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Date : Jan 04, 2023
Annual Report of Ombudsman Schemes, 2021-22
CONTENTS
S.No. Particulars
1. Select abbreviations
2. Foreword
3. Executive Summary
4. Chapter 1 – The Ombudsman Schemes of RBI: Activities during April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022
  Receipt of complaints
  ORBIO-wise receipt and allocation of complaints
  Geographic dispersion of complaints across the states
  Modes of receipt of complaints
  Category-wise receipt of complaints
  Population group-wise distribution of complaints
  Complainant type-wise receipt of complaints
  Entity type-wise receipt of complaints
  Disposal of complaints
  Mode of disposal of maintainable complaints
  Reasons for closure of complaints under non-maintainable clauses
  Receipt of Appeals
  Cost of handling a complaint
  Turn Around Time (TAT) for disposal of complaints
  Bank group-wise complaint conversion rate
5. Chapter 2 - The Banking Ombudsman Scheme (BOS), 2006: Activities during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021
  Receipt of complaints
  Mode of receipt of complaints
  Zone-wise distribution of complaints
  Complainant group-wise classification of complaints
  Entity type-wise classification of complaints
  Category-wise receipt of complaints
  Mode of disposal of complaints
  Grounds for rejection of maintainable complaints
  Appeals against the decisions of the Banking Ombudsmen (BOs)
6. Chapter 3 - The Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies (OSNBFC), 2018: Activities during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021
  Receipt of complaints
  Mode of receipt of complaints
  NBFC category-wise complaints received
  Complainant group-wise classification
  Nature of complaints handled
  Disposal of complaints
  Mode of disposal of maintainable complaints
  Grounds for rejection of maintainable complaints
  Appeals against the decisions of the NBFC Ombudsmen (NBFCOs)
7. Chapter 4 – The Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions (OSDT), 2019: Activities during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021
  Receipt of complaints
  Mode of receipt of complaints
  Zone-wise distribution of complaints
  Complainant group-wise classification
  Entity type-wise classification
  Nature of complaints handled
  Disposal of complaints
  Mode of disposal of maintainable complaints
  Grounds for rejection of maintainable complaints
  Age-wise classification of pending complaints
  Appeals against the decisions of Ombudsmen for Digital Transactions (ODTs)
8. Chapter 5 – The Reserve Bank – Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021: Activities during November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022
  Receipt and handling of complaints at the Centralised Receipt and Processing Center (CRPC)
  Receipt and handling of complaints at the Offices of the RBI Ombudsman (ORBIOs)
  Mode of receipt of complaints
  Population group-wise distribution of complaints
  Zone-wise distribution of complaints
  Complainant group-wise classification of complaints
  Entity group-wise classification of complaints
  Nature of complaints handled
  Disposal of complaints
  Mode of disposal of maintainable complaints
  Grounds for rejection of maintainable complaints
  Turn Around Time (TAT) of complaints
  Awards Issued
  Appeals against the decisions of the ORBIOs
9. Chapter 6 - Other developments
  Regulations: Important regulatory measures taken by the Reserve Bank
  Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of major areas of complaints
  Status of implementation of the action plan set out in ‘Utkarsh 2022’ for the year, April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022
  Formulate policy/scheme for handling complaints not covered under the Ombudsman Scheme
  Efforts for inclusion of safe banking practices in educational curriculum
  Extension of the IO Scheme to NBFCs
  Awareness generation activities of Consumer Education and Protection Department (CEPD) and Ombudsmen Offices
  Nationwide Customer Satisfaction Survey for RB-IOS, CRPC and the Contact Center
  Framework for Strengthening the Grievance Redress of banks
  Winding down of Banking Codes and Standards Board of India (BCSBI)
  Way forward
10. Chapter 7 – Complaints Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) and applications under Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005
  CPGRAMS
  RTI Act, 2005
11. Appendices

TABLES
Table No. Table Title
Table 1.1 Total receipt of complains under the Ombudsman Schemes during past three years
Table 1.2 Office-wise receipt of complaints under Ombudsman Schemes for past three years
Table 1.3 Entity type-wise top five categories of complaints received at ORBIOs
Table 1.4 Complainant type-wise receipt of complaints under the Ombudsman Schemes
Table 1.5 Entity type-wise receipt of complaints at the ORBIOs
Table 1.6 Disposal and pendency position at the ORBIOs during the past three years
Table 1.7 Mode of disposal of maintainable complaints under the Ombudsman Schemes
Table 1.8 Receipt and disposal of Appeals under the Ombudsman Schemes for past three years
Table 2.1 Number of complaints received by OBOs
Table 2.2 Position of customer complaints handled by OBOs
Table 2.3 Entity type-wise receipt of complaints during April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021
Table 2.4 Category-wise receipt of complaints under the BOS
Table 2.5 Mode of disposal of maintainable complaints under BOS
Table 2.6 Grounds/reasons for rejection of maintainable complaints under the BOS
Table 2.7 Receipt and disposal of Appeals under the BOS
Table 3.1 Position of customer complaints handled by ONBFCOs
Table 3.2 NBFC Category-wise receipt of complaints during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021
Table 3.3 Category-wise distribution of complaints
Table 3.4 Mode of disposal of maintainable complaints by ONBFCOs
Table 3.5 Grounds/reasons for rejection of maintainable complaints
Table 3.6 Position of Appeals – ONBFCOs
Table 4.1 Number of complaints received by OODTs
Table 4.2 Position of customer complaints handled by OODTs
Table 4.3 Entity type-wise break-up of complaints received at OODTs during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021
Table 4.4 Category-wise distribution of complaints
Table 4.5 Mode of disposal of maintainable complaints
Table 4.6 Grounds/reasons for rejection of maintainable complaints
Table 5.1 Category-wise distribution of complaints received at ORBIOs
Table 5.2 Disposal of complaints at ORBIOs
Table 5.3 Mode of disposal of maintainable complaints under RB-IOS, 2021
Table 5.4 Grounds/reasons for rejection of maintainable complaints under RB-IOS, 2021
Table 5.5 Position of Appeals under RB-IOS as on March 31, 2022
Table 6.1 Root Cause Analysis (RCA) 2021-22 – Major concerns, root causes identified and remedial measures

CHARTS
Chart No. Chart Title
Chart 1.1 Distribution of complaints among the ORBIOs
Chart 1.2 Geographic dispersion – Complaints received per 1 lakh accounts held
Chart 1.3 Mode of receipt of complaints
Chart 1.4 Population group-wise receipt of complaints
Chart 1.5 Number of complaints received from Senior Citizens at ORBIOs
Chart 1.6 Reasons for non-maintainable complaints
Chart 1.7 Total volume of disposed complaints along with their TAT
Chart 1.8 Comparison of TAT dispersion – erstwhile Schemes vs RB-IOS
Chart 1.9 Bank group-wise complaint conversion ratio
Chart 2.1 Mode of receipt of complaints (April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021)
Chart 2.2 Zone-wise receipt of complaints (April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021)
Chart 2.3 Reasons for rejection of non-maintainable complaints under BOS
Chart 3.1 Mode of receipt of complaints (April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021)
Chart 3.2 NBFC category-wise receipt of complaints at ONBFCOs (April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021)
Chart 3.3 Reasons for non-maintainable complaints
Chart 4.1 Mode of receipt of complaints (April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021)
Chart 4.2 Zone-wise receipt of complaints (April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021)
Chart 4.3 Entity-wise break-up of complaints at OODTs (April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021)
Chart 4.4 Reason for non-maintainable complains: Percentage of complaints
Chart 5.1 Number of complaints received
Chart 5.2 Reason for disposal at CRPC
Chart 5.3 ORBIO-wise receipt of complaints
Chart 5.4 Mode of receipt of complaints
Chart 5.5 Population group-wise distribution of complaints
Chart 5.6 Zone-wise distribution of complaints
Chart 5.7 Entity group-wise classification of complaints
Chart 6.1 Respondent profile of the Nationwide Customer Satisfaction Survey for RB-IOS, CRPC and the Contact Center

APPENDICES
Appendix No. Appendix Title
Appendix 1.1 Category-wise receipt of complaints under the Ombudsman Schemes for the past three years
Appendix 1.2 ORBIO-wise position of Appeals received during April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022
Appendix 1.3 Office-wise Cost of handling complaints at ORBIOs
Appendix 1.4 Complainant group-wise classification of complaints
Appendix 1.5 Mode of disposal of Maintainable Complaints against Scheduled Commercial Banks
Appendix 2.1 Mode of receipt of complaints under the BOS (April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021)
Appendix 2.2 Zone-wise receipt of complaints under the BOS (April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021)
Appendix 2.3 Office-wise receipt and disposal of complaints received at OBOs during April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021.
Appendix 3.1 Mode of receipt of complaints during April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021
Appendix 3.2 ONBFCO-wise position of complaints during April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021
Appendix 3.3 ONBFCO-wise position of maintainable complaints disposed during April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021
Appendix 4.1 Mode of receipt of complaints
Appendix 4.2 Zone-wise receipt of complaints
Appendix 4.3 Office-wise receipt and disposal of complaints received at OODTs during the year
Appendix 4.4 OODT-wise distribution of maintainable complaints
Appendix 5.1 Mode of receipt of complaints during November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022
Appendix 5.2 Zone-wise distribution of complaints received during November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022
Appendix 5.3 Entity group-wise classification of complaints received during November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022
Appendix 6.1 Important notifications relating to Customer Service issued by RBI in 2021-22 (Apr-Mar)
Appendix 6.2 Number of awareness programmes conducted during April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022
Appendix 7.1 Position of complaints received by ORBIOs through CPGRAMS
Appendix 7.2 Applications received by ORBIOs under RTI Act, 2005

ANNEXURES
Annexure No. Annexure Title
Annexure 1 Statement of complaints received against banks by the ORBIOs during April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022
Annexure 2 Statement of complaints received against NBFCs by the ORBIOs during April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022
Annexure 3 Statement of complaints received against PSOs/PSPs by the ORBIOs during April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022

SELECT ABBREVIATIONS

AA Appellate Authority
ADR Alternate Dispute Resolution
AEPS Aadhar Enabled Payment System
AFA Additional Factor of Authentication
AGR Alternate Grievance Redress
AI Artificial Intelligence
APBS Aadhaar Payment Bridge System
ARC Asset Reconstruction Company
ATM Automated Teller Machine
BBPCU Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit
BBPOU Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit
BBPS Bharat Bill Payment System
BC Business Correspondent
BCSBI Banking Codes and Standards Board of India
BO Banking Ombudsman
BOS Banking Ombudsman Scheme
BSBDA Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account
CC Contact Center
CDD Customer Due Diligence
CEPC Consumer Education and Protection Cell
CEPD Consumer Education and Protection Department
CIBIL Credit Information Bureau of India Limited
CIC Credit Information Company
CKYCR Central KYC Records Registry
CMS Complaint Management System
CNP Card Not Present
CPGRAMS Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System
CRPC Centralised Receipt and Processing Center
CTS Cheque Truncation System
DC Debit Card
DG Deputy Governor
DLA Digital Lending Application
DO Dealing Official
DRBIO Deputy RBI Ombudsman
DSA Direct Selling Agent
ECS Electronic Clearing Service
EMI Equated Monthly Instalment
FB Foreign Bank
FIDD Financial Inclusion and Development Department
FPC Fair Practices Code
FRC First Resort Complaint
FSWM Financially Sound and Well Managed
GoI Government of India
HFC Housing Finance Company
IGR Internal Grievance Redress
IMPS Immediate Payment System
IO Internal Ombudsman
IRDAI Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India
IVRS Interactive Voice Response System
IWG Internal Working Group
KYC Know Your Customer
MITC Most Important Terms and Conditions
NACH National Automated Clearing House
NBFC Non-Banking Financial Company
NBFCO NBFC Ombudsman
NBPSP Non Bank Payment System Participant
NEFT National Electronic Funds Transfer
NETC National Electronic Toll Collection
NHB National Housing Bank
NPCI National Payments Corporation of India
OBO Office of Banking Ombudsman
ODR Online Dispute Resolution
ODT Ombudsman for Digital Transactions
ONBFCO Office of the NBFC Ombudsman
OODT Office of Ombudsman for Digital Transactions
ORBIO Office of Reserve Bank of India Ombudsman
OSDT Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions
OSNBFC Ombudsman Scheme for NBFCs
PB Payment Bank
PD Primary Dealer
PIN Personal Identification Number
PMAY Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana
PML Prevention of Money Laundering
PPI Prepaid Payment Instrument
PSO Payment System Operator
Pvt.SB Private Sector Bank
QR Quick Response
RBI Reserve Bank of India
RBIO Reserve Bank of India Ombudsman
RB-IOS Reserve Bank – Integrated Ombudsman Scheme
RCA Root Cause Analysis
RE Regulated Entity
RRB Regional Rural Bank
RTGS Real Time Gross Settlement
RTI Right to Information
SBI State Bank of India
SCB Scheduled Commercial Bank
SEBI Securities and Exchange Board of India
SFB Small Finance Bank
SMS Short Message Service
S-UCB Scheduled Urban Cooperative Bank
TAT Turn Around Time
TRAI Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
UCB Urban Cooperative Bank
UPI Unified Payments Interface
Y-o-Y Year-on-Year

Foreword


Anil Kumar Sharma
Executive Director & Appellate Authority

The Annual Report of Ombudsman Schemes, 2021-22 marks an important juncture in the history of the Alternate Grievance Redress (AGR) framework of RBI. The year witnessed launch of Reserve Bank - Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS), 2021 which integrated the erstwhile three Ombudsman Schemes of RBI and brought the Non-Scheduled Urban Cooperative Banks with deposit size above ₹50 crore under its ambit. As an outcome of Centralization in the form of a CRPC, Automation of some processes in the form of initial processing by the CMS and Simplification in the form of removal of limited grounds of complaints and adoption of “deficiency in service” as a single broadbased ground for lodgement of complaints, the RB-IOS made the AGR efficient and faster. Setting up a Contact Centre for providing support in lodging complaints and providing information on the AGR has further added to the ease of lodging complaints.

It is satisfying to note that the Ombudsman mechanism achieved a disposal rate of 97.97%, despite this being a transition year and despite an increase in the receipt of complaints over the previous year. The year also witnessed scaling up of the awareness generation drive with “Ombudsman Speak” on the eve of World Consumer Rights Day in March 2022 and in September 2022. This was supplemented by a “Talkathon” with the media in August and “All India Intensive Awareness Campaign” run during the month of November 2022 in collaboration with the Regulated Entities.

This Annual Report is the first under the RB-IOS and thus, sets a new benchmark and creates a new legacy and I hope all stakeholders will find it useful.

Sd/-

(Anil Kumar Sharma)


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The year 2021-22 marked a major milestone for the Ombudsman mechanism of RBI as it witnessed the integration of the three erstwhile Ombudsman Schemes viz., Banking Ombudsman Scheme (BOS) 2006, Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies (OSNBFC) 2018, and Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions (OSDT) 2019 into the Reserve Bank - Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS), 2021, that was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on November 12, 2021. Along with its launch, the Centralised Receipt and Processing Center (CRPC) was also established at RBI, Chandigarh to receive complaints through email/physical mode from across the country and handle the initial scrutiny and processing of these complaints before assigning the maintainable ones to Offices of RBI Ombudsman (ORBIOs) for further redressal. The CRPC also hosts a Contact Center to assist complainants in lodging their complaints, providing them information regarding redressal mechanism at RBI and awareness messages related to safe banking practices in ten regional languages (Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu) apart from Hindi and English.

A brief analysis of complaints handled under the three erstwhile Ombudsman Schemes (BOS, OSNBFC and OSDT) between April 1 and November 11, 2021 is as under:

a) BOS: The total number of complaints received by the 22 Offices of the Banking Ombudsman (OBOs) between April 1 and November 11, 2021 was 2,09,196. Around 90% of the total complaints were received through digital modes, including on the online Complaint Management System (CMS) portal, email, and Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS). The North Zone, with eight of the 22 OBOs, received the highest volume (42.70%) of complaints, followed by the West and the South Zones. Share of complaints related to ATM/ Debit Cards, at 14.65% of the total, were the highest followed by complaints related to Mobile/ Electronic Banking at 13.64%. Majority (66.11%) of the maintainable complaints were resolved through mutual settlement/ conciliation/ mediation and a total of 17 Awards were issued under BOS. During the year 51 Appeals were received against the decisions of the Banking Ombudsmen (BOs) under BOS.

b) OSNBFC: The number of complaints received at the four Offices of NBFC Ombudsman (ONBFCO) between April 1 and November 11, 2021 was 20,439. Complaints relating to ‘Non-adherence of Fair Practices Code (FPC)’ were the highest, constituting 61.89% of the total, followed by complaints regarding ‘Non-observance of RBI directions’ and ‘Levy of Charges without prior notice’. Majority (70.08%) of the maintainable complaints were resolved through mutual settlement/ conciliation/ mediation and 12 Awards were issued under OSNBFC. During the year 10 Appeals were filed with Appellate Authority against the decisions of the NBFC Ombudsmen (NBFCOs).

c) OSDT: The number of complaints received by the 22 Offices of Ombudsman for Digital Transactions (OODTs) between April 1 and November 11, 2021 was 2,281. Complaints relating to fund transfers/ UPI/ BBPS/ Bharat QR Code constituted the largest share of complaints i.e., 44.76%. Majority (59.65%) of maintainable complaints were resolved through mutual agreement/ conciliation /mediation process. No Appeal was received under OSDT between April 1 and November 11, 2021. The rate of disposal under the three erstwhile Ombudsman Schemes stood at 100%, as all complaints brought forward and received between April 1 and November 11, 2021 were disposed by March 31, 2022.

d) RB-IOS, 2021: Under the RB-IOS, 2021, following the ‘One Nation, One Ombudsman’ principle, the territorial jurisdictions for the ORBIOs have been abrogated, and complaints are assigned to all the ORBIOs by the CMS. Grounds of complaint covered under the RB-IOS have also been expanded to cover all complaints involving “deficiency of service”, which has been defined under the scheme. The CMS was upgraded to align with the requirements under RB-IOS, 2021 to improve its overall efficiency. The coverage of RB-IOS was extended to include the non-scheduled Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) with a deposit size of ₹50 crore or above as at the end of previous Financial Year. Credit Information Companies (CICs) were brought under RBI-IOS with effect from September 1, 2022.

