New Delhi: In a move that will have repercussions in the country's credit card market, and of course bring relief to many a beleaguered credit card customer, the government intends to bring out a bill that will empower the RBI to regulate and oversee various payment and settlement systems, including those by card companies and national bodies like the Clearing Company of India.

"We intend to bring a bill to regulate payment systems," finance minister P Chidambaram told the Lok Sabha on Friday while replying to questions over the credit card industry.

The Payment and Settlements Bill, which was cleared by cabinet yesterday, provides for the setting up of a new National Payments Company that would take over retail payment systems.

The various retail payment systems in operation include card-based paper system, manual paper-based clearing, and the electronic fund transfer system, under which the EFT (electronic funds transfer) and RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement) systems fall.

Minister of state for finance Pawan Kumar Bansal told the Lok Sabha that representations have been received from the public about summary rejections of their loan or credit card applications, without assigning any reasons.

The government has advised the RBI and the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) to take appropriate corrective measures. It seeks to ensure that banking customers get efficient, hassle-free banking services, at affordable charges, according to the minister.

Banking Ombudsmen have been appointed for speedily dealing with complaints of bank customers, he said, adding that banks are also required to set up an internal grievance redressal mechanism, which pays special attention to the time-bound manner in which complaints are handled.

According to IBA's Fair Practices Code, banks need to furnish the reasons for rejection of loans, which include credit card under its purview.