Tryst with RBI

1.12.2016

After a gap of 2 years, I got an opportunity to face an interview. This was my first interview after joining a job. So was worried about the nature of questions. After 4 attempts, I finally managed to get an interview call for post of Grade B Manager at Reserve Bank of India. Around 700 people were called for interview to fill up 170 vacancies. I was called for interview on 1^st December at 9 AM.

                I reached the venue around 8.45 AM. Unlike government offices, RBI office is sparkling clean and resembles interiors of a five star hotel. The interviews were being held at top floor of office. I got to know I was slotted at No 12 out of 14 members scheduled to be interviewed that day. After completing biometric registration and certificate verification, I had to wait till 1.15 PM. There were various newspapers available, but I was worried of information overload, so decided not to read much.

                At 1.15 Pm I was called into the interview room.  It was a 5 member interview panel. All seated in sofas and a chair was put in middle for candidate to sit.

Me: Good Afternoon Sirs and Mam

M1: You have speedcubing as hobby. Don’t you get bored solving the same thing again and again. Are you still improving your timing?

Me:  There are various permutations to solve the cube, so it isn’t boring. I can solve in under 2 minutes but world record is less than 10 seconds

M1:  What do you do in volunteering?

Me: I picked it up at college which had an active volunteering cell. Had participated in tsunami rehab

M1: What are you doing now?

Me: I volunteer with an NGO involved in teaching government kids during weekends

M1: Good, what do you teach?

Me: Sir, right now annual day is coming up , so I am helping them in preparing for quiz

M2: How much is India’s Tax to GDP ratio? Do you think it is low? What can be done to improve it?

Me: Sir its around 16%. Its low in comparison to other advanced nations

M2: How much in advanced nations?

Me: Sir it’s above 20%

M2: Ok what can be done to improve it?

Me: Sir there is a need to widen it

M1: This tax:GDP ratio, does it include state taxes as well?

Me: Sir I am not sure about that but it does include direct and indirect taxes

M2: What are non tax sources of revenue?

Me: Sir, it includes disinvestment proceedings, interest from loans lent to states, Grants from international insitutions like world bank

M1: World bank gives grants? I don’t think so

Me: It does for specific projects,

M1: No

Me: Sir.., it lends through credit lines as well

M1 That is different

M3: Do you think India’s tax system has equity in it?

Me: Sir, Direct taxes are progressive

M3: What progressive , a large section is left untaxed , agriculture. Don’t you think they need to be taxed?

Me: Sir agriculture sector has a large number of small and marginal farmers

M3: But there are large ones also, don’t you think this is unequal

Me: Yes sir but that is politically unviable

M1: So you think it is a holy cow?

Me: Yes sir, its seen as anti public friendly(Don’t know why blabbered this)

M3: So why do you think it is not taxed? Under whome does agriculture come

Me: Yes sir, Its under state list, so need to garner public support for such a move

M4: Ok you are from Central excise department. Tell me how GST is going to change your role?

Me: Sir. We are handling a large number of service tax assesses….(M1 Cuts short my answer)

M1: In GST, who would decide on issue of classification of goods?

Me: Sir that’s a tricky issue. Currently it’s still a work in progress. A committee of secretaries has been setup to decide on this.

M1: Are you sure , it has not been resolved?

Me: As far as I know , its not yet resolved

M4: In comparison to your department, how is income tax?

Me: Sir we deal with indirect tax, So our interface with public is less

M4: What do you mean by public?

Me: I mean for income tax an assesse is an individual while for us its an enterprise

M5: This demonetisation , are you fine with the timing?

Me: I feel it is a paradigmatic change. I agree in principle with it, but I feel timing was not right. Especially when a nation which had 80% cash transactions. Now 86% of cash has been taken out

I feel this push for cashless could have been done before

M5: So you feel timing is not right

Me: Yes mam

M5: What other measures have been taken recently?