Between November 12 and March 31, 2022, a total of 1,86,268 complaints were received under the RB-IOS. The CRPC handled the preliminary scrutiny of the complaints received through email/ physical mode (i.e. 1,49,419 complaints) and closed 1,07,821 complaints as non-complaints/ non-maintainable complaints during the period. A total of 72,580 complaints were assigned to the ORBIOs from the CMS portal directly or through CRPC for redress during this period. A total of 31 Appeals were received against the decisions of ORBIOs and all such Appeals were filed by the complainants. Four Awards were issued by the ORBIOs during the period.

Under the erstwhile three Schemes and the RB-IOS, during the period April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, total number of complaints received at the ORBIOs and the CRPC, stood at 4,18,184, showing an increase of 9.39% over last year. Of these, 3,04,496 complaints were handled by the 22 ORBIOs. The overall disposal rate for the year at the ORBIOs stood at 97.97%. A total of 33 Awards were issued by the ORBIOs and 92 Appeals were received against the decisions of the RBI Ombudsmen (RBIOs) during the year.

Other Developments during the year

Apart from the launch of the RB-IOS, 2021 along with the setting up of the CRPC and Contact Center, several steps were undertaken to strengthen grievance redress system:

  1. A Nationwide Customer Satisfaction Survey to assess the satisfaction level of the complainants who had approached the RBIOs for redress of their grievances was undertaken through a third-party agency, which indicated the overall satisfaction level of the complainants at 59.55%.

  2. The annual Root Cause Analysis for the year 2022 was conducted and necessary action initiated based on the causes identified.

  3. All medium-term strategic milestones (11) identified for CEPD in terms of Utkarsh 2022 were completed.

  4. The ambit of RB-IOS, 2021 was extended to Credit Information Companies (CICs) with effect from September 1, 2022.

  5. The RBIOs conducted 29 town-hall events and 175 awareness programmes during the year. These events were focused on avenues of grievance redress and consumer protection issues.

  6. Nationwide Awareness Campaign was launched on the World Consumer Rights Day on March 15, 2022, to strengthen the on-going financial awareness and education by the department and Ombudsman Offices. Two phases of the programme have been completed so far.

Way forward

During the period April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023, CEPD will work towards the following action plans:

  1. Review of the guidelines on under “Strengthening of grievance redress framework for banks” issued in January 2021.

  2. Extension of the RB-IOS, 2021 to more REs that are not covered presently under the Scheme.

  3. Extension of Internal Ombudsman (IO) Scheme for Credit Information Companies (CICs) and Housing Finance Companies (HFCs).

  4. Further initiatives under the nationwide awareness campaign to reach the remote and untouched regions and hitherto excluded segments of population.

  5. Further enhance the efficiency & ease of usage of CMS.

  6. Upgrade the Contact Centre and cater for Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery requirements.

Appropriate regulatory initiatives regarding financial consumer protection will be further enhanced to identify issues to address and improve the grievance redress mechanism of REs as well as the RBI, and measures for implementation of the framework for financial education shall be enhanced.


Chapter 1:

The Ombudsman Schemes of RBI: Activities during April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022

The three erstwhile Ombudsman Schemes of RBI for banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Non-Bank Payment System Participants (NBPSPs) were integrated into the ‘Reserve Bank – Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS), 2021 with effect from November 12, 2021. This Chapter presents the activities under the erstwhile Schemes as well as RB-IOS, 2021 in an integrated form for the year 2021-22. The launch of RB-IOS, 2021 was accompanied by setting-up of the Centralized Receipt and Processing Center (CRPC) along with a Contact Centre, at the Chandigarh Regional Office of RBI. The CRPC handles preliminary scrutiny and processing of all email and physical complaints received under RBI’s Alternate Grievance Redress (AGR) mechanism and converts them into complaints in the Complaint Management System (CMS) portal. The CRPC also weeds out certain non-maintainable complaints and assigns through CMS the maintainable complaints to the 22 Offices of RBI Ombudsman (ORBIOs) for redressal/adjudication under RB-IOS, 2021. The Contact Center, hosted at CRPC, assists/ guides the customers of the Regulated Entities (REs) to lodge their complaints with the RBI Ombudsman, check the status of already lodged complaints and provides them information related to the AGR mechanism of RBI, safe banking practices etc. Consumer Education and Protection Cells (CEPCs) functioning from 30 Regional Offices (ROs) of RBI handle those complaints against REs that are yet to be covered under RB-IOS, 2021.

The total number of complaints received by RB-IOS and CEPCs during April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022 stood at 4,18,184 as against 3,82,292 complaints during the same period in 2020-21, marking an annual growth of 9.39%. Of these, 3,04,496 complaints were handled by the 22 Offices of RBI Ombudsman (ORBIOs), including the complaints received under the three erstwhile Ombudsman Schemes till November 11, 2021. During the period, 1,07,821 complaints were disposed of the 1,13,688 complaints received at the CRPC since its creation, viz., November 12, 2021.

Complaints relating to the digital modes of payment and transactions were the highest in number, constituting 42.12% of the total complaints received during the year. The rate of disposal of complaints by RBIOs improved to 97.97% in 2021-22 from 96.59% in 2020-21. Majority (63.63%) of the maintainable complaints were resolved through mutual settlement /conciliation /mediation. Thirty-three (33) Awards were issued against REs by the RBI Ombudsmen (RBIOs) during the year. Ninety-two (92) Appeals were received against the decisions of the RBIOs in 2021-22, of which 31 were received under the RB-IOS, 2021.

1.1 The Banking Ombudsman Scheme (BOS) was launched as an AGR mechanism with a view, inter-alia, to promote expeditious, cost free and efficient redressal of customer complaints that had not been satisfactorily redressed by the banks. The Scheme was last amended in 2017 to align it with the changes in the banking landscape. Due to the growing significance of NBFCs in the financial system and rising share of NBPSPs, the Ombudsman Scheme for the NBFCs (OSNBFCs) was launched in 2018 and the Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions (OSDT) was launched in 2019.

1.2 The three erstwhile schemes had limited, specified and varying grounds of complaints which acted as a limiting factor and led to uneven redress across the customers of different REs. Hence, based on the recommendations of an internal Working Group, the three Ombudsman Schemes were integrated into RB-IOS, 2021. Based on the principle of ‘One nation, One Ombudsman’, the jurisdictions of the Ombudsmen offices were done away to ensure equal distribution of complaints across all 22 offices. The grounds of complaints were broad based to include all complaints involving “deficiency in service”. The Scheme was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on November 12, 2021. With a view to provide one address and one email ID for lodging physical and email complaints from anywhere in the country, a CRPC was established at RBI, Chandigarh, along with a Contact Center available at a toll-free number (14448) to provide guidance on lodging complaints and information on complaints and AGR mechanism to the complainants in Hindi, English and 10 regional languages1 available during 9:30 AM to 5:15 PM on weekdays (except banking holidays) and through Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) on 24x7 basis.

Receipt of complaints

1.3 The details relating to the total number of complaints received under the erstwhile Ombudsman Schemes (BOS, OSNBFC and OSDT) during the past three years and the RB-IOS, 2021 are provided in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1: Total receipt of complaints under the Ombudsman Schemes during past three years
Scheme 2019-20
(Jul-Jun)
2020-21
(Apr-Mar)
2021-22
(Apr-Mar)
  Number Share (%) Number Share (%) Number Share(%)
BOS 3,08,630 93.37 3,41,747 89.39 2,09,196 50.02
OSNBFC 19,432 5.88 36,951 9.67 20,439 4.89
ODT 2,481 0.75 3,594 0.94 2,281 0.54
RB-IOS2 -   -   72,580 17.35
Sub Total 3,30,543 100.00 3,82,292 100.00 3,04,496 72.81
CRPC3 - - - - 1,13,6884 27.19
Total 3,30,543 100.00 3,82,292 100.00 4,18,184 100.00
% Change 64.97   15.7   9.39  

ORBIO-wise receipt (prior to November 12, 2021) and allocation (November 12, 2021 onwards) of complaints

1.4 ORBIO wise receipt/ allocation of complaints under the Ombudsman Schemes during the past three years is given in Table 1.2:

Table 1.2: Office wise receipt of complaints under Ombudsman Schemes for past three years
ORBIO 2019-20
(Jul – Jun)
2020-21
(Apr – Mar)
2021-22
(Apr – Mar)
BOS OSDT OSNBFC RB-IOS
Volume Share 2021-22
Ahmedabad 16,082 21,078 16,426 5.39% 12,634 94   3,698
Bengaluru 18,697 17,407 13,996 4.60% 10,356 189   3,451
Bhopal 14,677 15,787 12,841 4.22% 9,562 138   3,141
Bhubaneswar 5,386 6,920 7,806 2.56% 4,585 94   3,127
Chandigarh 31,702 36,619 20,270 6.66% 17,038 73   3,159
Chennai 21,157 27,446 21,396 7.03% 13,137 116 4,415 3,728
Dehradun 7,913 7,970 8,342 2.74% 5,470 28   2,844
Guwahati 3,661 3,543 5,444 1.79% 2,425 27   2,992
Hyderabad 20,143 22,161 15,212 5.00% 11,404 204   3,604
Jaipur 18,285 22,094 18,145 5.96% 14,794 129   3,222
Jammu 1,538 1,767 4,300 1.41% 1,331 25   2,944
Kanpur 24,026 26,499 24,214 7.95% 20,872 115   3,227
Kolkata 13,146 17,160 14,766 4.85% 9,192 201 1,870 3,503
Mumbai I 19,649 22,479 18,806 6.18% 15,035 186   3,585
Mumbai II 26,155 30,999 20,672 6.79% 11,261 182 5,526 3,703
New Delhi I 18,289 23,238 15,310 5.03% 11,836 137   3,337
New Delhi II 27,829 34,673 24,259 7.97% 12,377 106 8,628 3,148
New Delhi III 9,644 11,091 8,883 2.92% 5,606 42   3,235
Patna 17,514 17,456 13,606 4.47% 10,369 130   3,107
Raipur 3,705 4,018 5,362 1.76% 2,217 26   3,119
Ranchi 4,622 4,765 6,307 2.07% 3,189 29   3,089
Thiruvananthapuram 6,723 7,122 8,133 2.67% 4,506 10   3,617
Total 3,30,543 3,82,292 3,04,496 100.00% 2,09,196 2,281 20,439 72,580

1.6 As mentioned in para 1.2 above, the structural changes in the Ombudsman framework under RB-IOS 2021, particularly the setting up of CRPC for handling email and physical complaints and initial assessment on maintainability of complaints in CMS. have brought down the number of complaints handled by ORBIOs during 2021-22. During this period, the highest volume of complaints under the erstwhile Schemes were handled by ORBIO - New Delhi II at 7.97% of the total, followed by Kanpur and Chennai, while ORBIOs - Jammu, Raipur and Guwahati received the lowest volumes of complaints.

1.7 Post launch of RB-IOS, 2021, based on the ‘One Nation, One Ombudsman’ approach, the divergence in the number of complaints handled at different ORBIOs has been minimized and are primarily on account of physical complaints in regional languages and variation in the size of the office, as complaints are since assigned to ORBIOs according to a pre-defined algorithm embedded in CMS. The same can be observed in the Table 1.2 above and the Chart 1.15 given below:

Chart 1.1: Distribution of complaints among the ORBIOs

Geographic dispersion of complaints across the states

1.8 An analysis on the geographic dispersion of complaints received under the Ombudsman Schemes/ RB-IOS during the year across the states in the country, in proportion to the total number of accounts held (deposit and credit) by Scheduled Commercial Banks in the respective states is depicted in the map (Chart 1.2) given subsequently. The figure presented is based on complaints received per 1 lakh accounts held in the respective States/ Union Territories (UTs), as on March 31, 2022.

Chart 1.2

1.9 Major observations on geographical distribution of complaints are as follows:

  1. NCT of Delhi, Chandigarh, Haryana, Gujarat, and Maharashtra were the top five states/UTs to contribute to Ombudsman complaints, while Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, and Mizoram were the lowest contributors.

  2. The trends representing top five state/UTs could be attributed to higher awareness levels, better availability and higher usage of financial services, physical and broadband connectivity, etc. as compared to the other regions.

  3. Awareness about avenues of redress tends to be higher in metro/urban areas as per the Satisfaction Survey conducted in 2021.

Modes of receipt of complaints

1.10 Complaints can be received online (through CMS portal/ CPGRAMS), through email or as physical complaints, with the CMS portal mode being the most efficient mode of complaint registration. The break-up on complaints received through the different modes of receipt in the past three years is given below (Chart 1.3).

Chart 1.3: Mode of receipt of complaints

1.11 It is observed that the CMS portal retains the highest share of complaints received/ assigned to ORBIOs. However, physical complaints have witnessed an uptick in the current year compared to the previous year, especially post launch of the RB-IOS, 2021. This could be ascribed to the convenience arising from a single address to send the physical complaints from anywhere in the country under the “One Nation One Ombudsman” approach adopted under RB-IOS. This data excludes email and physical complaints closed at CRPC which is detailed in para 1.6 of this report.

Category-wise receipt of complaints

1.12 Complaints against banks formed the largest portion, accounting for 88.04% of complaints received by the ORBIOs. The top 5 categories of complaints against each entity type are represented in Table 1.3 below. The complete list of ground wise receipt of complaints is given in the Appendix 1.1.

Table 1.3: Entity type wise top five category of complaint receipt at ORBIOs
Nature of Complaints 2019-20
(Jul-Jun)
2020-21
(Apr-Mar)
2021-22
(Apr-Mar)
Complaints against banks
ATM / Debit Cards 67,800 60,203 41,375
  21.97% 17.62% 15.43%
Mobile / electronic banking 41,310 44,385 39,388
  13.38% 12.99% 14.69%
Credit Cards 28,713 40,721 32,162
  9.30% 11.92% 12.00%
Loans and advances 16,437 20,218 24,507
  5.33% 5.92% 9.14%
Non-observance of Fair Practices Code (FPC) 36,215 33,898 24,446
  11.73% 9.92% 9.12%
Others 118,155 142,322 106,207
  38.28% 41.65% 39.62%
Total (Banks) 3,08,630 3,41,747 2,68,085
% Banks to Total complaints 93.37% 89.39% 88.04%
Complaints against NBFCs
Loans & Advances related / Non-adherence to FPC 7,052 17,915 18,729
  36.29% 48.48% 56.22%
Non-observance of RBI directions 3,607 6,114 1,881
  18.56% 16.55% 5.65%
Levy of charges without prior notice 1,628 3,189 1,751
  8.38% 8.63% 5.26%
Non-transparency in contract/ loan 1,704 1,833 512
  8.77% 4.96% 1.54%
Delay in repayment of deposits 395 536 319
  2.03% 1.45% 0.96%
Others 5,046 7,364 10,122
  25.97% 19.93% 30.38%
Total (NBFCs) 19,432 36,951 33,314
% NBFCs to Total complaints 5.88% 9.67% 10.94%
Complaints against NBPSPs
Mobile/Electronic Fund Transfers / Mobile/Electronic Banking 598 824 1,209
  24.10% 22.93% 39.04%
Fund Transfers/ UPI/ BBPS/ Bharat QR Code 1,089 1,775 951
  43.89% 49.39% 30.71%
Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) 198 253 218
  7.98% 7.04% 7.04%
Non-reversal of Funds due to Wrong Beneficiary Transfer by System Participant 218 291 186
  8.79% 8.10% 6.01%
Violation of RBI Directives in relation to Fees/Charges 58 100 61
  2.34% 2.78% 1.97%
Others 320 351 472
  12.90% 9.77% 15.24%
Total (NBPSPs) 2,481 3,594 3,097
% NBPSPs to Total complaints 0.75% 0.94% 1.02%
       
Grand Total 3,30,543 3,82,292 3,04,496*
* Apart from the figures given in the above table, 1,13,688 complaints were closed at CRPC during 2021-22 under RB-IOS.

1.13 Major observations are as under:

  1. Complaints relating to ATM/ Debit Cards have witnessed a decline over the past three years; Share of complaints related to mobile banking/ electronic banking has seen a slight increase.

  2. Share of complaints in respect of Loans and Advances has increased, mainly due to complaints against FPC being classified under ‘Loans and Advances’ since the launch of RB-IOS, 2021. This justifies the decline in FPC complaints.

  3. Post dissolution of Banking Codes and Standards Board of India (BCSBI) and the launch of RB-IOS, complaints against BCSBI codes have also been diverted to other categories, including ‘Loans and Advances’.

  4. Loans and Advances contribute to majority of complaints against NBFCs, followed by non-adherence to FPC, which is also indirectly related to Loans and Advances.

1.14 In addition to the above, marginal movement in a few categories is due to recategorization of ’Grounds’ of complaints in CMS post the launch of RB-IOS. Increase in share of complaints under “Loans and Advances” is contributed by diversion of certain complaints from the ‘BCSBI codes’.

Population group-wise distribution of complaints

1.15 The population group wise receipt of complaints under the Ombudsman Schemes for the past three years is given in the Chart 1.4. Majority of complaints are received from metropolitan regions, followed by Urban and Semi-urban. After launch of RB-IOS with effect from November 12, 2021 there is a decline in complaints received from rural, semi-urban and metropolitan areas, while a substantive spurt in the complaints received from urban areas.

