The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has introduced an index to measure financial inclusion in the country for the first time.

The FI-Index, constructed without any base year, incorporates the details of banking, investments, insurance, postal as well as pension sectors in consultation with government and the respective sectoral regulators.

The index captures information on various aspects of financial inclusion in a single value ranging between 0 and 100. While 0 represents complete financial exclusion, 100 indicates full financial inclusion. There are three broad parameters. These are ease of ‘access’, availability and ‘usage’ of services and ‘quality’ of services across 97 indicators.

“A unique feature of the index is the quality parameter, which captures the quality aspect of financial inclusion as reflected by financial literacy, consumer protection and inequalities and deficiencies in services,” the RBI said.

The annual FI-Index for the period ending March 2021 is 53.9 as against 43.4 for the period ending March 2017.

The FI-Index, which will be published in July every year, will reflect cumulative efforts of all stakeholders over the years towards financial inclusion.