Me: Mam RBI has put withdrawal limit. Income tax law has been amended to penalise tax evaders. I feel it is a win win situation

M5: What about black money abroad, any measures ?

Me: Yes mam, that’s an important issue as well.

M5: Any agreement with countries?

Me: Yes mam , an agreement has been reached with Switzerland but its implementation will start in 2019

M5: Apart from that what more can be done?

Me: I feel tax compliance burden should be reduced so that people pay tax willingly

M5: What about electoral reforms?

Me: Yes mam, There needs to be transparency in fudning, right now only funds of individuals are kept track of but not party. There is no limit. Also recent step by PM calling for MPs and MLAs to submit their bank accounts for scrutiny is a step in right direction

M1: Ok. You can go

Me: I would like to thank you all for giving me this opportunity

I feel the questions were good but I could have answered better. Many times my answers were cut short, may be I wasn’t to the point or due to time constraint(15 mins) they had to get in as many questions as possible. As of now, fingers crossed. Hope for the best

6th March 2017

Marks are out. This interview fetched 38 out of 50 . Highest marks were 44. So this can be considered an above average interview. On the whole i managed to clear cutoff by 4 marks. Phew, so the journey to RBI was not an easy one . But all's well that end's well.

Debit card data breach:Threat to Digital India?

In past few years, India’s banking system has undergone enormous changes. Banks have embraced the benefits of digital revolution and are harnessing it to improve service delivery. This has benefited not just consumer and banks but even the government has put its hopes on spread of digital banking to realize the dream of Digital India.

                Economic survey highlighted importance of JAM trinity (Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, Mobile) for better targeting of subsidies and thereby improve governance. The Jan Dhan component  is moving swiftly with the growing number of bank accounts. Aadhaar is also fast becoming ubiquitous in India. Mobile revolution has put mobile in hands of common man. However JAM benefit can be harnessed only when mobile banking is utilised by public. This will enable payments and transfers via mobile .It will reduce time and opportunity cost of daily wage earners. For others, it makes transactions convenient and hassle free.

                Mobile banking has spread fast thanks to innovations and supportive regulations. Today there are numerous companies coming out with apps to enable payments and transfers of various kinds. Reserve Bank of India has given in principle approval for setting up of payment banks. This will further penetrate use of digital medium for transactions. All these paint a rosy picture. Some analysts were so excited by these developments that they started dreaming of a cashless Indian economy.

                The dream shattered with revelation of a large scale data theft from several Indians banks in 2016. The incident revealed the loopholes in India’s cyber security regime. Even as more and more Indians are logging on to the cyber world. India has been slow in coming up with security measures to protect its citizens and property. We have seen cyber attacks on various institutions of government. But the recent incident in financial domain is a cause for grave concern.

                India’s growth has been propelled by IT boom. Much of activity in future would be dependent on cyber world. Hence it is imperative that we buck up and strengthen cyber security. India is blessed with surplus engineers by fate or design. Indian government should tap these enormous pool of talent to create a cyber army not just to defend but also to unleash cyber attacks. Deterrence is best form of defence.

                The recent attack reveals the threat to financial sector. Financial sector regulators and participants need to heighten their vigil in cyber world. Digital banking which is still in nascent stage in India can grow only with trust of people. The recent incident has created a trust deficit among public. There has been a decline in online and debit/credit card transactions and a increased demand for currency. This is a setback to digital banking. Banks need to act fast to secure their networks and assure their customers of the safety of their systems. Regulators need to give equal priority to cyber audit as other audits. RBI’s move to setup a IT division is a step in right direction.

                Cyber criminals are evolving new and advanced methods to perpetrate their crimes. To keep these in check, we need to invest in cyber surveillance and research. Our investigative agencies need to be equipped with skills to undertake investigations in cyber world. Laws need to be strengthened in cyber world to instill fear among those who have evil designs in their mind.

                The economic survey called for spread of JAM to alleviate people’s problems. Before spreading JAM it is important to protect it from attacks of ants, only then can we really enjoy the taste of JAM.