Chart 1.4: Population group wise receipt of complaints

Complainant-type wise receipt of complaints

1.16 The complainant type wise receipt of complaint under the Ombudsman Schemes during the past three years is given in the Table 1.4 below:

Table 1.4: Complainant type wise receipt of complaints under the Ombudsman Schemes
Complainant Type 2019-20
(Jul-Jun)
2020-21
(Apr-Mar)
2021-22
(Apr-Mar)
Individual 2,73,432 3,05,093 2,43,244
82.72% 79.81% 79.88%
Individual – Business 10,831 13,614 10,400
3.28% 3.56% 3.42%
Proprietorship/ Partnership 5,583 7,505 6,712
1.69% 1.96% 2.20%
Limited Company 6,917 8,381 7,427
2.09% 2.19% 2.44%
Trust 559 665 613
0.17% 0.17% 0.20%
Association 446 372 427
0.13% 0.10% 0.14%
Government Department 5,180 6,447 4,993
1.57% 1.69% 1.64%
PSU 1,297 1,475 1,799
0.39% 0.39% 0.59%
Senior Citizen 8,237 10,061 9,244
2.49% 2.63% 3.04%
Others 18,061 28,679 19,637
5.46% 7.50% 6.45%
Total 3,30,543 3,82,292 3,04,496*
* Apart from the figures given in the above table, 1,13,688 complaints were closed at CRPC during 2021-22 under RB-IOS.

1.17 It is seen that individuals constitute close to 80% of complainants. However, complaints from Senior Citizens have risen in percentage terms, even though number of these complaints has come down during 2021-22. It is also observed, as depicted in Chart 1.5, that the complaints received from senior citizens went up during the first six months of the Financial Year and declined appreciably in the later months.

Chart 1.5: Number of complaints received fromSenior Citizens

Entity-type wise receipt of complaints

1.18 Entity-type wise receipt of complaints for the past three years under the Ombudsman Schemes is presented in Table 1.5.

Table 1.5: Entity-type wise receipt of complaints at the ORBIOs
  Overall All 3 OS RBIOS Percentage Change
Entity Group 2019-20 2020-21
(Apr-Mar)
2021-22
(Apr-Mar)
2021-22 2021-22 (Y-o-Y)
(Jul-Jun)
Public Sector Banks 1,84,087 1,74,974 1,54,725# 1,19,143 35,582 -11.57%
55.69% 45.77% 50.81% 51.37% 49.02%
Private Sector Banks 98,623 1,26,303 94,275 72,703 21,572 -25.36%
29.84% 33.04% 30.96% 31.35% 29.72%
Payments and Small Finance Banks 5,227 6,918 8,076 6,100 1,976 16.74%
1.58% 1.81% 2.65% 2.63% 2.72%
Foreign Banks 5,935 6,157 4,464 3,188 1,276 -27.50%
1.80% 1.61% 1.47% 1.37% 1.76%
RRBs/ Urban Co-op. Banks 6,060 6,382 6,508 4,292 2,216 1.97%
1.83% 1.67% 2.14% 1.85% 3.05%
NBFC 15,285 31,158 22,317 18,084 4,233 -28.37%
4.62% 8.15% 7.33% 7.80% 5.83%
PPI/BBPOU 2,172 3,168 3,040 2,064 976 -4.04%
0.66% 0.83% 1.00% 0.89% 1.34%
Others 13,154 27,232 11,091 6,342 4,749 -59.27%
3.98% 7.12% 3.64% 2.73% 6.54%
Total 3,30,543 3,82,292 3,04,496* 2,31,916 72,580 -20.35%
#Includes complaints received against SBI Cards which was included under BOS until the launch of RB-IOS.
* Apart from the figures given in the above table, 1,13,688 complaints were closed at CRPC during 2021-22 under RB-IOS.

1.19 After the launch of RB-IOS, only maintainable complaints are assigned to ORBIOs post initial screening of non-maintainable/ non-complaints at the CRPC. Hence, the complaints closed at the CRPC do not get accounted for as complaints under ORBIOs as per the RB-IOS, 2021. However, the erstwhile Schemes account for all complaints/ references received at the ORBIOs. Hence, the data for 2021-22 is not comparable with previous years.

Disposal of complaints

1.20 The data on disposal of complaints under the Ombudsman Schemes during the past three years, along with their age wise pendency position at the end of the year is given in Table 1.6.

Table 1.6: Disposal and pendency position at the ORBIOs during the past three years
Number of Complaints 2019-20
(Jul - Jun)
2020-21
(Jul - Mar)
2021-22
(Apr - Mar)
Received during the year (All OS + RBIOS) 3,30,543 3,03,107 3,04,496*
Brought forward from previous year 12,158 25,636 11,429
Complaints received by email before the start of the year but registered on or after start of the year; including complaints transferred from Consumer Education and Protection Cells on or after the start of the year - 6,302 1,589
Handled during the year 3,42,701 3,35,045 3,17,514
Disposed during the year 3,17,065 3,23,616 3,11,067
Rate of Disposal (%) 92.52% 96.59% 97.97%
Carried forward to the next year 25,636 11,429 6,447
Complaints pending for less than one month (30 days) 6,497 7,220 5,622
1.90% 2.15% 1.77%
Complaints pending for one to two months 3,430 2,232 582
1.00% 0.67% 0.18%
Complaints pending for two to three months 1,916 948 86
0.56% 0.28% 0.03%
Complaints pending for more than three months 13,793 1,029 157
4.02% 0.31% 0.05%
* Apart from the figures given in the above table, 1,13,688 complaints were closed at CRPC during 2021-22 under RB-IOS.

1.21 Observations from the table are that

  1. Disposal rate has improved Y-o-Y over the past three years.

  2. Pendency of 6,447 complaints with 157 outstanding for more than 3 months was lowest in last three years.

All complaints pertaining to the years 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 stand disposed.

Mode of disposal of Maintainable complaints

1.22 Under the Ombudsman Schemes, the majority of complaints are settled through conciliation and mediation efforts by the RBIOs. The mode of disposal of maintainable complaints during the past three years under the Ombudsman Schemes is given in Table 1.7.

Table 1.7: Mode of disposal of maintainable complaints under the Ombudsman Schemes
Disposal of maintainable complaints 2019-20
(Jul – Jun)
2020-21
(Jul – Mar)
2021-22
(Apr – Mar)
By Mutual Settlement/ Agreement 1,30,413 1,34,504 1,11,820
  72.21% 72.67% 63.63%
Disposal by Award 68 65 33
  0.04% 0.04% 0.02%
Maintainable Complaints Rejected 49,930 50,326 62,936
  27.65% 27.19% 35.81%
Maintainable Complaints Withdrawn 182 197 952
  0.10% 0.11% 0.54%
Total 1,80,593 1,85,092 1,75,741

Reasons for closure of complaints under non-maintainable clauses

1.23 A total of 1,35,326 (42.62%) of the total handled complaints at ORBIOs were closed as non-maintainable during the year, due to reasons as mentioned in the Ombudsman Scheme. The Chart 1.6 below provides the major reasons for rejection of complaints as non-maintainable.

Chart 1.6 Reasons for non maintainable complaints*

Receipt of Appeals

1.24 Any complainant/ RE aggrieved by the decision of RBI Ombudsman can appeal before the Appellate Authority (AA) under the scheme/(s), if the complaint is closed under any of the appealable clauses as per the Scheme/(s). While the appellate mechanism under RB-IOS, 2021 remains largely unchanged, cases involving awards passed by the Ombudsmen on REs due to non-submission of requisite information/ documents by the RE, has been made non-appealable by the REs under the RB-IOS, 2021 to ensure more discipline on part of the REs. Further, the Executive Director (ED) in-charge of CEPD has been designated as the Appellate Authority under RB-IOS, 2021 for the complaints receive under RB-IOS. The receipt of appeals under the Ombudsman Schemes during the past three years is given in the Table 1.8.

Table 1.8: Receipt and disposal of Appeals under the Ombudsman Schemes for past three years
Particulars 2019-20
(Jul-Jun)
2020-21
(Jul-Mar)
2021-22
(Apr-Mar)
Break up of 2021-22
  OVERALL BOS NBFC ODT RB-IOS
Appeals pending at the beginning of the year 73 48 45 44 1 0 0
Appeals received during the year from complainants 35 14 80 45 4 0 31
Appeals received during the year from REs 29 10 12 6 6 0 0
Total appeals handled during the year 137 72 137 95 11 0 31
Appeal disposed during the year 89 27 75 70 3 0 2
Pending at the end of the year 48 45 62 25* 8* 0 29*
Mode of Disposal
Appeals remanded to the RBIO 4 2 1 1 0 0 0
Appeals withdrawn / settled / infructuous 14 5 14 11 1 0 2
Appeals rejected 44 10 33 32 1 0 0
Appeals allowed 27 10 27 26 1 0 0
Appeals Disposed
i. In favour of complainant appellant 30 11 20 19 1 0 0
ii. In favour of REs 21 5 22 21 1 0 0
iii. Neither in favour of complainant appellant nor in favour of REs (Remanded back to BO / infructuous) 38 11 33 30 1 0 2
* All 25 BOS and 8 OSNBFC appeals pending as on March 31, 2022, have since been disposed. Of the 29 RB-IOS appeals pending up to March 31, 2022, 20 have since been disposed.

1.25 The office wise receipt of Appeals under the erstwhile Ombudsman Schemes and RB-IOS during 2021-22 is given in the Appendix 1.2.

Cost of handling a complaint

1.26 During the year 2021-22, the average cost of handling a complaint at the ORBIOs stood at ₹2,895 per complaint, as compared to ₹1,599 per complaint in 2020-21. The increase in cost is primarily due to increase in staff due to the launch of the RB-IOS, setting up of CRPC revamp of CMS and due to the wage revision of RBI employees during the year. The office-wise cost of handling complaints has been provided at Appendix 1.3.

Turn Around Time (TAT) for disposal of complaints

1.27 One of the major factors impacting the level of satisfaction among the complainants is the time taken for redressal of their grievance. Based on the recommendations of the ‘Internal Working Group to review the Ombudsman Schemes’, to improve the TAT of complaints to 30 days in a phased manner, focussed efforts continue to be made in this direction.

1.28 It can be observed from the Chart 1.7 that TAT of complaint redress at ORBIOs has been improving continuously for the past three years. The TAT is expected to improve further with better systems in place streamlining of CRPC and the Contact Centre.

1.29 Further, the dispersion of TAT across complaints has also reduced significantly in the RB-IOS, 2021 as compared to the erstwhile Schemes. Under the old schemes, a total of 2.45 lakh complaints were disposed during 2021-22 with TAT of 46 Days, whereas under RB-IOS, around 66 thousand complaints were disposed with TAT of 38 Days. Granular data is shown using boxplot to reflect the dispersion in TAT in the Chart 1.86 below, indicating lesser dispersion under the new Scheme.

Chart 1.7: Total volume of disposed complaints along with their TAT

Chart 1.8: Comparison of TAT dispersion - erstwhile Schemes Vs RB-IOS

Bank-group wise complaint conversion rate

1.30 Several measures have been taken by RBI to propel the REs to redress complaints effectively and efficiently under their internal grievance redress system and to minimise the need for escalation thereof to the alternate redressal forums, including the RB-IOS. The steps include establishment of IO mechanism in banks to review the partly/ wholly rejected complaints, the issuance of guidelines on Strengthening of grievance redress mechanism in RBI in January 2021, which put in place a system for recovery of the cost of handling complaints under RB-IOS from the outlier banks, and the setting up of the CRPC along with the auto filtering of non-maintainable complaints in the upgraded CMS portal of RBI.

1.31 The complaint conversion rate represents the proportion of complaints received against the concerned bank group at the ORBIOs during the years ended 2021 and 2022, as compared to total volume of complaints received at the banks’ end from their customers. As seen from the Chart 1.9 given below, all bank groups have significantly improved on the conversion rates except Small Finance Banks.

Chart 1.9 Complaint Conversion Ratio

Chapter 2:

Banking Ombudsman Scheme (BOS) 2006, as amended upto July 01, 2017: Activities during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021

Since BOS 2006 was integrated into the RB-IOS, 2021 with effect from November 12, 2021, this chapter presents the activities pertaining to BOS during the period April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021. The number of complaints received by the 22 Offices of the Banking Ombudsman (OBOs) during April 1, 2021, to November 11, 2021 was 2,09,196. The rate of disposal of complaints stood at 100% during this period, as all complaints pertaining to the erstwhile Ombudsman Schemes were disposed as on March 31, 2022. Complaints pertaining to ATM/ Debit Cards constituted the largest share at 14.65%. Around 66.11% of maintainable complaints were resolved through mutual agreement/ conciliation /mediation. The share of complaints received under BOS lodged through digital modes, including the 24x7 online CMS portal, emails and CPGRAMS stood at 89.65%. During the year, 17 Awards were passed under the BOS. 51 Appeals were received against the decisions of the Banking Ombudsmen.

Receipt of complaints

2.1 The BOS, 2006 was administered through 22 Offices of the Banking Ombudsman (OBOs) spread across the country and covering their respective territorial jurisdictions. During April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021, a total of 2,09,196 complaints were received at the OBOs after which the BOS was integrated into the RB-IOS, 2021 with effect from November 12, 2021. The year-wise number of complaints received at OBOs in last three years is given in Table 2.1

Table 2.1 – Number of complaints received by OBOs
  2019-20
(Jul-Jun)
2020-21
(Apr-Mar)
2021-22
(Apr 1, 2021 - Nov 11, 2021)*
Complaints received during the year 3,08,630 3,41,747 2,09,196
*BOS 2006 was integrated into the RB-IOS 2021, with effect from November 12, 2021.

2.2 The position of customer complaints handled by OBOs during the year till the launch of RB-IOS, 2021 in November 2021 is tabulated in Table 2.2, along with age-wise pendency position.

Table 2.2 - Position of customer complaints handled by OBOs
Particulars 2019-20
(Jul – Jun)
2020-21
(Jul - Mar)
2021-22
(Apr 1, 2021 - Nov 11, 2021)
Brought forward from previous year 12,069 24,498 10,082
Complaints received by Email before June 30, 2020 but registered on or after July 01, 2020; including complaints transferred from Consumer Education and Protection Cells on or later than July 01, 2020 - 4,789 1,255
Received during the year 3,08,630 2,73,204 2,09,196
Handled during the year 3,20,699 3,02,491 2,20,533
Disposed during the year 2,96,201 2,92,409 2,20,533
Rate of Disposal (%) 92.4% 96.7% 100.0%
Carried forward to the next year 24,498 10,082 -
Complaints pending for less than one month (30 days) 6,086 6543 0
2.05% 2.24% 0%
Complaints pending for one to two months 3,223 1864 0
1.09% 0.64% 0%
Complaints pending for two to three months 1,833 848 0
0.62% 0.29% 0%
Complaints pending for more than three months 13,356 827 0
4.51% 0.28% 0%

2.3 Of the total complaints received by the OBOs, OBO, Kanpur received the maximum number of complaints, followed by Chandigarh and Mumbai. The office wise receipt of complaints under the BOS, 2006 during the period April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021 is given in Table 1.2 in Chapter 1.

Mode of receipt of complaints

2.4 During April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021, 89.65% of the total complaints were received through digital modes, including, the 24x7 online CMS portal/ email/ CPGRAMS. A comparative position of the various modes through which the complaints were received is provided in Chart 2.1, with details provided at Appendix 2.1.

Chart 2.1: Mode of receipt of complaints(April 1, 2021 November 11, 2021)

Zone-wise distribution of complaints

2.5 The zone wise receipt of complaints received under the BOS 2006 during the period April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021, is given below in Chart 2.2. The North zone received the highest volume, followed by the West and the South zones. The details of office wise, zone-wise receipt is detailed in Appendix 2.2.

Chart 2.2: Zone wise receipt of complaints(Apr 1, 2021 Nov 11, 2021)

Complainant group-wise classification

2.6 Individual customers constituted close to 80% of the complainants. Senior citizens accounted for 3.43% of the total complaints. The complainant group-wise classification of complaints is given at Appendix 1.4.

Entity type-wise classification

2.7 The entity type-wise classification of complaints received by the OBOs during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021 is indicated in Table 2.3.

Table 2.3: Entity-type wise receipt of complaints under BOS during April 1, 2021 - November 11, 2021
Bank Group 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22
(Jul - Jun) (Apr - Mar) (Apr 1, 2021 - Nov 11, 2021)
Public Sector Banks* 1,84,087 1,74,974 1,19,143
  59.65% 51.20% 56.95%
Private Sector Banks 98,623 1,26,303 72,703
  32.00% 37.00% 34.80%
Payments and Small Finance Banks 5,227 6,918 6,100
  1.70% 2.00% 2.90%
Foreign Banks 5,935 6,157 3,188
  1.90% 1.80% 1.50%
RRBs/ Scheduled Primary Urban Co-op. Banks 6,060 6,382 4,292
  2.00% 1.90% 2.10%
Others 8,698 21,013 3,770
  2.80% 6.10% 1.80%
Total 3,08,630 3,41,747 2,09,196
*Includes complaints against SBI Cards which were accounted along with SBI until the launch of RB-IOS, 2021
Note: Figures in percentages indicate share to total complaints

Category wise receipt of complaints

2.8 The category wise description of complaints received during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021 is given in the Table 2.4 below.

