Earlier, it was very difficult for a retail investor to invest in Government Securities (G-Sec)/Treasury Bills (T-Bills)/Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB)/State Development Loan (SDL) due to a lack of information about trading/dealings in these instruments, functioning of G-Sec market and more on. To counter this and to enhance more retail participation in the G-Sec market, RBI announced the ‘RBI Retail Direct Scheme (RD) in February 2021 which was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India on 12th November 2021. This scheme has made Government Security Market easily accessible for individuals without the interference of any broker.
1. What is a Retail Direct Scheme
The retail Direct scheme is a one-stop solution provided to Individual investors to facilitate investment in Government Securities. Under this scheme, Individual Retail investors can open a Gilt Securities Account – “Retail Direct Gilt (RDG)” Account with the RBI.
2. Who is eligible to open an RDG Account with RBI
All Individuals (natural persons) can register, open and maintain a Retail Direct Gild (RDG) Account with RBI provided he is having-
- Rupee Savings bank account in India;
- Valid PAN issued by the Income Tax Department;
- Officially Valid Document (OVD) for KYC purposes. OVD includes Passport, Driving License, Election Card, and other documents as may be prescribed from time to time;
- Valid e-Mail ID and Mobile Number.
Further, NRI retail investors who are eligible to invest in G-Sec under FEMA, 1999 are eligible to open an RDG Account.
Similar to Saving Account, an RDG Account can be opened singly or jointly with any other investor who met the eligible criteria.
3. What are the benefits of opening an RDG Account
- Generally, Investors open accounts with share brokers to trade in securities. However, here investors can directly open an account with the RBI to deal in government securities.
- An investor can deal in both Primary Issuance and Secondary markets.
- The investor can place non-competitive bids in primary issuance* of all Central Government securities (including Treasury Bills and Sovereign Gold Bonds) as well as securities issued by various State Governments.
- Individuals can also access the Secondary market through “NDS OM” – RBI’s trading system. NDS-OM is a screen-based electronic anonymous order matching system for secondary market trading in Government securities owned by RBI.
- The investor will automatically receive any interest paid/maturity proceeds into his linked bank account on due dates.
- Protection against default risk as the Government never defaults in the repayment.
*RDG Account holders have been allowed to participate in the primary issuance of CG/SG/T-bill/SGB
4. What is the meaning of Primary Issuance and Non-competitive bid
- The primary market is raising funds from the market through new issuance. Primary issuances are first-time issuances or re-issuances of G-Sec by the Central Government or various State Governments. For e.g. T-Bill/State Development Loan (SDL)/Cash Management Bill (CMB)/Dated G-Sec/Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) etc.
- Non-competitive bidding means the bidder would be able to participate in the auctions of G-Sec without having to quote the yield or price in the bid. Thus, the investor will not have to worry about whether his bid will be on or off the mark. As long as he bids in accordance with the scheme, he will be allotted securities fully or partially.
- The non-competitive bid has many advantages such as:
- The non-competitive bidding facility will encourage wider participation and retail holding of G-Sec;
- It will enable individuals, firms, and other mid-segment investors who do not have the expertise to bid competitively in the auction;
- Such investors will have a fair chance of assured allotments at the rate which emerges in the auction.
5. What is the process to open RDG Account
- RDG Account can be opened by filing an online application on https://rbiretaildirect.in/#/login/ portal
- The eligible retail client can open an RDG Account either single or in joint.
- The person intending to open an account will have to furnish the following information:
- Full Name,
- PAN,
- Mobile Number,
- Email Address,
- Residential Address,
- Bank Account number etc.
- The mobile number and email address will be authenticated using OTP as all further customer requests and services will be OTP based;
- The user will be provided with a tracking number to track the application status;
- CCIL (Clearing Corporation of India) will adhere to the KYC guidelines while onboarding the Investor;
- KYC will be done for all account holders. In case of KYC failures, the individual can make a new application or resubmit the application after making the necessary changes;
- The Bank Account of the Customer will also be validated
- Upon completion of the entire verification process, a Retail Direct Gilt (RDG) Account will be opened in the name of the Investor(s);
- Information related to account number, login id & password to access the Online Portal for participating in primary auctions and accessing other services will be made available to the Customer over mail.
- It will be mandatory to fill in the nomination details at the time of opening the account.
- The RDG Account will be available for primary market participation as well as secondary market transactions on NDS OM.
