, FEMA, Money Laundering Act, etc.
- The main objective of this inspection was to see whether the banks are functioning as per the Banking Regulation Act 1949. Because banks have the public money and RBI is entrusted to safeguard the interest of the Depositors.
- Key areas that we had to focus during the inspections were the cash vault, KYC AML guidelines, Credit Appraisal System of the bank, information technology Policy, overall security of the branch, functioning of the Board of the Directors and their interference in the day to day operations of the bank, adherence to the various circulars of the RBI.
- Based on these parameters, an RBI Grade B Officer has to write inspection reports and prepare bank’s balance sheet as per the Reserve Bank’s format.
- We had to calculate various Financial parameters like CRAR, Gross NPA, Net NPA, Gross Profit/Loss, Net Interest Margin, Forex Exposure, CRR, SLR, etc. Based on these parameters we had to rate banks. eg, A+, A, A-, B likewise. These reports are considered to be very confidential and are outside of the ambit of an RTI. It can only be presented in the higher courts in case of a legal matter.
- In a few Departments, you can also get field work which will give you an exposure of Banking regulations, Financial Markets, Foreign Exchange related Departments.
Future Avenues for an RBI Grade B officer
As an RBI Grade B Officer, you can reach up to the post of a CGM and to the ranks of an Executive Director (ED) based on your service record. Only a few RBI Grade B Officers get to the ranks of a Deputy Governor (DG). Some extraordinary RBI Grade B Officers are deputed to work with prestigious foreign institutions like IMF and World Bank.