Table 2.4: Category wise receipt of complaints under the BOS
Category Complaints received during
  2019-20
(Jul-Jun)
2020-21
(Apr-Mar)
2021-22
(Apr 1, 2021 - Nov 11, 2021)
ATM / Debit Cards 67,800 60,203 30,652
  21.97% 17.62% 14.65%
Mobile / electronic banking 41,310 44,385 28,533
  13.38% 12.99% 13.64%
Non-observance of FPC 36,215 33,898 25,033
  11.73% 9.92% 11.97%
Credit Cards 28,713 40,721 24,769
  9.30% 11.92% 11.84%
Failure to meet commitments 25,036 35,999 22,293
  8.11% 10.53% 10.66%
Levy of charges without prior notice 18,558 20,949 12,806
  6.01% 6.13% 6.12%
Loans and advances 16,437 20,218 11,401
  5.33% 5.92% 5.45%
Deposit Accounts related 8,778 8,580 6,196
  2.84% 2.51% 2.96%
Non-adherence to BCSBI Codes 14,194 14,490 5,044
  4.60% 4.24% 2.41%
Pension payments 6,307 4,966 4,321
  2.04% 1.45% 2.07%
Remittances 4,045 3,394 2,164
  1.31% 0.99% 1.03%
DSAs and recovery agents 1,406 2,440 1,632
  0.46% 0.71% 0.78%
Para banking 1,117 1,236 778
  0.36% 0.36% 0.37%
Notes and Coins 514 332 194
  0.17% 0.10% 0.09%
Others 29,204 39,686 26,933
  9.46% 11.61% 12.87%
Out of purview of BOS 8,996 10,250 6,447
  2.91% 3.00% 3.08%
Total 3,08,630 3,41,747 2,09,196

Mode of disposal of complaints

2.9 All complaints received during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021 were disposed as at the end of the year. The details of complaints disposed is given at Appendix 2.3.

2.10 Of the total complaints handled during the period, 53.09% were ‘Maintainable’ complaints and all the complaints received under BOS, 2006 during the period were disposed as at the end of the year. Majority of the maintainable complaints, viz., 66.11% were resolved through mutual settlement/ agreement, conciliation and mediation efforts of the Ombudsmen.

Table 2.5: Mode of disposal of maintainable complaints under BOS

Disposal of maintainable complaints 2019-20
(Jul - Jun)
2020-21
(Jul - Mar)
2021-22
(Apr 1, 2021 - Nov 11, 2021)
By Mutual Settlement/ Agreement 1,25,836 1,24,900 77,411
  72.34% 72.73% 66.11%
Disposal by Award 68 59 17
  0.04% 0.03% 0.01%
Maintainable Complaints Rejected 47,873 46,566 39,504
  27.52% 27.12% 33.74%
Maintainable Complaints Withdrawn 181 197 160
  0.10% 0.11% 0.14%
Total 1,73,958 1,71,722 1,17,092

Grounds for rejection of maintainable complaints

2.11 The grounds for rejection of maintainable complaints and their proportion to total complaints disposed under the BOS during the period April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021 is given in the Table 2.6 below.

Table 2.6: Grounds/reasons for rejection of maintainable complaints under BOS
Ground for rejection No. of complaints rejected
  2019-20
(Jul-Jun)
2020-21
(Jul - Mar)
2021-22
(Apr 1, 2021 - Nov 11, 2021)
Not on grounds of complaint (Clause 8) - Clause 13(a) 46,237 44,994 37,624
  96.58% 96.62% 95.24%
Not in accordance with provisions of Clause 9 (3) - Clause 13(b) 983 946 1,248
  2.05% 2.03% 3.16%
Beyond pecuniary jurisdiction of BO - Clause 12 (5) & (6) - Clause 13(c) 147 142 94
  0.31% 0.30% 0.24%
Requiring elaborate documentary and oral evidence - Clause 13 (d) 28 50 94
  0.06% 0.11% 0.24%
Complaints without sufficient cause - Clause 13(e) 195 23 3
  0.41% 0.05% 0.01%
Not pursued by the complainants - Clause 13(f) 27 81 72
  0.06% 0.17% 0.18%
No loss/ damage/ inconvenience to the complainant - Clause 13 (g) 44 11 4
  0.09% 0.02% 0.01%
The complaint pertains to the same cause of action, for which any proceedings before any court, tribunal or arbitrator or any other forum is pending 13(2) 212 319 365
  0.44% 0.69% 0.92%
Total maintainable complaints rejected 47,873 46,566 39,504
Note: Figures in percentages indicate share to total.

2.12 About 47% of the total complaints were closed as non-maintainable during the period April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021. The reasons for rejection of complaints as non-maintainable are given in the Chart 2.3.

Chart 2.3 Reasons for rejection of nonmaintainablecomplaints under BOS

Appeals against the decisions of the BOs

2.13 A total of 51 Appeals were received under the BOS during the year 2021-22. The details of receipt, disposal and pendency of Appeals as at the end of the year is given in Table 2.7. The Appellate Authority (AA) under the BOS, 2006 as amended upto July 01, 2017 was the DG-in-charge of CEPD. Subsequently, the RB-IOS, 2021, launched in November 2021, has vested the powers of the AA with the ED-in-Charge of CEPD. However, the Appeals that were received against the decisions of the Ombudsmen in terms of the erstwhile BOS, 2006 have been disposed by AA-DG, in accordance with the provisions of BOS 2006.

Table 2.7: Receipt and disposal of Appeals under the BOS
Particulars 2019-20
(Jul-Jun)
2020-21
(Jul-Mar)
2021-22
(Apr 1, 2021 - Nov 11, 2021)
Appeals pending at the beginning 72 47 44
Appeals received during the year from complainants 34 13 45
Appeals received during the year from banks 29 10 6
Total appeals handled during the year 135 70 95
Appeal disposed during the year 88 26 70
Pending at the end of the year 47 44 25
Mode of Disposal  
Appeals remanded to the BO 4 2 1
Appeals withdrawn / settled / infructuous 14 5 11
Appeals rejected 43 9 32
Appeals allowed 27 10 26
Appeals Disposed  
i. In favour of complainant appellant 29 10 19
ii. In favour of banks 21 5 21
iii. Neither in favour of complainant appellant nor in favour of banks (Remanded back to BO / infructuous) 38 11 30
*All 25 appeals pending as on March 31, 2022, were disposed as on October 18, 2022.

Chapter 3:

The Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies (OSNBFC), 2018: Activities during April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021

The total number of complaints received at the four Offices of NBFC Ombudsman (ONBFCOs) during April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021 was 20,439. Since the OSNBFC was integrated into the RB-IOS, 2021 from November 12, 2021 the data presented pertains to April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021. The rate of disposal of complaints stood at 100% as at the end of the year i.e., March 31, 2022. Complaints relating to non-adherence to Fair Practices Code (FPC) were the highest, constituting 61.89% of the total complaints received during April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021. Majority (70.08%) of the maintainable complaints were resolved through mutual settlement/conciliation/ mediation. During April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021, 12 Awards were issued against NBFCs by the NBFC Ombudsmen (NBFCOs). Ten Appeals were received against the decisions of NBFCOs during April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021.

3.1 The OSNBFC, 2018 was administered through four ONBFCOs located at Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, and New Delhi, which handled complaints of South, East, West and North zones respectively covering the entire country. It has since been repealed with effect from November 12, 2021, the date on which RB-IOS, 2021 came into force.

Receipt of complaints

3.2 During April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021, 20,439 complaints were received at the ONBFCOs. ONBFCOs handled 22,077 complaints during the reference period, all of which were disposed at the end of the year. The position of customer complaints handled by ONBFCOs is tabulated in Table 3.1 below:

Table 3.1: Position of customer complaints handled by ONBFCOs
Particulars 2019-20
(Jul-Jun)
2020-21
(Jul-Mar)
2021-22
(Apr 1, 2021 - Nov 11, 2021)
Complaints brought forward from the previous year 36 908 1,319
Complaints received 19,432 26,957 20,439
Draft complaints received during previous year and transferred during current year, CEPC transferred - 1,486 319
Total number of complaints handled 19,468 29,351 22,077
Complaints disposed during the year 18,560 28,032 22,077
Rate of Disposal (%) 95.34% 95.51% 100%
Complaints pending at the end of the year 908 1,319 0
Complaints pending for less than one month 380 659 0
Complaints pending for one to two months 187 365 0
Complaints pending for two to three months 60 98 0
Complaints pending for more than three months 281 197 0

3.3 Of the 20,439 complaints received by the ONBFCOs, ONBFCO, New Delhi received the maximum number of complaints (8,628), which accounted for 42.21% of the total complaints received by the ONBFCOs. Office-wise receipt of complaints at ONBFCOs is given at Table 1.2 in Chapter 1.

Mode of receipt of complaints

3.4 During April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021, 94.17% (19,248) of the complaints were lodged through digital mode using the CMS portal/ email/ CPGRAMS. This reflects the tech-savvy nature of the users of digital financial products who are more comfortable in filing their complaints online as compared to other modes. A comparative position of the various modes through which the complaints were received during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021 is depicted in Chart 3.1, with details provided at Appendix 3.1.

Chart 3.1Mode of receipt of complaints(April 1, 2021November 11, 2021)

NBFC category-wise complaints received

3.5 Of the total complaints received during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021, 5,699 (27.88%) complaints were against Deposit taking NBFCs (NBFCs-D), while 12,385 (60.59%) complaints were against Non-Deposit taking NBFCs (NBFCs-ND). The NBFC category-wise classification of complaints received by ONBFCOs during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021 is indicated at Table 3.2 and Chart 3.2 below:

Chart 3.2: NBFC categorywisereceipt of complaints at ONBFCOsduring April 1, 2021 November 11,2021

Table 3.2 NBFC category-wise receipt of complaints during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021
NBFC Category Complaints % Share
NBFCs-D 5,699 27.88%
NBFCs-ND 12,385 60.59%
Others (entities not covered under the OSNBFC) 2,355 11.52%
Total 20,439 100%

Complainant group-wise classification

3.6 Individual customers constituted the largest segment (51.21%) of complainants during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021. Senior citizens accounted for 0.5% of the total complaints. The complainant group-wise classification of complaints is given at Appendix 1.4.

Nature of complaints handled

3.7 Table 3.3 categorizes complaints received on the grounds of deficiency as specified under Clause 8 of the OSNBFC, 2018.

Table 3.3: Category-wise distribution of complaints
Complaint category 2019-20
(Jul-Jun)
2020-21
(Apr- Mar)
2021-22
(Apr 1, 2021 - Nov 11, 2021)
Non-adherence to FPC 7,052 17,915 12,649
36.29% 48.48% 61.89%
Non-observance of RBI directions 3,607 6,114 1,875
18.56% 16.55% 9.17%
Levy of charges without prior notice 1,628 3,189 1,691
8.38% 8.63% 8.27%
Non-transparency in contract/ loan 1,704 1,833 507
8.77% 4.96% 2.48%
Delay in repayment of deposits 395 536 317
2.03% 1.45% 1.55%
Delay in release of securities/ documents 268 417 282
1.38% 1.13% 1.38%
No communication about loan sanctioned 399 375 262
2.05% 1.01% 1.28%
Delay in payment of interest 232 386 182
1.19% 1.04% 0.89%
Non-understandable or no
adequate notice on terms and conditions
82 145 89
0.42% 0.39% 0.44%
Non-understandable or
non-issuance of sanction letter/ terms
49 85 46
0.25% 0.23% 0.23%
Not covered under Clause 8 of the Scheme 474 1,169 1,654
2.44% 3.16% 8.09%
Other categories 3,542 4,787 885
18.23% 12.95% 4.33%
Total 19,432 36,951 20,439
Note: Figures in percentages indicate share to total complaints

3.8 During April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021, complaints related to non-adherence to FPC constituted the largest share i.e. 61.89% of the total complaints received, followed by non-observance of RBI directions (9.17%) and levy of charges without prior notice (8.27%).

Disposal of complaints

3.9 All complaints received during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021 were disposed as at the end of the year. The ONBFCO-wise position of complaints disposed during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021 is given at Appendix 3.2.

3.10 The details of the grounds under which the complaints have been disposed as non-maintainable are given in the Chart 3.3. As may be observed, complaints were considered non-maintainable largely due to i) Entity not covered under the OSNBFC ii) First Resort Complaint iii) Earlier dealt by BO.

Chart 3.3 Reason for nonmaintainable complaints

3.11 The ONBFCO-wise distribution of maintainable and non-maintainable complaints disposed during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021 is given at Appendix 3.3.

Mode of disposal of maintainable complaints

3.12 ‘Maintainable’ complaints are those that are made before the NBFCO, relating to the grounds of complaint specified in Clause 8 of the OSNBFC and are otherwise in compliance with the requirements laid down in the Scheme. The Scheme endeavors to promote settlement of complaints by agreement through conciliation and/ or mediation by ONBFCO. If the parties fail to arrive at an acceptable agreement, the NBFCO gives a decision or passes an Award. During April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021, 12 Awards were issued against NBFCs by the NBFCOs.

3.13 Table 3.4 depicts the way the maintainable complaints were disposed of during the year. Of the maintainable complaints, 70.08% were resolved through agreement and 29.82% were rejected.

Table 3.4: Mode of disposal of maintainable complaints by ONBFCOs
Mode of disposal 2019-20
(Jul – Jun)
2020-21
(Jul – Mar)
2021-22
(Apr 1, 2021 - Nov 11, 2021)
Mutual settlement/ agreement 4,045 8,719 8,517
  71.12% 73.69% 70.08%
Complaints withdrawn 1 0 0
  0.02% 0% 0%
Awards issued 0 6 12
  0% 0.05% 0.10%
Rejected 1,641 3,107 3,624
  28.85% 26.26% 29.82%
Total maintainable complaints 5,687 11,832 12,153
Note: Figures in % indicate percentage to maintainable complaints

Grounds for rejection of maintainable complaints

3.15 The grounds for rejection of maintainable complaints and their proportion to total complaints disposed under the BOS during the period April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021 is given in the Table 3.5 below.

Table 3.5: Grounds/reasons for rejection of maintainable complaints
Ground for rejection No. of complaints rejected
  2019-20 2020-21 2021-22
  (Jul-Jun) (Jul - Mar) (Apr 1, 2021 - Nov 11, 2021)
Not on grounds of complaint (Clause 8) - Clause 13(a) 1,528 2,935 3,330
  93.11% 94.46% 91.89%
Not in accordance with provisions of Clause 9 (3) - Clause 13(b) 7 33 25
  0.43% 1.06% 0.69%
Beyond pecuniary jurisdiction of BO - Clause 12 (5) & (6) - Clause 13(c) 19 9 8
  1.16% 0.29% 0.22%
Requiring elaborate documentary and oral evidence - Clause 13 (d) 10 0 3
  0.61% 0.00% 0.08%
Complaints without sufficient cause - Clause 13(e) 4 6 7
  0.24% 0.19% 0.19%
Not pursued by the complainants - Clause 13(f) 1 2 2
  0.06% 0.06% 0.06%
No loss/ damage/ inconvenience to the complainant - Clause 13 (g) 0 0 0
  0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
The complaint pertains to the same cause of action, for which any proceedings before any court, tribunal or arbitrator or any other forum is pending 13(2) 72 122 249
  4.39% 3.93% 6.87%
Total maintainable complaints rejected 1,641 3,107 3,624

Appeals against the decisions of the NBFC-O

3.15 The DG-in-Charge of the CEPD, RBI was designated as the AA as per the provisions of the OSNBFC. CEPD provides the Secretariat to the AA. Ten Appeals were received against the decisions of NBFCOs during April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021, the details of which is given in Table 3.6 below:

Table 3.6: Position of Appeals – ONBFCOs
Particulars 2019-20
(Jul - Jun)
2020-21
(Jul - Mar)
2021-22
(Apr 1, 2021 - Nov 11, 2021)
Appeals pending at the beginning of the year 1 1 1
Appeals received during the year from complainants 1 1 4
Appeals received during the year from NBFCs 0 0 6
Total Appeals handled during the year 2 2 11
Appeal disposed during the year 1 1 3
Pending at the end of the year 1 1 8*
Mode of Disposal:
Appeals remanded to the NBFC-O 0 0 0
Appeals withdrawn/ settled/ infructuous 0 0 1
Appeals rejected 1 1 1
Appeals allowed 0 0 1
Appeals Disposed:
In favour of complainants 0 1 1
In favour of NBFCs 0 0 1
iii. Neither in favour of complainant appellant nor in favour of REs (Remanded back to BO / infructuous) 1 0 1
* All 8 appeals pending as on March 31, 2022, were disposed as on October 18, 2022.

Chapter 4:

Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions (OSDT), 2019: Activities during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021

The number of complaints received against Non-Bank Payment System Participants (NBPSPs) by the 22 OSDT offices during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021 was 2,281. As OSDT was integrated into the RB-IOS, 2021 w.e.f. November 12, 2021, the data presented in this chapter covers the period April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021. The rate of disposal of complaints stood at 100% during the period. Complaints pertaining to fund transfers/ UPI/ BBPS/ Bharat QR Code constituted the largest share of complaints i.e. 44.76%. The majority (59.65%) of maintainable complaints were resolved through mutual agreement/ conciliation /mediation process. Maximum (99.87%) number of the complaints under OSDT were lodged through digital/ electronic modes, viz., the CMS portal, emails, etc. During the year, no Award was issued under OSDT. No Appeal was received against the decisions of the Ombudsmen for Digital Transactions (ODTs) under OSDT.

4.1 The OSDT, 2019 was administered through the 22 offices where the Offices of RBI Banking Ombudsman are situated.

Receipt of complaints

4.2 During April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021, 2,281 complaints were received at the Offices of the Ombudsman for Digital Transactions (OODTs). The year-wise number of complaints received at OODTs in last three years is given in Table 4.1.

Table 4.1 – Number of complaints received by OODTs
  2019-20
(Jul - Jun)
2020-21
(Apr - Mar)
2021-22
(Apr 1, 2021 - Nov 11, 2021)
No. of OODTs 22 22 22
Complaints received during the year 2,481 3,594 2,281

4.3 During April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021, 2,324 complaints were handled by OODTs, including the complaints from the previous year, of which, 100% complaints were disposed before the end of the year. The position of customer complaints handled by OODTs is tabulated in Table 4.2 below:

Table 4.2 - Position of customer complaints handled by OODTs
Particulars 2019-20
(Jul - Jun)
2020-21
(Jul - Mar)
2021-22
(Apr 1, 2021 - Nov 11, 2021)
Complaints brought forward from previous year 53 230 28
Previous year’s draft complaints and complaints received in CEPCs subsequently registered/transferred to OODTs - 27 15
Complaints received 2,481 2,946 2,281
Total number of complaints handled 2,534 3,203 2,324
Complaints disposed 2,304 3,175 2,324
Rate of disposal (%) 90.92% 99.13% 100%
Complaints pending at the end of the year 230 28 0
Complaints pending for less than one month 31 18 0
Complaints pending for one to two months 20 3 0
Complaints pending for two to three months 23 2 0
Complaints pending for more than three months 156 5 0

4.4 Of the 2,281 complaints received by the OODTs, OODT, Hyderabad received the maximum number of complaints (204), which accounted for 8.94% of the total complaints received by the OODTs, followed by Kolkata (201) and Bengaluru (189). OODT Thiruvananthapuram (10) received the lowest share of complaints with 0.44%. Office-wise receipt of complaints at OODTs is given at Table 4.3 and Appendix 4.1.