6. What facilities are available upon opening an RDS Account
RBI Portal will provide the following facilities to the investors:
- Opening and management of RDG Accounts,
- Participation in Non Competitive Bidding in Primary G-sec Auctions through the Clearing Corporation of India (CCIL)
- Investment in Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs) through CCIL
- NDS OM portal can be accessed for secondary market trading and settlement of such trades through CCIL.
- Investors shall also have the following features online on the portal:
- Account Statement
- Nomination Facility
- Pledge/Lien
- Gift Transactions
7. How Bidding happens on RBI Retail Direct Portal
- 投資家は、国債(CG/SG/T-bill)のプライマリーオークションにおいて、非競争入札を行うものとします。
- CCILは、オークション当日に、特定の証券に対するすべてのRDG口座保有者の非競争入札をまとめた単一の入札をRBIに提出します。
- SGB(ソブリン・ゴールド・ボンド)の場合、各RDG口座保有者の個別入札がRBIに送付される予定です。
- RDG口座保有者は、入札期間中または募集期間中(SGBの場合)に入札および入札の取り消しを行うことができます。
8. ポータルでは投資家向けにどのような機能が提供されていますか
RDスキームへの登録が完了すると、投資家は以下のサービスを利用できるようになります。
- 口座明細:投資家は、自身のRDG口座における取引履歴および証券保有残高の明細を取得できます。さらに、RBIはすべての取引通知を電子メールやSMSでも送信します。
- 指名機能: 最大2名まで指名可能です。登録投資家が死亡した場合、死亡診断書および承継届を提出することで、RDG口座内の証券を指名者のRDG口座またはその他の国債口座へ承継できます。
- 質権設定:RDG口座で保有する証券は、銀行や金融機関からの融資に対する担保として質権を設定できます。
- 証券の贈与:投資家は、オンラインで他の個人投資家に国債を贈与できます。
- 手数料無料:RDG口座の開設および登録に際し、RBIは一切の手数料を徴収しません。また、プライマリーオークションでの入札にも手数料はかかりません。
- Demat口座への振替:Retail Directポータルでは、RDG口座の保有証券をDemat証券へ(またはその逆)振り替えることができます。振替申請を行う際は、投資家が受取口座に関するすべての情報を提供する必要があります。
9. NDS-OM(Negotiated Dealing System – Order Matching)とは何ですか
- NDS-OMは、流通市場における国債取引のためにRBIが提供する、画面ベースの匿名電子注文マッチングシステムです。
- これは注文主導型の電子システムであり、参加者はシステム上に注文を出すか、他の参加者が出した注文を受け入れることで、匿名で取引を行うことができます。
- 匿名性が確保されることで、あらゆるカテゴリーの参加者に対して公平な競争条件が提供されます。
- NDS-OMシステムへの直接アクセスは、現在、商業銀行、プライマリーディーラー、高純資産保有者(HNI)、投資信託、保険会社、外国ポートフォリオ投資家(FPI)などの一部の金融機関に限定されています。しかし、Retail Directスキームにより、個人投資家もRBIにギルト口座を開設し、NDS-OMで直接入札したり、流通市場で取引したりすることが可能になりました。
NDS-OMの主な特徴:
1. すべての国債、財務省証券(T-Bills)、利付国債などを対象としています。
2. 取引前後の匿名性により、あらゆるカテゴリーの参加者に公平な競争条件を保証します。
3. リアルタイムでの情報配信。
4. T+1の取引決済。
5. オペレーショナル・リスク管理機能。
6. 標準ロット市場と奇数ロット市場で個別の注文板を用意。
10. RBI Retail Directポータルで行った入札の支払いはどのように行われますか
- プライマリーオークション市場では、入札にあたり、提示価格と経過利子に加え、オークション決済日までの価格変動リスクを回避するためのマークアップ(非競争入札の割当価格はオークションのカットオフ価格決定後にのみ判明するため)に基づいた資金の裏付けが必要です。
- マークアップは、オークションのカットオフ価格に基づき、割当後に投資家へ返金されます。
- SGBの場合、資金は当該発行分に対して公表された発行価格に基づきます。
- 入札の支払いには、個人顧客はUPI(送金またはブロック)やネットバンキングなどのサービスを利用し、オンラインポータルにリンクされた決済ゲートウェイを通じて指定の当座預金口座へ資金を振り込むことができます。
- 入札資金の拠出は、入札時または入札後のいずれでも可能ですが、入札・募集期間が終了する前に行う必要があります。RBIへの入札提出日時点で資金が確認できない入札はキャンセルされます。