CALCUTTA, NOV 9: At the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the buck never stops. If the banking sector in general is accused of being gripped by a fear psychosis when it comes to taking credit decisions, it is more so in the case of the country's central bank.In September this year, A S Kasliwal, president of the Ficci, had written to the RBI Governor C Rangarajan complaining about the reluctance of banks to lend to NBFCs in general and hire-purchase and leasing companies in particular. Kasliwal had urged the governor to take suitable action to ``facilitate the requisite flow of funds to this important segment of financial sector''.Since then, the journey of Kasliwal's letter down the various hierarchical levels at the RBI is becoming a study in delegation of responsibility.A senior official of the bank, said that the note has so far collected at least seven endorsements. It was first endorsed by the RBI governor, who then referred the matter to deputy governor S P Talwar. The deputy governor has referred to officials down the line.From Mumbai, the letter then made its way to Calcutta - the reason being that the RBI's Department of Financial Companies (DFC) has its head office here. No matter that the DFC, Calcutta, has been left with only one function: that of formulating policy guidelines.It is the DFC in Mumbai that handles the operational activities of finance companies. In fact, for policy guidelines also, the final approving authority is vested in Mumbai. According to the latest information from the RBI and the angry noises being made by hire purchase and leasing companies, the letter is still without any takers. ``Nobody is sure who wants to take action on it and what action to take,'' said the RBI official. Sources in the apex bank said credit disbursement is not the function of the RBI.``We are here to facilitate and regulate the flow of credit by creating the necessary atmosphere for it''. After that it is up to the banks to decide whether they want to lend their funds to certain sectors or not, he said.In fact, Kasliwal's letter has highlighted this aspect of the problem. It said: ``You are well aware that today's financing structure in consumer durables and goods is day after day depending on leasing and hire-purchase system. Therefore, at the present crucial juncture of economic development, the deferred credit is a good instrument in the hands of the producers and market people, which is currently provided by the NBFCs ".