Mode of receipt of complaints

4.5 During April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021, 99.87% (2,278) of the complaints were lodged through digital mode using the CMS portal/ email/ CPGRAMS. This reflects the tech-savvy nature of the users of digital financial products who are more comfortable in filing their complaints online, as compared to other modes. Only three complaints were received in physical mode during the period. A comparative position of the various modes through which the complaints were received under OSDT during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021 is depicted in Chart 4.1, with details provided at Appendix 4.2.

Chart 4.1 Mode of receipt of complaints(April 1, 2021November 11, 2021)

Zone-wise distribution of complaints

4.6 Under OSDT, the North zone accounted for the maximum number of complaints (28.72%) during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021, followed by the West zone (27.44%) and the South zone (22.75%). The East zone accounted for the lowest share i.e. 21.09% of the total OSDT complaints received. The zone-wise distribution of complaints received is given at Appendix 4.2 and depicted in Chart 4.2 below.

Chart 4.2 Zonewise receipt of complaints for theyear 2021 22 (April 1, 2021 to Nov 11, 2022)

Complainant group-wise classification

4.7 Individual customers constituted the largest segment (77.25%) of complainants during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021. Senior citizens accounted for 1.40% of the total OSDT complaints. The complainant group-wise classification of complaints is given at Appendix 1.4.

Entity type-wise classification

4.8 The entity type-wise classification of complaints received by OODTs during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021 is indicated in Chart 4.3 and Table 4.3 below.

4.9 In tune with the size of their network and business among NBPSPs, PPIs had the highest share of complaints accounting for 87.77% of the total complaints, followed by Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU)/ Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU) with 2.72% share in total complaints. Other entities accounted for 9.51% of total complaints.

Chart 4.3 Entitywise break up ofcomplaints at OODTs (April 1, 2021November 11, 2021)

Table 4.3: Entity type-wise break-up of complaints received at OODTs during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021
Entity 2021-22
(Apr 1, 2021 - Nov 11, 2021)
Prepaid Payment Instruments 2,002
87.77%
BBPCU/ BBPOU 62
2.72%
Others 217
9.51%
Note: Figures in % indicate percentage to total complaints

Nature of complaints handled

4.10 Table 4.4 categorizes complaints received on the grounds of deficiency in digital banking services as specified under Clause 8 of the OSDT, 2019.

Table 4.4 – Category-wise distribution of complaints
Category 2019-20
(Jul - Jun)
2020-21
(Apr - Mar)
2021-22
(Apr 1, 2021 - Nov 11, 2021)
Fund Transfers/ UPI/ BBPS/ Bharat QR Code 1,089 1,775 1,021
43.89% 49.39% 44.76%
Mobile/Electronic Fund Transfers / Mobile/Electronic Banking 598 824 524
24.10% 22.93% 22.97%
Non-reversal of Funds due to Wrong Beneficiary Transfer by System Participant 218 291 191
8.79% 8.10% 8.37%
Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) 198 253 224
7.98% 7.04% 9.82%
Violation of RBI Directives in relation to Fees/Charges 58 100 68
2.34% 2.78% 2.98%
Out of Subject 75 57 29
3.02% 1.59% 1.27%
Others 245 294 224
9.88% 8.18% 9.82%
Total 2,481 3,594 2,281
Note: Figures in percentages indicate share to total complaints

4.11 During April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021, complaints related to fund transfers/ UPI/ BBPS/ Bharat QR code constituted the largest share i.e. 44.76% of the total complaints received, followed by mobile/electronic fund transfers / mobile/electronic banking (22.97%) and non-reversal of funds due to wrong beneficiary transfer by Payment System Participants (8.37%).

Disposal of complaints

4.12 All complaints received during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021 were disposed at the end of the year. The OODT-wise position of complaints disposed during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021 is given at Appendix 4.3.

4.13 The OODT-wise distribution of maintainable complaints is given at Appendix 4.4 respectively.

4.14 The details of the grounds under which the complaints have been disposed as non-maintainable are given in the Chart 4.4 below. As may be observed, complaints were considered non-maintainable largely due to i) the complaints not being represented properly, ii) complaints being FRCs iii) not under the definition of Payment System Participants and digital transaction.

Chart 4.4 Reason for nonmaintainable complaints Percentage ofcomplaints

Mode of disposal of maintainable complaints

4.15 ‘Maintainable’ complaints are those that are made before the ODT, relating to the grounds of complaint specified in Clause 8 of the OSDT and are otherwise in compliance with the requirements laid down in the Scheme. The Scheme endeavors to promote settlement of complaints by facilitation or agreement through conciliation and/ or mediation by OODTs. If the parties fail to arrive at an acceptable agreement, the ODT gives a decision or passes an Award. However, no Award was issued during the year under the OSDT.

4.16 Table 4.5 depicts the modes of the disposal of the maintainable complaints during the year. Of the maintainable complaints, 59.65% were resolved through agreement.

Table 4.5 - Mode of disposal of maintainable complaints
Disposal of Maintainable Complaints 2019-20
(Jul - Jun)
2020-21
(Jul - Mar)
2021-22
(Apr 1, 2021 - Nov 11, 2021)
By Mutual Settlement/Agreement 532 885 553
56.12% 57.54% 59.65%
Disposal by Award 0 0 0
0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
Maintainable Complaints Rejected 416 653 374
43.88% 42.46% 40.35%
Maintainable Complaints Withdrawn 0 0 0
0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
Total 948 1,538 927
Note: Figures in % indicate share to total complaints

Grounds for rejection of maintainable complaints

4.17 The grounds for rejection of maintainable complaints and their proportion to total complaints received during the year are indicated in Table 4.6.

Table 4.6 – Grounds/reasons for rejection of maintainable complaints
Ground for Rejection No. of Complaints Rejected
2019-20
(Jul - Jun)
2020-21
(Jul - Mar)
2021-22
(Apr 1, 2021 - Nov 11, 2021)
Not on the grounds of complaint referred to in Clause 8 - Clause 13(1)(a) 409 631 362
98.32% 96.63% 96.79%
Not in accordance with Sub Clause (3) of Clause 9 - Clause 13(1)(b) 2 16 11
0.48% 2.45% 2.94%
Beyond the limit of compensation prescribed under Clause 12 (5) and 12(6) - Clause 13(1)(c) 1 4 1
0.24% 0.61% 0.27%
Complaints without any sufficient cause - Clause 13(1)(e) 4 1 0
0.96% 0.15% 0.00%
The complaint pertains to the same cause of action, for which any proceedings before any court, tribunal or arbitrator or any other forum is pending 13(2) 0 1 0
0.00% 0.15% 0.00%
Total 416 653 374
Note: Figures in percentages indicate the share to total complaints

4.18 As may be seen from Table 4.6, the maximum number of rejections were due to complaints ‘not on grounds of complaint referred to in Clause 8 -Clause 13(1)(a)’ of the OSDT.

Age-wise classification of pending complaints

4.19 No complaints received under OSDT was pending as at the end of the year.

Appeals against the decisions of the ODTs

4.20 The DG-in-Charge of the CEPD, RBI is designated as the AA as per the provisions of the OSDT. CEPD provides the Secretariat to the AA. No Appeal was received during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021.


Chapter 5:

The Reserve Bank – Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS), 2021: Activities during November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022

The three erstwhile Ombudsman schemes viz. (i) the BOS, 2006, as amended up to July 01, 2017; (ii) the OSNBFC, 2018; and (iii) the OSDT, 2019 were integrated into a single scheme, the RB-IOS, 2021 with effect from November 12, 2021. The RB-IOS 2021 offers the benefit of a single platform to customers for getting speedy resolution of their grievances. Along with the launch of the RB-IOS, a CRPC was set up at the Chandigarh Regional Office of RBI as a single point for receipt of all email and physical complaints. CRPC also hosts a Contact Centre with 24x7 IVRS facility at # 14448 which also allows personal guidance to complainants between 9:30 AM to 5:15 PM on all working days. CRPC handles the preliminary scrutiny and processing of all email and physical complaints received under RBIOS in order to weed out the non-maintainable complaints and non-complaints with a suitable communication to the complainant, and also assign the maintainable complaints to the Offices of RBI Ombudsman (ORBIOs) for further redressal.

Under the RB-IOS, 2021, the territorial jurisdictions of the ORBIOs have been abrogated based on ‘One Nation, One Ombudsman’ approach and the complaints are assigned to the 22 ORBIOs in an equitable manner as per a pre-defined algorithm in the CMS. The total number of complaints received at CRPC and ORBIOs, under RB-IOS, 2021, from November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022 stood at 1,86,268. Of these, 66,133 complaints were disposed at ORBIOs and 1,07,821 complaints were closed at the CRPC. The overall rate of disposal of complaints by CRPC and ORBIOs, under RB-IOS, 2021, as at the end of the financial year stood at 93.39%. Majority (55.61%) of maintainable complaints disposed under RB-IOS, 2021 were resolved through mutual settlement/ conciliation/ mediation. Between November 12, 2021 and March 31, 2022, 4 Awards were issued against the REs by the RBIOs and 31 Appeals were received against the decisions of the RBIOs under RB-IOS, 2021.

Receipt and handling of complaints at CRPC

5.1 During November 12, 2021, to March 31, 2022, 1,49,419 complaints were received at the CRPC. Of these, 1,07,821 complaints were closed at CRPC as non-complaints/ non-maintainable complaints, while the remaining maintainable complaints were assigned to ORBIOs for further redress. The month-wise receipt of complaints at CRPC during the period shows a steady increase in inflow of complaints to CRPC (Chart 5.1).

Chart 5.1Number of complaints received

5.2 The average Turn Around Time (TAT) for disposal of complaints at CRPC stood at 12 days.

5.3 The details of the grounds under which the complaints have been disposed at CRPC are given in Chart 5.2 below:

Chart 5.2: Reason for disposal at CRPC

Complaints receipt and handling at the ORBIOs

5.4 During November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022, 72,580 complaints were assigned to the ORBIOs for redress both from the CMS portal directly as well as through the CRPC. The ORBIO-wise receipt of complaints, provided at Table 1.2 of Chapter 1, reflects a near equitable distribution of complaints across all the 22 ORBIOs on account of deployment of a pre-specified algorithm in CMS for distribution of complaints among ORBIOs. The ORBIO, Chennai received maximum number of complaints (3,728) followed by ORBIO, Mumbai-II (3,703 complaints) and ORBIO, Ahmedabad (3,698 complaints) during the period, comprising 5.14%, 5.10% and 5.10% respectively of the total RB-IOS complaints received by the ORBIOs. The slight variation in numbers across offices is on account of vernacular complaints that get allocated to the ORBIO in the relevant linguistic region, bypassing the algorithm for allocation of complaints. A comparative position of complaints received by ORBIOs during November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022 is given in Chart 5.3.

Chart 5.3ORBIO wise receipt of complaints

Mode of receipt of complaints

5.5 The complaints were received by the ORBIOs either directly from the CMS portal or through the CRPC, i.e. complaints received over email and physical modes, including complaints received through the Government of India’s Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS), post their initial processing.

5.6 The mode of receipt of complaints that were handled by ORBIOs during November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022 is given at Appendix 5.1 and is depicted in the Chart 5.4.

Chart 5.4Mode of Receipt of Complaints

5.7 As can be seen from the above chart, 84.55% of complaints handled by ORBIOs have been received through the digital mode, of which 57.02% were received through the online portal (including complaints received through CPGRAMS) and 27.53% were through emails.

Population group-wise distribution of complaints

5.8 The source of complaints received by ORBIOs continue to be dominated by metropolitan centers (49.27%) under the RB-IOS, 2021, followed by urban centers (31.58%), semi-urban centers (14.26%) and rural centers (4.89%). The population group-wise distribution of complaints during November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022 is given in Chart 5.5 below:

Chart 5.5Population Group wise Distribution ofComplaints

Zone-wise distribution of complaints

5.9 Though there was an equitable distribution of complaints among ORBIOs, the complaints received by ORBIOs in North-zone dominated with 34.60% of complaints received during the period, owing to highest number of ORBIOs being located in the North-zone (8 of 22 ORBIOs), followed by West-zone (5 ORBIOs) with 23.76% of complaints.

5.10 However, a shift is observed in the share of complaints received by the South and the East-zones. The East-zone that received lower volume of complaints as compared to the South-zone in the past years under the erstwhile Ombudsman schemes, witnessed a higher receipt, under RB-IOS, 2021, at 21.79% of the total complaints, as compared to 19.84% of complaints received by South-zone (4 ORBIOs).

5.11 The zone-wise distribution of complaints received during November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022 is given in Appendix 5.2 and depicted in Chart 5.6.

Chart 5.6Zone wise Distribution ofComplaints

Complainant group-wise classification of complaints

5.12 Complaints received from individual complainants (excluding senior citizens) accounted for 83.22% of the total complaints received between November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022, followed by 2.92% from limited companies (and 2.65% from the senior citizens). Appendix 1.4 provides the complainant group-wise classification of complaints.

Entity group-wise classification of complaints

5.13 Under the RB-IOS, 2021, the ORBIOs receive complaints against banks, NBFCs and NBPSPs. The entity group-wise classification of complaints received by ORBIOs during November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022 is provided in Appendix 5.3 and indicated in Chart 5.7 below:

Chart 5.7Entity group wise classification ofcomplaints

5.14 The share of complaints against Private Sector Banks remained highest (21,572 complaints) with 29.72% of the total complaints assigned to ORBIOs, closely followed by Nationalized Banks (20,857 complaints) with 28.74% share. The complaints against NBFCs formed 5.83% (4,233 complaints) of the total complaints received by ORBIOs during the period.

Nature of complaints handled

5.15 The RB-IOS, 2021 has done away with specific grounds of complaints and all the complaints pertaining to ‘deficiency in service’7 at the regulated entity falling under the Scheme, can be filed under the Scheme. The category/ ground wise classification of the complaints is provided in Table 5.1 below.

Table 5.1 – Category-wise distribution of complaints received at ORBIOs
Category of complaint received at ORBIOs Nov 12, 2021 – Mar 31, 2022
Loans and advances including Non-observance of FPC 18,651
25.70%
Mobile / electronic banking 12,180
16.78%
ATM / Debit Cards 11,185
15.41%
Deposit Accounts related 10,474
14.43%
Credit Cards 10,027
13.82%
Pension payments 1,885
2.60%
Remittances 1,088
1.50%
Para banking 830
1.14%
Failure to meet commitments/ Non- adherence to BCSBI Codes 109
0.15%
Notes and Coins 108
0.15%
Others 6,043
8.33%
Total 72,580

Disposal of complaints

5.16 The disposal of complaints received at ORBIOs during November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022 has been indicated in Table 5.2.

Table 5.2 – Disposal of complaints at ORBIOs
Number of Complaints Nov 12, 2021 to Mar 31, 2022
Received during the period 72,580
Brought forward from previous period -
Complaints received by Email before the start of the year but registered on or after start of the year; including complaints transferred from Consumer Education and Protection Cells on or after the start of the year -
Handled during the period 72,580
Disposed during the period 66,133
Rate of Disposal at ORBIOs (%) 91.12%
Carried forward to the next year 6,447
Complaints pending for less than one month (30 days) 5,621
7.74%
Complaints pending for one to two months 583
0.80%
Complaints pending for two to three months 86
0.12%
Complaints pending for more than three months 157
0.22%

5.17 As indicated in Table 5.2 above, the overall disposal of complaints by the ORBIOs, received under RB-IOS, 2021, stood at 91.12%, whereas, of the 8.88% pending complaints, 7.74% were pending for less than one month and only 1.14% of complaints were pending for more than a month as on March 31, 2022, representing the efficiency of the ORBIOs and effectiveness of the role played by CRPC in reducing the flow of non-maintainable8 complaints to ORBIOs. All pending complaints as on March 31, 2022 have since been disposed.

Mode of disposal of maintainable complaints

5.18 During the period November 12, 2021 – March 31, 2022, 68.89% of the total complaints closed at the ORBIOs, were disposed as maintainable complaints. The mode of disposal of these maintainable complaints is detailed in the Table 5.3 below:

Table 5.3: Mode of disposal of maintainable complaints under RB-IOS, 2021
Disposal of maintainable complaints Nov 12, 2021 to Mar 31, 2022 Share
By Mutual Settlement/ Agreement 25,339 55.61%
Disposal by Award 4 0.01%
Maintainable Complaints Rejected 19,434 42.65%
Maintainable Complaints Withdrawn 792 1.74%
Total 45,569 100.00%

Grounds for rejection of maintainable complaints

5.19 During the period November 12, 2021 – March 31, 2022, 19,434 maintainable complaints were rejected as per the provisions of the Scheme. The grounds for rejection under RB-IOS, 2021 is detailed in the Table 5.4 below:

Table: 5.4 Grounds/reasons for rejection of maintainable complaints under RB-IOS, 2021
Ground for rejection Nov 12, 2021 to Mar 31, 2022
No deficiency in service in the opinion of the Ombudsman- Clause 16(2)(a) 19,055
98.05%
Not pursued by the complainants - Clause 16(2)(c) 160
0.82%
Compensation sought is beyond the power of Ombudsman - Clause 16(2)(b) 102
0.52%
Requiring elaborate documentary and oral evidence - Clause 16(2)(e) 95
0.49%
Complaints without sufficient cause - Clause 16(2)(d) 11
0.06%
No financial loss/ damage/ inconvenience caused to the complainant - Clause 16(2)(f) 11
0.06%
Total maintainable complaints rejected 19,434
Note: Figures in percentages indicate share to total

Turn Around Time (TAT) of complaints

5.20 The average time taken by ORBIOs to dispose complaints received under RB-IOS, 2021 stood at 38 days.

Awards issued

5.21 During the period November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022, 4 Awards were issued by ORBIOs, of which, two were implemented within the stipulated time, one was appealed by the entity and one got lapsed.

Appeals against the decisions of the ORBIOs

5.22 Under provisions of RB-IOS, 2021, the Executive Director (ED) in-Charge of CEPD, RBI is designated as the Appellate Authority (AA)9. In terms of the RB-IOS, the CEPD provides the secretarial assistance to the AA. During the period November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022, 31 Appeals were received against the decision of ORBIOs and all such Appeals were filed by the complainants (none from REs).

5.23 The position of Appeals handled by the AA during the period and the ORBIO-wise position of Appeals received during the period is given in Tables 5.5 and Appendix 1.2, respectively.

Table 5.5 – Position of Appeals under RB-IOS as on March 31, 2022
Particulars Nov 12, 2021 to Mar 31, 2022
Appeals pending at the beginning of the year 0
Appeals received during the year from complainants 31
Appeals received during the year from REs 0
Total appeals handled during the year 31
Appeal disposed during the year 2
Pending at the end of the year 29*
Mode of Disposal
Appeals remanded to the RBIO 0
Appeals withdrawn / settled / infructuous 2
Appeals rejected 0
Appeals allowed 0
Appeals Disposed
i. In favour of complainant appellant 0
ii. In favour of REs 0
iii. Neither in favour of complainant appellant nor in favour of REs (Remanded back to BO / infructuous) 2
*Of the 29 RB-IOS appeals pending up to March 31, 2022, 20 have since been disposed

Chapter 6:

Other Developments

The year marked landmark developments for customer protection as major structural improvements were brought about in the Alternate Grievance Redress domain. The year witnessed the launch of the RB-IOS, 2021 on November 12, 2021, along with setting-up of the first ever CRPC and Contact Center, at RBI Regional Office, Chandigarh. New entities have also been brought under the RB-IOS coverage. The CMS was upgraded to adapt to the structural changes in the RB-IOS, 2021 and to improve its overall efficiency. The IO Scheme for NBFCs was issued on the lines of the IO Scheme for banks and non-bank payment system participants. A nationwide customer satisfaction survey for those complainants who approached the Ombudsman Offices was undertaken in March 2022 to assess their satisfaction level.

Regulations: Important regulatory measures taken by the Reserve Bank

6.1 The most important regulatory development during the period, with implications for customer protection and customer grievance redress was the launch of the RB-IOS, 2021, along with the setting up of the CRPC and Contact Centre at RBI Regional Office, Chandigarh. In addition, the Reserve Bank issued guidelines on: appointment of IO by NBFCs; monitoring availability of cash in ATMs; Tokenisation for card transactions; restriction on storage of actual card data; framework for facilitating small value digital payments in offline mode etc., among others, which have a bearing on customer service aspects. A chronology of the salient measures is given in the Appendix 6.1.

Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of major areas of complaints

6.5 The findings of RCA of the major areas of complaints undertaken by the ORBIOs and CEPCs are compiled in CEPD with the objective of identifying and addressing the underlying deficiencies in customer service and initiating actions to address them. The findings of RCA conducted during the year are tabulated below:

Table 6.1 RCA-2021 – 2022 – Major concerns, root causes identified and remedial measures
S. No. Issue Major Concerns Raised Root Causes Remedial Measures
1 Credit Cards Charges without prior notice. Lack of awareness among customers regarding the general terms and conditions of usage of credit cards such as minimum amount due, due date, billing cycle, total outstanding balance, impact on Credit Information Bureau of India Limited (CIBIL) score, etc. Relevant regulatory instructions pertaining to clarity in communication of terms and conditions, reporting to CICs, Most Important Terms and Conditions (MITC) are already in place; Instructions have been reiterated to the REs for enhancing awareness among customers and strict adherence thereto. This is taken up during the RBIO and CEPD awareness programmes also.
Fraudulent transactions in undelivered Credit Cards; REs issuing pre-activated Credit Cards;

Billing of undelivered/ returned Credit Cards.
REs to ensure confirmation of the delivery of the credit card to the intended customer before initiation of billing;

REs advised to put in place a dynamic customer controlled mode of authentication for activation of new credit cards.
2 Remittances Erroneous Fund Transfers;

Fraudulent / unauthorized transactions.
Inaction or delay in taking remedial measures by REs;

Ineffective velocity check and alert systems of REs;

'One-size-fits-all' approach being implemented by REs in fraud detection and prevention systems;

Lack of awareness amongst the public regarding the modus operandi of the digital frauds and do’s and don’ts as safeguard measures.
Prompt raising of chargeback request in NPCI portal by REs;

REs advised to design and have in place dynamic/ robust transaction monitoring systemsbased on the individual profile and history of transactions;

Focused, intensified and wide-spread awareness campaign on the common modus operandi of fraudsters, and safe digital banking practices is underway.
3 Loans and Advances Non-release of Government subsidy on education loan, home loan under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) Scheme, Gold loan etc. Delay at RE's end in processing/lodging the claims on the government portal;

Inability of the RE functionaries in guiding the customers on various features of the subsidy schemes due to lack of awareness/ knowledge.
REs have been advised to provide proper training to their staff on the subsidy schemes, and sensitize them on timely/ correct lodgment of claims on the government portals.
4 Deposit Accounts Settlement of Death Claim. REs insisting on multitude of documents before releasing the claim amount to the legal heir/nominee in contravention to extant regulatory guidelines. REs have been advised to sensitize the staff regarding the modalities of death claim settlement as outlined in relevant regulatory guidelines thereby ensuring expeditious and seamless disposal of death claim related cases.
5 Pension Non-payment/ delay in crediting of pension/ family pension/ arrears on account of wage revision, etc. Delay in updation of life certificates by the customers;

Improper recording of submission of life certificates at the branches.
REs have been advised to employ proper mechanism to monitor, remind and update the Life Certificates in time.
NBFCs related
6 Loans and Advances Harassment by Recovery Agents; Non-compliance to Fair Practices;

Lack of transparency in communicating interest rates on loans.
Insufficient/ improper training to recovery agents and lack of awareness on the RBI guidelines on FPC;

Lack of transparency in communicating various applicable charges like bounce charges, late payment charges, etc.;

Common public not fully aware of the interest rate terminologies used by the entities.
Relevant regulatory instructions on FPC for Lenders and NBFCs are in place, and the REs have been advised for strict adherence.

Status of implementation of the action plan set out in ‘Utkarsh 2022’ for the year, April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022

6.6 The medium-term strategy of RBI, ‘Utkarsh 2022’, had set three milestones for the year 2021-22 as given below:

  1. Formulate policy/scheme for handling complaints not covered under Ombudsman Scheme;

  2. Efforts for inclusion of safe banking practices in educational curriculum;

  3. Extension of Internal Ombudsman Scheme (IOS) for Financially Sound Well Managed (FSWM) UCBs & RRBs.

Formulate policy/scheme for handling complaints not covered under Ombudsman Scheme

6.7 The CEPCs, set up at 30 Regional Offices of RBI, were handling the complaints that were not covered under the erstwhile Ombudsman Schemes. The policy for CEPCs to handle such non-Ombudsman complaints was formulated and issued in June 2019 in the form of a detailed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), which has been revised and issued in June 2022 in the wake of RB-IOS, 2021. Post the launch of RB-IOS, 2021, the CEPCs shall now handle the complaints against REs that are not covered under the RB-IOS, 2021 (i.e., non-scheduled UCBs having deposit size of less than ₹50 crore, NBFCs with asset size below ₹100 crore, All India Financial Institutions, Asset Reconstruction Companies etc.).

Efforts for inclusion of safe banking practices in educational curriculum

6.8 The Department had formulated a detailed framework for enhanced education on consumer protection and safe banking practices in September 2020 with the following components – (i) Target Group, (ii) Content, (iii) Delivery Channels, (iv) Coordination Aspects, and (v) Impact analysis. The framework envisages focused financial education to target groups such as potential entrants to the financial sector, vulnerable consumers, educated but financially illiterate customers, rural youth, workers/migrants, etc. The Department prepared contents on financial awareness and consumer protection for inclusion in the educational curriculum of school students, which has been taken up with the National Centre for Financial Education through the Financial Inclusion and Development Department of RBI.

Extension of the IO Scheme to NBFCs

6.9 In line with the formulation of IO Scheme for banks and Non-bank System Participants (NBSPs), considering the drastic increase in complaints received at RBI, a review was undertaken to consider extending the IO Scheme to select NBFCs. Accordingly, the IO Scheme for NBFCs, issued vide circular dated November 15, 2021, directed Deposit-taking NBFCs (NBFCs-D) with 10 or more branches and Non-Deposit taking NBFCs (NBFCs-ND) with asset size of ₹5,000 crore or above having public customer interface to appoint IO at the apex of their internal grievance redress mechanism within a period of six months from the date of issue of the direction. The direction covers, inter-alia, the appointment/tenure, role and responsibilities, procedural guidelines, and oversight mechanism for the IO. All complaints that are partly or wholly rejected by the NBFC will be reviewed by the IO before the final decision of the NBFC is conveyed to the complainant.

6.10 NBFCs not having public customer interface and certain types of NBFCs, viz., stand-alone Primary Dealers (PDs), NBFC - Infrastructure Finance Companies (NBFC-IFCs), Core Investment Companies (CICs), Infrastructure Debt Fund – Non Banking Financial Companies (IDF-NBFCs), Non-Banking Financial Company – Account Aggregators (NBFC-AAs), NBFCs under Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process, NBFCs in liquidation and NBFCs having only captive customers have been excluded from the requirement to appoint IOs.

Awareness generation activities of CEPD and Ombudsmen Offices

6.11 “Ombudsman Speak” event on the World Consumer Rights Day - As part of the first phase of the nation-wide multi-phased financial awareness campaign being undertaken by CEPD during the year 2022-23, the 22 RBI Ombudsmen interacted with the local/ regional multimedia channels in their respective regions on March 15, 2022 on the occasion of “World Consumer Rights day”. The Ombudsmen covered a wide range of areas such as ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ on RB-IOS, 2021, ‘Charter of Customer Rights’, safe digital banking practices, etc. in order to ensure deeper and focused percolation of the financial consumer awareness on safe banking, RBI’s AGR avenues and extant regulations for protection of consumer interests. The event was undertaken in English, Hindi and vernacular languages and was aired on Doordarshan, All India Radio, FM and local TV channels across all regions/ states of India. These interactions have also been uploaded by media channels on social media platforms such as You Tube, Twitter and Facebook, etc.

6.12 Further, CEPD also conducted digital awareness drives through print/ television advertisements on the RB-IOS, 2021, safe banking practices, RBI regulations on consumer protection etc. Moreover, 175 awareness programmes and 29 townhall meetings were conducted through the ORBIOs and CEPCs with focus on specific groups such as servicemen, school/ college students, consumer groups etc. A list of the awareness programmes conducted by Ombudsmen is provided at Appendix 6.2.

6.13 Further, awareness messages on safe banking practices were hosted on the Reserve Bank website, the ‘RBI Kehta Hai’ webpage and the CMS webpage and included information on ‘cyber frauds’, ‘safe digital banking’, ‘Ombudsman Schemes of RBI’ and the ‘CMS’ portal, etc.

Nationwide Customer Satisfaction Survey for RB-IOS, CRPC and the Contact Center

6.14 Six months post the launch of RB-IOS, 2021, a nationwide customer satisfaction survey was taken up to assess the satisfaction level of the complainants who had approached the RBI Ombudsman for redress of their grievances. Based on a volume of around 3.5 lakh complaints received during a year at the ORBIOs, a sample size of 4,120 was designed stratifying them across states and population groups (i.e. Metropolitan regions, urban, semi-urban, and rural areas). The survey was conducted through a third-party agency through telephonic access. The profile of the respondents for the survey is detailed in the Chart 6.1.

Chart 6.1 Respondents profilee

6.15 The major findings from the above survey are:

  1. 60.09% of the respondents (who had lodged a complaint both under one of the erstwhile Ombudsman Schemes and the current RB-IOS) felt that the overall process under RB-IOS has improved, including registration, handling of complaint and resolution time;

  2. 64.06% of the respondents felt that they were provided with necessary/ relevant/ correct information when they had approached the Contact Centre;

  3. The overall satisfaction level of respondents with all the ORBIOs stood at 59.55%;

  4. 83.26% of the respondents agreed to have received acknowledgement promptly.

6.17 It is felt that the RB-IOS, 2021 is stabilizing well, with improved systems and efficiency brought in through CRPC and Contact Center. RBI is also intensifying its efforts to increase awareness regarding the RB-IOS, 2021.

Framework for Strengthening the Grievance Redress of banks

6.18 Reserve Bank rolled out the ‘Framework for Strengthening the Grievance Redress of banks’ in January 2021, comprising enhanced disclosures requirements, intensive review of banks’ internal grievance redress mechanism and, supervisory/ regulatory actions against banks having persistent issues in their grievance redress mechanism. The framework introduced recovery of the cost of redressal of complaints at Ombudsmen offices, from the outlier banks to incentivize banks to strengthen their internal grievance redressal systems. The framework is expected to bring improvements in the quality of customer service and grievance redress culture in banks and thus reduce the origination of customer complaints. For the year 2021-22, recoveries to the tune of ₹7.80 crore shall be made from 33 banks.

Winding down of Banking Codes and Standards Board of India (BCSBI)

6.19 BCSBI was institutionalized based on the recommendation of the Committee on Procedures and Performance Audit of Public Services under the chairmanship of Shri S.S.Tarapore, former DG of RBI. It was registered as an independent and autonomous body under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 in February 2006. Upon a review conducted by CEPD, it was concluded that Reserve Bank can, by itself, undertake the activities that were identified for BCSBI; and that the BCSBI had now served the purpose for which it was set up. As such, the need for BCSBI to continue was reviewed based on the directions of the Committee of the Central Board in its meeting dated January 30, 2019 and its dissolution was approved. BCSBI ceased its operations and initiated the dissolution process in late 2019, which was however delayed invariably due to the onset of pandemic in March 2020 hindering the conduct of General Body Meeting with member banks for passing of resolution. However, the same was conducted in September 2021 and the BSCBI is in an advanced stage of dissolution. CEPD has taken up with IBA for future updation of the BCSBI’s Codes, i.e., “Code of Bank’s Commitment to Customers” and “Code of Bank’s Commitment to Micro and Small Enterprises”, and management of the membership of the banks. Documents/ historical records relating to BCSBI are in the process of being archived for future reference.

Way forward

6.20 During the period April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023, CEPD will work towards the following action plans:

  1. Review of the guidelines issued under “Strengthening of grievance redress framework for banks” in January 2021.

  2. Extension of the ambit of the RB-IOS, 2021 to more REs that are not covered presently under the Scheme like Housing Finance Companies (HFC) etc;

  3. Extension of IO Scheme for Credit Information Companies (CICs) and HFCs;

  4. Intensified awareness initiatives to ensure percolation to the remotest and untouched regions and hitherto, excluded segments of population.

6.21 Appropriate regulatory initiatives regarding financial consumer protection will be further enhanced to identify issues to be addressed and improve the grievance redress mechanism of REs as well as the RBI, and measures for implementation of the framework for financial education shall be improved.


Chapter 7:

Complaints received through Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) and applications under Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005

During the year 4,956 complaints were received through CPGRAMS and 1,397 applications were received under the RTI Act, 2005 in all the ORBIOs which were replied to.

CPGRAMS

7.1 CPGRAMS is a mechanism to receive and address consumer complaints regarding different products and schemes offered by the GoI or its agencies. The CPGRAMS portal has been developed by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances of GoI. Government departments and banks are subordinate offices in this portal. CEPD is the Nodal Office for the Reserve Bank, and the ORBIOs, inter-alia, are its subordinate offices.

7.2 During the year, 4,956 complaints were received by all the ORBIOs through CPGRAMS. A comparative position of the complaints received through this portal and handled by the ORBIOs during the last three years is given at Appendix 7.1.

RTI Act, 2005

7.3 The RBI Ombudsmen are the Central Public Information Officers (CPIOs) under the RTI Act, 2005 to receive applications and furnish information related to complaints handled by the ORBIOs. During the year, 1,397 RTI applications were received by all the ORBIOs. The office-wise position of such applications received during the last three years is detailed at Appendix 7.2.


APPENDICES

Appendices pertaining to Activities during April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022

Appendix 1.1: Category wise receipt of complaints under the Ombudsman Schemes for the past three years
Nature of Complaints 2019-20 (Jul-Jun) 2020-21 (Apr-Mar) 2021-22 (Apr-Mar)
Complaints against banks
ATM / Debit Cards 67,800 60,203 41,375
  21.97% 17.62% 15.43%
Mobile / electronic banking 41,310 44,385 39,388
  13.38% 12.99% 14.69%
Credit Cards 28,713 40,721 32,162
  9.30% 11.92% 12.00%
Non-observance of FPC 36,215 33,898 24,446
  11.73% 9.92% 9.12%
Loans and advances 16,437 20,218 24,507
  5.33% 5.92% 9.14%
Failure to meet commitments 25,036 35,999 22,031
  8.11% 10.53% 8.22%
Deposit Accounts related 8,778 8,580 16,388
  2.84% 2.51% 6.11%
Levy of charges without prior notice 18,558 20,949 12,765
  6.01% 6.13% 4.76%
Pension payments 6,307 4,966 6,179
  2.04% 1.45% 2.30%
Non-adherence to BCSBI Codes 14,194 14,490 4,816
  4.60% 4.24% 1.80%
Remittances 4,045 3,394 3,235
  1.31% 0.99% 1.21%
DSAs and recovery agents 1,406 2,440 1,604
  0.46% 0.71% 0.60%
Para banking 1,117 1,236 1,480
  0.36% 0.36% 0.55%
Notes and Coins 514 332 296
  0.17% 0.10% 0.11%
Out of purview of BOS 8,996 10,250 5,726
  2.91% 3.00% 2.14%
Others 29,204 39,686 31,687
  9.46% 11.61% 11.82%
Total (Banks) 3,08,630 3,41,747 2,68,085
Complaints against NBFCs
Loans & Advances related / Non-adherence to FPC 7,052 17,915 18,729
  36.29% 48.48% 56.22%
Non-observance of RBI directions 3,607 6,114 1,881
  18.56% 16.55% 5.65%
Levy of charges without prior notice 1,628 3,189 1,751
  8.38% 8.63% 5.26%
Non-transparency in contract/ loan 1,704 1,833 512
  8.77% 4.96% 1.54%
Delay in repayment of deposits 395 536 319
  2.03% 1.45% 0.96%
Delay in release of securities/ documents 268 417 284
  1.38% 1.13% 0.85%
No communication about loan sanctioned 399 375 264
  2.05% 1.01% 0.79%
Delay in payment of interest 232 386 185
  1.19% 1.04% 0.56%
Non-understandable or no adequate notice on terms and conditions 82 145 91
  0.42% 0.39% 0.27%
Non-understandable or non-issuance of sanction letter/ terms 49 85 46
  0.25% 0.23% 0.14%
Not covered under Clause 8 of the Scheme 474 1,169 1,626
  2.44% 3.16% 4.88%
Others 3,542 4,787 7,626
  18.23% 12.95% 22.89%
Total (NBFCs) 19,432 36,951 33,314
Complaints against NBPSPs
Mobile/Electronic Fund Transfers / Mobile/Electronic Banking 598 824 1,209
  24.10% 22.93% 39.04%
Fund Transfers/ UPI/ BBPS/ Bharat QR Code 1,089 1,775 951
  43.89% 49.39% 30.71%
Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) 198 253 218
  7.98% 7.04% 7.04%
Non-reversal of Funds due to Wrong Beneficiary Transfer by System Participant 218 291 186
  8.79% 8.10% 6.01%
Violation of RBI Directives in relation to Fees/Charges 58 100 61
  2.34% 2.78% 1.97%
Out of Subject 75 57 11
  3.02% 1.59% 0.36%
Others 245 294 461
  9.88% 8.18% 14.89%
Total (NBPSPs) 2,481 3,594 3,097
 

 

 

 

Grand Total 3,30,543 3,82,292 3,04,496*
* Apart from the figures given in the above table, 1,13,688 complaints were closed at CRPC during 2021-22 under RB-IOS.

Appendix 1.2: ORBIO-wise position of Appeals received during April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022
ORBIO OVERALL BOS OSNBFC OSDT RBIOS
Ahmedabad 3 2 0 0 1
Bangalore 1 1 0 0 0
Bhopal 1 0 0 0 1
Bhubaneswar 4 2 0 0 2
Chandigarh 7 6 0 0 1
Chennai 24 13 9 0 2
Dehradun 0 0 0 0 0
Guwahati 4 0 0 0 4
Hyderabad 2 0 0 0 2
Jaipur 1 0 0 0 1
Jammu 2 1 0 0 1
Kanpur 16 13 0 0 3
Kolkata 1 0 0 0 1
Mumbai-I 4 4 0 0 0
Mumbai-II 7 3 0 0 4
New Delhi-I 6 2 0 0 4
New Delhi-II 1 0 1 0 0
New Delhi-III 5 3 0 0 2
Patna 0 0 0 0 0
Raipur 1 0 0 0 1
Ranchi 0 0 0 0 0
Thiruvananthapuram 2 1 0 0 1
Total 92 51 10 0 31

Appendix 1.3: Office-wise Cost of handling complaints at ORBIOs
Office Average Cost Total Cost
Ahmedabad 3,983 65,452,408
Bengaluru 3,820 56,781,829
Bhopal 3,432 43,951,512
Bhubaneswar 6,089 46,870,000
Chandigarh 2,061 41,800,000
Chennai 3,567 77,533,000
Dehradun 2,132 17,910,000
Guwahati 8,852 48,277,000
Hyderabad 3,865 59,970,000
Jaipur 2,897 52,230,013
Jammu 4,749 23,990,000
Kanpur 2,104 54,940,000
Kolkata 4,608 70,787,210
Mumbai-I 2,865 55,546,975
Mumbai-II 2,166 45,650,000
New Delhi-I 4,122 63,071,638
New Delhi-II 2,347 63,453,492
New Delhi-III 7,237 66,000,000
Patna 3,132 44,193,930
Raipur 4,161 22,279,000
Ranchi 3,660 22,340,000
Thiruvananthapuram 4,937 39,260,000
CRPC 327 48,812,000
CMS Cost 190 79,571,790
Cost of handling a complaint 2,895 121,06,71,797

Appendix 1.4: Complainant group-wise classification of complaints
Complainant Type 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 (Apr 1, 2021 - Nov 11, 2021) Nov 12, 2021 - Mar 31, 2022
(Jul-Jun) (Apr-Mar) (Apr-Mar) BOS OSNBFC OSDT RB-IOS
Individual 2,73,432 3,05,093 2,43,244 1,70,614 10,466 1,762 60,402
  82.72% 79.81% 79.88% 81.56% 51.21% 77.25% 83.22%
Individual – Business 10,831 13,614 10,400 7,906 609 85 1,800
  3.28% 3.56% 3.42% 3.78% 2.98% 3.73% 2.48%
Proprietorship / Partnership 5,583 7,505 6,712 4,795 351 31 1,535
  1.69% 1.96% 2.20% 2.29% 1.72% 1.36% 2.11%
Limited Company 6,917 8,381 7,427 4,712 525 72 2,118
  2.09% 2.19% 2.44% 2.25% 2.57% 3.16% 2.92%
Trust 559 665 613 428 28 7 150
  0.17% 0.17% 0.20% 0.20% 0.14% 0.31% 0.21%
Association 446 372 427 288 11 5 123
  0.13% 0.10% 0.14% 0.14% 0.05% 0.22% 0.17%
Government Department 5,180 6,447 4,993 3,827 58 54 1,054
  1.57% 1.69% 1.64% 1.83% 0.28% 2.37% 1.45%
PSU 1,297 1,475 1,799 803 14 5 977
  0.39% 0.39% 0.59% 0.38% 0.07% 0.22% 1.35%
Senior Citizen 8,237 10,061 9,244 7,185 103 32 1,924
  2.49% 2.63% 3.04% 3.43% 0.50% 1.40% 2.65%
Others 18,061 28,679 19,637 8,638 8274 228 2,497
  5.46% 7.50% 6.45% 4.13% 40.48% 10.00% 3.44%
Total 3,30,543 3,82,292 3,04,496* 2,09,196 20,439 2,281 72,580
* Apart from the figures given in the above table, 1,13,688 complaints were closed at CRPC during 2021-22 under RB-IOS.

Appendix 1.5: Mode of disposal of Maintainable Complaints against Scheduled Commercial Banks
Name of the Bank Total Maintainable Complaints disposed during the year 2021-22 Of (2), Complaints resolved through conciliation/ mediation/issuance of advisories Of (2) Complaints resolved through Awards Of (4), Awards unimplemented within stipulated time (other than appealed)
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
Public Sector Banks        
STATE BANK OF INDIA 35,106 22,568 3 0
BANK OF BARODA 7,754 5,412 3 0
BANK OF INDIA 4,635 3,279 0 0
BANK OF MAHARASHTRA 1,103 712 2 0
CANARA BANK 7,131 4,855 1 0
CENTRAL BANK OF INDIA 4,433 3,116 1 0
INDIAN BANK 5,336 3,704 2 0
INDIAN OVERSEAS BANK 1,516 858 0 0
PUNJAB AND SIND BANK 564 370 0 0
PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK 12,389 8,765 2 0
UCO BANK 1,539 1,017 0 0
UNION BANK OF INDIA 7,970 5,584 1 0
All Public Sector Banks 89,476 60,240 15 0
         
Private Sector Banks        
AXIS BANK LIMITED 10,181 6,222 0 0
BANDHAN BANK LIMITED 419 245 0 0
CSB BANK LTD 61 34 0 0
CITY UNION BANK LIMITED 175 90 0 0
DCB BANK LIMITED 353 205 0 0
DHANLAXMI BANK LIMITED 31 16 0 0
FEDERAL BANK LTD 569 324 0 0
HDFC BANK LTD. 10,499 6,000 0 0
ICICI BANK LIMITED 12,174 6,600 0 0
IDBI BANK LIMITED 1,475 843 0 0
IDFC FIRST BANK LIMITED 2,108 1,421 0 0
INDUSIND BANK LTD 3,279 1,763 1 0
JAMMU & KASHMIR BANK LTD 419 241 0 0
KARNATAKA BANK LTD 381 202 0 0
KARUR VYSYA BANK LTD 320 166 0 0
KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK LTD. 4,708 2,767 1 0
NAINITAL BANK LTD 37 20 0 0
RBL BANK LTD 4,615 3,122 0 0
SOUTH INDIAN BANK LTD 251 121 1 0
TAMILNAD MERCANTILE BANK LTD 209 93 0 0
YES BANK LTD. 1,563 911 1 0
All Private Sector Banks 53,827 31,406 4 0
         
Payment Banks        
AIRTEL PAYMENTS BANK LIMITED 1,793 1,385 0 0
FINO PAYMENTS BANK LIMITED 107 64 0 0
INDIA POST PAYMENTS BANK LIMITED 118 67 0 0
JIO PAYMENTS BANK LIMITED 5 1 0 0
NSDL PAYMENTS BANK LIMITED 45 36 0 0
PAYTM PAYMENTS BANK LIMITED 1,275 828 0 0
All Payment Banks 3,343 2,381 0 0
         
Small Finance Banks        
AU SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED 412 253 0 0
CAPITAL SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED 23 10 0 0
EQUITAS SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED 202 107 0 0
ESAF SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED 31 19 0 0
FINCARE SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED 107 78 0 0
JANA SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED 130 80 0 0
NORTH EAST SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED 2 1 0 0
SURYODAY SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED 22 13 0 0
UJJIVAN SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED 163 83 0 0
UTKARSH SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED 43 21 0 0
All Small Finance Banks 1,135 665 0 0
         
Foreign Banks        
AB BANK LIMITED - - 0 0
ABU DHABI COMMERCIAL BANK PJSC - - 0 0
AMERICAN EXPRESS BANKING CORP. 204 122 0 0
BARCLAYS BANK PLC 14 11 0 0
BANK OF AMERICA NATIONAL ASSOCIATION 2 - 0 0
BANK OF BAHRAIN & KUWAIT B.S.C. - - 0 0
BNP PARIBAS - - 0 0
CITIBANK N.A 909 475 0 0
DBS BANK INDIA LIMITED 270 136 0 0
DEUTSCHE BANK AG 86 60 0 0
DOHA BANK QSC 1 1 0 0
EMIRATES NBD BANK (P.J.S.C.) - - 0 0
FIRSTRAND BANK LTD - - 0 0
HONGKONG AND SHANGHAI BANKING CORPN.LTD. 259 155 0 0
INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL BANK OF CHINA - - 0 0
JPMORGAN CHASE BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION - - 0 0
MIZUHO BANK LTD 1 - 0 0
MUFG BANK LTD. - - 0 0
NATWEST MARKETS PLC (ERSTWHILE THE ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND PLC) 8 5 0 0
SBM BANK (MAURITIUS)LTD. 72 54 0 0
SHINHAN BANK 3 3 0 0
SONALI BANK - - 0 0
STANDARD CHARTERED BANK 1,091 669 0 0
UNITED OVERSEAS BANK LTD - - 0 0
WOORI BANK 1 1 0 0
All Foreign Banks 2,921 1,692 0 0
         
All Regional Rural Banks 2,416 1,644 1 0
         
All Scheduled Commercial Banks 153,118 98,028 20 0
         
Others (including Cooperative banks, NBFCs, PPIs) 22,623 13,792 13 0
GRAND TOTAL 175,741 1,11,820 33 0

Appendices pertaining to BOS

Appendix 2.1: Mode of receipt of complaints under the BOS
(April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021)
Mode of Receipt No. of complaints received during % change
(Y-o-Y - annualised)
2019-20 (Jul-Jun) 2020-21 (Apr - Mar) 2021-22 (Apr-Nov)
Email 1,09,740 1,07,443 57,694 -12.9%
35.56% 31.44% 27.58%
Online 1,54,580 2,01,581 1,29,845 4.5%
50.09% 58.99% 62.07%
Post/Fax/Courier/hand delivery 44,310 32,723 21,657 7.4%
14.36% 9.58% 10.35%
Total 3,08,630 3,41,747 2,09,196 -0.7%

Appendix 2.2: Zone-wise receipt of complaints under BOS
OBO 2019-20 (Jul-Jun) 2020-21 (Apr-Mar) 2021-22 (Apr-Nov)
East Zone
Bhubaneshwar 5,311 6,783 4,585
Guwahati 3,641 3,493 2,425
Kolkata 11,699 14,207 9,192
Patna 17,392 17,253 10,369
Ranchi 4,581 4,724 3,189
Total 42,624 46,460 29,760
% share to All India 13.81% 13.59% 14.23%
       
North Zone
Chandigarh 31,594 36,488 17,038
Dehradun 7,858 7,919 5,470
Jaipur 18,144 21,859 14,794
Jammu 1,530 1,744 1,331
Kanpur 23,895 26,278 20,872
New Delhi-I 18,147 22,957 11,836
New Delhi-II 20,817 19,956 12,377
New Delhi-III 9,589 11,011 5,606
Total 131,574 148,212 89,324
% share to All India 42.63% 43.37% 42.70%
       
South Zone
Bengaluru 18,475 17,114 10,356
Chennai 17,724 19,697 13,137
Hyderabad 19,947 21,898 11,404
Thiruvananthapuram 6,696 7,103 4,506
Total 62,842 65,812 39,403
% share to All India 20.36% 19.26% 18.84%
       
West Zone
Ahmedabad 16,008 20,945 12,634
Bhopal 14,510 15,482 9,562
Mumbai-I 19,473 22,268 15,035
Mumbai-II 17,917 18,604 11,261
Raipur 3,682 3,964 2,217
Total 71,590 81,263 50,709
% share to All India 23.20% 23.78% 24.24%
All India Total 3,08,630 3,41,747 2,09,196

Appendix 2.3: Office-wise receipt and disposal of complaints received under BOS during April 1, 2021 – November 11, 2021.
BO Complaints pending at the beginning of the Year Complaints transferred from CEPCs and Draft Complaints Complaints received during the Year Complaints handled Complaints disposed Pending at the end of the year Rate of disposal (%)
Ahmedabad 21 102 12,634 12,757 12,757 0 100.00%
Bengaluru 1,494 80 10,356 11,930 11,930 0 100.00%
Bhopal 710 34 9,562 10,306 10,306 0 100.00%
Bhubaneswar 151 4 4,585 4,740 4,740 0 100.00%
Chandigarh 0 48 17,038 17,086 17,086 0 100.00%
Chennai 332 43 13,137 13,512 13,512 0 100.00%
Dehradun 174 22 5,470 5,666 5,666 0 100.00%
Guwahati 20 10 2,425 2,455 2,455 0 100.00%
Hyderabad 188 26 11,404 11,618 11,618 0 100.00%
Jaipur 872 22 14,794 15,688 15,688 0 100.00%
Jammu 1 3 1,331 1,335 1,335 0 100.00%
Kanpur 1,794 126 20,872 22,792 22,792 0 100.00%
Kolkata 678 81 9,192 9,951 9,951 0 100.00%
Mumbai-I 398 205 15,035 15,638 15,638 0 100.00%
Mumbai-II 258 162 11,261 11,681 11,681 0 100.00%
New Delhi-I 532 32 11,836 12,400 12,400 0 100.00%
New Delhi-II 1,455 49 12,377 13,881 13,881 0 100.00%
New Delhi-III 207 43 5,606 5,856 5,856 0 100.00%
Patna 525 105 10,369 10,999 10,999 0 100.00%
Raipur 25 8 2,217 2,250 2,250 0 100.00%
Ranchi 48 11 3,189 3,248 3,248 0 100.00%
Thiruvananthapuram 199 39 4,506 4,744 4,744 0 100.00%
Total 10,082 1,255 2,09,196 2,20,533 2,20,533 0 100.00%

Appendices pertaining to OSNBFC

Appendix 3.1: Mode of receipt of complaints
Mode of receipt No. of complaints received during
2019-20 (Jul-Jun) 2020-21 (Apr - Mar) 2021-22 (Apr 1, 2021 - Nov 11, 2021)
Email 10,365 18,156 8,713
53.34% 49.14% 42.63%
Online 7,737 16,999 10,535
39.82% 46.00% 51.54%
Post / Fax / Courier / hand delivery 1,330 1,796 1,191
6.84% 4.86% 5.83%
Total 19,432 36,951 20,439

Appendix 3.2: ONBFCO-wise position of complaints during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021
ONBFC-O Complaints brought forward from previous year Complaints received Complaints of 2020-21 (transferred from CEPCs and drafts converted) Complaints handled Complaints disposed Pending at the end of the year Rate of disposal
Chennai 184 4,415 18 4,619 4,619 0 100%
Delhi 1,135 8,628 192 9,946 9,946 0 100%
Kolkata 0 1,870 33 1,905 1,905 0 100%
Mumbai 0 5,526 76 5,607 5,607 0 100%
Total 1,319 20,439 319 22,077 22,077 0 100%

Appendix 3.3: NBFCO-wise position of maintainable complaints disposed during April 1, 2021 to November 11, 2021
ONBFCO Maintainable Non-maintainable Total Disposed
Chennai 2,969 1,650 4,619
Delhi 5,549 4,397 9,946
Kolkata 1,194 711 1,905
Mumbai 2,441 3,166 5,607
Total 12,153 9,924 22,077

Appendices pertaining to OSDT

Appendix 4.1: Mode of receipt of complaints
Mode of receipt No. of complaints received during
2019-20 (Jul-Jun) 2020-21 (Apr - Mar) 2021-22 (Apr 1, 2021 - Nov 11, 2021)
Email 227 260 154
9.15% 7.23% 6.75%
Online 2,239 3331 2124
90.25% 92.68% 93.12%
Post/ Fax/ Courier/ Hand delivery 15 3 3
0.60% 0.08% 0.13%
Total 2,481 3,594 2,281

Appendix 4.2: Zone-wise receipt of complaints
East Zone 2019-20 (Jul-Jun) 2020-21 (Apr - Mar) 2021-22 (Apr 1, 2021 - Nov 11, 2021)
Bhubaneshwar 75 137 94
Guwahati 20 50 27
Kolkata 220 239 201
Patna 122 203 130
Ranchi 41 41 29
Total 478 670 481

North Zone 2019-20 (Jul-Jun) 2020-21 (Apr - Mar) 2021-22 (Apr 1, 2021 - Nov 11, 2021)
Chandigarh 108 131 73
Dehradun 55 51 28
Jaipur 141 235 129
Jammu 8 23 25
Kanpur 131 221 115
New Delhi-I 142 281 137
New Delhi-II 128 129 106
New Delhi-III 55 80 42
Total 768 1151 655

South Zone 2019-20 (Jul-Jun) 2020-21 (Apr - Mar) 2021-22 (Apr 1, 2021 - Nov 11, 2021)
Bengaluru 222 293 189
Chennai 133 149 116
Hyderabad 196 263 204
Thiruvananthapuram 27 19 10
Total 578 724 519

West Zone 2019-20 (Jul-Jun) 2020-21 (Apr - Mar) 2021-22 (Apr 1, 2021 - Nov 11, 2021)
Ahmedabad 74 133 94
Bhopal 167 305 138
Mumbai-I 176 211 186
Mumbai-II 217 346 182
Raipur 23 54 26
Total 657 1049 626

Appendix 4.3: Office-wise receipt and disposal of complaints received at OODTs during the year
Name of the ODT Complaints pending at the beginning of the year Complaints of 2020-21 (transferred from CEPCs and drafts converted) Complaints received during the year (Apr 1, 2021 to Nov 11, 2021) Complaints handled Complaints disposed Pending at the end of the year Rate of disposal (%)
Ahmedabad 0 0 94 94 94 0 100.00
Bengaluru 20 0 189 209 209 0 100.00
Bhopal 3 1 138 142 142 0 100.00
Bhubaneswar 0 0 94 94 94 0 100.00
Chandigarh 0 0 73 73 73 0 100.00
Chennai 0 0 116 116 116 0 100.00
Dehradun 3 0 28 31 31 0 100.00
Guwahati 0 0 27 27 27 0 100.00
Hyderabad 0 0 204 204 204 0 100.00
Jaipur 0 0 129 129 129 0 100.00
Jammu 0 0 25 25 25 0 100.00
Kanpur 1 0 115 116 116 0 100.00
Kolkata 0 5 201 206 206 0 100.00
Mumbai I 0 4 186 190 190 0 100.00
Mumbai II 0 2 182 184 184 0 100.00
New Delhi I 0 0 137 137 137 0 100.00
New Delhi II 0 0 106 106 106 0 100.00
New Delhi III 0 1 42 43 43 0 100.00
Patna 1 2 130 133 133 0 100.00
Raipur 0 0 26 26 26 0 100.00
Ranchi 0 0 29 29 29 0 100.00
Thiruvananthapuram 0 0 10 10 10 0 100.00
Grand Total 28 15 2,281 2,324 2,324 0 100.00

Appendix 4.4: OODT-wise distribution of maintainable complaints
Name of the ODT No. of maintainable complaints
Ahmedabad 4
Bengaluru 141
Bhopal 108
Bhubaneswar 51
Chandigarh 31
Chennai 41
Dehradun 14
Guwahati 15
Hyderabad 40
Jaipur 94
Jammu 13
Kanpur 30
Kolkata 115
Mumbai I 5
Mumbai II 52
New Delhi I 60
New Delhi II 44
New Delhi III 33
Patna 12
Raipur 12
Ranchi 10
Thiruvananthapuram 2
Grand Total 927

Appendices pertaining to RB-IOS, 2021

Appendix 5.1 – Mode of receipt of complaints during November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022
Mode of receipt Number of complaints received % to total complaints
CMS Portal 40,029 55.15%
CPGRAMS 1,354 1.87%
Email 19,980 27.53%
Physical Letter 11,217 15.45%
TOTAL 72,580 100%

Appendix 5.2 – Zone-wise distribution of complaints received during November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022
ORBIO Number of complaints received
North Zone
Chandigarh 3,159
Dehradun 2,844
Jaipur 3,222
Jammu 2,944
Kanpur 3,227
New Delhi I 3,337
New Delhi II 3,148
New Delhi III 3,235
TOTAL 25,116
% Share to All India 34.60%
West Zone
Ahmedabad 3,698
Bhopal 3,141
Mumbai I 3,585
Mumbai II 3,703
Raipur 3,119
TOTAL 17,246
% Share to All India 23.76%
East Zone
Bhubaneswar 3,127
Guwahati 2,992
Kolkata 3,503
Patna 3,107
Ranchi 3,089
TOTAL 15,818
% Share to All India 21.79%
South Zone
Bengaluru 3,451
Chennai 3,728
Hyderabad 3,604
Thiruvananthapuram 3,617
TOTAL 14,400
% Share to All India 19.84%

Appendix 5.3 – Entity group-wise classification of complaints received during November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022
Entity Group Number of complaints received
Public Sector Banks 35,582
49.02%
Private Sector Banks 21,572
29.72%
Payments and Small Finance Banks 1,976
2.72%
Foreign Banks 1,276
1.76%
RRBs/ Scheduled Primary Urban Co-op. Banks 2,216
3.05%
NBFC 4,233
5.83%
PPI/BBPOU 976
1.34%
Others 4,749
6.54%
Total 72,580
Note: Figures in % indicate percentage share to total complaints.

Appendix 6.1: Important notifications relating to Customer Service issued by RBI in 2021-22 (Apr - Mar)
Date of the circular Summarized Instructions
April 1, 2021 Master Circular on Facility for Exchange of Notes and Coins (RBI/2021-22/01 DCM (NE) No.G-4/08.07.18/2021-22): Mandates, inter-alia, all branches of banks in all parts of the country to issue fresh/ good quality notes and coins of all denominations on demand to the members of public, so that there is no need for them to approach the RBI Regional Offices for this purpose, exchange soiled/ mutilated/ defective notes and accept coins and notes either for transactions or exchange.
April 1, 2021 Master Circular – Scheme of Penalties for bank branches including Currency Chests based on performance in rendering customer service to the members of public (RBI/2021-22/03 DCM (CC) No.G-3/03.44.01/2021-22): The Scheme has been formulated to ensure that all bank branches provide better customer service to members of public with regard to exchange of notes and coins, in keeping with the objectives of Clean Note Policy.
June 10, 2021 Usage of Automated Teller Machines / Cash Recycler Machines – Review of Interchange Fee and Customer Charges (RBI/2021-22/52 DPSS.CO.OD.No.S-182/06.07.011/2021-22): Considering the need to balance expectations of stakeholder entities and customer convenience, it has been decided to increase the customer charges to ₹21 per transaction. This increase shall be effective from January 1, 2022. Further the interchange fee per transaction has been increased from ₹15 to ₹17 for financial transactions and from ₹5 to ₹6 for non-financial transactions in all centres. This is effective from August 1, 2021.
June 28, 2021 Guidelines for Managing Risk in Outsourcing of Financial Services by Co-operative Banks (RBI/2021-22/64DOR.ORG.REC.27/21.04.158/2021-22): Co-operative Banks have been mandated to clearly indicate that its Grievance Redressal Machinery will also deal with the issues relating to services provided by the outsourced agencies. The name and contact number of designated grievance redressal officer of the co-operative bank should be made known and widely publicised.
July 02, 2021 Review of Instructions on Interest on overdue domestic deposits (RBI/2021-22/66 DoR.SPE.REC.29/13.03.00/2021-2022): It has been decided that if a Term Deposit (TD) matures and proceeds are unpaid, the amount left unclaimed with the bank shall attract rate of interest as applicable to savings account or the contracted rate of interest on the matured TD, whichever is lower.
August 03, 2021 Framework for Outsourcing of Payment and Settlement-related Activities by Payment System Operators (RBI/2021-22/76 CO.DPSS.POLC.No.S-384/02.32.001/2021-2022): Responsibility of addressing the grievances of its customers shall rest with the Payment System Operators (PSO), including services provided by the outsourced agency. A PSO which has outsourced its customer grievance redressal function must also provide its customers the option of direct access to its nodal officials for raising and/ or escalating complaints.
August 10, 2021 Monitoring of Availability of Cash in ATMs (RBI/2021-22/84 DCM (RMMT) No.S153/11.01.01/2021-22): The Scheme of Penalty for non-replenishment of ATMs has been formulated to ensure that sufficient cash is available to public through ATMs. Cash-out at any ATM of more than ten hours in a month will attract a flat penalty of ₹ 10,000/- per ATM. In case of White Label ATMs (WLAs), the penalty would be charged to the bank which is meeting the cash requirement of that particular WLA.
August 18, 2021 Safe Deposit Locker/Safe Custody Article Facility provided by the banks - Revised Instructions (RBI/2021-2022/86 DOR.LEG.REC/40/09.07.005/2021-22): The instructions cover fresh guidelines related to locker allotment, due diligence, locker operations, the internal controls by banks, nomination facilities and also settlement of claims, amidst others.
August 25, 2021 Tokenisation – Card Transactions : Extending the Scope of Permitted Devices (RBI/2021-22/92 CO.DPSS.POLC.No.S-469/02-14-003/2021-22): The scope of tokenisation includes consumer devices such as laptops, desktops, wearables (wrist watches, bands, etc.), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, etc. This initiative is expected to make card transactions more safe, secure and convenient for the users.
August 27, 2021 Review of incentive and other measures to enhance distribution of coins (RBI/2021-22/93 DCM (CC) No.97527/03.41.01/2021-22): To ensure that all bank branches provide better customer service and extend the outreach, an incentive of ₹65/- per bag for distribution of coins (instead of ₹25/- as earlier) will be paid on the basis of net withdrawal from currency chest (CCs), without waiting for claims from banks.
September 07, 2021 Tokenisation – Card Transactions: Permitting Card-on-File Tokenisation (CoFT) Services (RBI/2021-22/96 CO.DPSS.POLC.No.S-516/02-14-003/2021-22): To enable cardholders to benefit from the security of tokenised card transactions, it has been, inter-alia, decided to effect tokenisation of card data with explicit customer consent requiring Additional Factor of Authentication (AFA) validation by card issuer.
November 12, 2021 Reserve Bank - Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021 (Ref.CEPD.PRD.No.S873/13.01.001/2021-22): To make the alternate dispute redress mechanism simpler and more responsive to the customers of entities regulated by RBI, the three Ombudsman schemes – (i) BOS, 2006, as amended up to July 01, 2017; (ii) OSNBFC, 2018; and (iii) the OSDT, 2019 were integrated into the RB,IOS, 2021, which came into force from November 12, 2021.
November 15, 2021 Appointment of Internal Ombudsman (IO) by Non-Banking Financial Companies (RBI/2021-2022/126 CO.CEPD.PRS.No.S874/13-01-008/2021-2022): All (i) NBFCs-D with 10 or more branches and (ii) NBFCs-ND with asset size of Rs.5,000 crore and above having public customer interface have been advised to appoint IO at the apex of their internal grievance redress mechanism within a period of six months from the date of issue of this direction, except for certain types of NBFCs as mentioned therein.
December 30, 2021 Periodic Updation of KYC – Restrictions on Account Operations for Non-compliance (RBI/2021-22/144 DOR.AML.REC.74/14.01.001/2021-22): REs were advised on May 05, 2021 that in respect of the customer accounts where periodic updation of KYC is due and pending as on date, no restrictions on operations of such account shall be imposed till December 31, 2021, for this reason alone, unless warranted under instructions of any regulator/ enforcement agency/ court of law, etc. In view of the prevalent uncertainty due to new variant of Covid-19, the relaxation provided was extended till March 31, 2022.
January 03, 2022 Framework for Facilitating Small Value Digital Payments in Offline Mode (RBI/2021-22/146 CO.DPSS.POLC.No.S1264/02-14-003/2021-2022): The framework to enable small value digital payments in offline mode using cards, wallets, mobile devices, etc., permits the upper limit of an offline payment transaction to be ₹200, with a total limit for offline transactions on a payment instrument being ₹2,000 at any point in time.
February 10, 2022 Master Circular - Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) (RBI/2021-22/154 DOR.SIG.FIN.REC 84/26.03.001/2021-22): In order to achieve the highest standards of transparency and fairness in dealing with stakeholders, ARCs have been advised to put in place FPC duly approved by their Board, and that the FPC be placed in public domain for information of all stakeholders. ARCs have been advised to ensure that outsourcing arrangements neither diminish its ability to fulfil its obligations to customers and the Bank, nor impede effective supervision by the Bank. In the matter of recovery of loans, ARCs shall not resort to harassment of the debtor, and ARCs shall ensure that the staff are adequately trained to deal with customers in an appropriate manner, observing strict customer confidentiality. ARCs to ensure that Recovery Agents are properly trained to handle their responsibilities with care and sensitivity, particularly in respect of aspects such as hours of calling, privacy of customer information, etc. They should ensure that Recovery Agents do not induce adoption of uncivilized, unlawful and questionable behaviour or recovery process. ARCs should constitute Grievance Redressal machinery within the organisation. The name and contact number of designated grievance redressal officer of the ARC should be mentioned in the communication with the borrowers.

Appendix 6.2: Number of awareness programmes conducted during April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022
ORBIO No. of Townhall Events No. of Awareness Programmes
Ahmedabad 2 9
Bengaluru 1 10
Bhopal 1 10
Bhubaneswar 0 4
Chandigarh 2 7
Chennai 0 11
Dehradun 0 1
Guwahati 2 12
Hyderabad 2 4
Jaipur 0 4
Jammu 2 5
Kanpur 0 12
Kolkata 0 2
Mumbai-I 2 9
Mumbai - II 2 8
New Delhi I 1 19
New Delhi II 2 6
New Delhi-III 2 21
Patna 2 3
Raipur 2 6
Ranchi 2 6
Thiruvananthapuram 2 6
Total 29 175

Appendix 7.1 - Position of complaints received by ORBIOs through CPGRAMS
Name of the RBIO 2019-20 (Jul – Jun) 2020-21 (Apr – Mar) 2021-22 (Apr – Mar)
Ahmedabad 68 107 156
Bengaluru 52 106 123
Bhopal 31 54 111
Bhubaneswar 40 31 33
Chandigarh 31 62 102
Chennai 438 1063 629
Dehradun 18 27 55
Guwahati 10 16 44
Hyderabad 31 49 74
Jaipur 58 59 94
Jammu 2 4 56
Kanpur 11 152 141
Kolkata 40 737 568
Mumbai-I 82 145 178
Mumbai-II 166 122 186
New Delhi-I 129 146 144
New Delhi-II 225 74 136
New Delhi-III 14 50 66
Patna 51 55 102
Raipur 2 8 82
Ranchi 7 15 85
Thiruvananthapuram 9 24 56
Total (A) 1,515 3,106 3,221

Name of the NBFCO 2020-21 (Apr-Mar) 2021-22 (Apr – Mar)
Mumbai 1,202 579
New Delhi 1,705 1,156
Total (B) 2,907 1,735
Grand Total (A) + (B) 6,013 4,956

Appendix 7.2 - Applications received by ORBIOs under RTI Act, 2005
Name of the RBIO 2019-20 (Jul – Jun) 2020-21 (Apr – Mar) 2021-22 (Apr – Mar)
Ahmedabad 28 25 39
Bengaluru 49 55 76
Bhopal 15 27 18
Bhubaneswar 18 35 20
Chandigarh 175 150 155
Chennai 103 76 82
Dehradun 40 39 48
Guwahati 9 15 13
Hyderabad 80 33 47
Jaipur 99 122 80
Jammu 1 3 11
Kanpur 159 186 187
Kolkata 46 65 52
Mumbai-I 106 106 113
Mumbai-II 83 82 56
New Delhi-I 148 108 81
New Delhi-II 117 105 74
New Delhi-III 33 45 42
Patna 90 79 72
Raipur 9 7 7
Ranchi 22 9 9
Thiruvananthapuram 6 12 18
Total (A) 1,436 1,384 1,300

Name of the NBFCO 2020-21 (Apr – Mar) 2021-22 (Apr – Mar)
Chennai 25 14
Kolkata 3 9
Mumbai 22 11
New Delhi 55 58
Total (B) 105 92

Name of the OODT 2020-21 (Apr – Mar) 2021-22 (Apr – Mar)
Bhopal 1 0
Bhubaneswar 0 1
Chandigarh 0 1
Hyderabad 1 1
Kanpur 4 0
Kolkata 1 0
Mumbai – I 0 1
Mumbai - II 1 1
Jaipur 1 0
New Delhi-III 1 0
Total (C) 10 5
Grand Total (A) + (B) + (C) 1,499 1,397
Note: Where a single RIA is marked to more than one ORBIO; that RIA is counted for all the Ombudsman concerned for that particular RIA.


Annex 1: Statement of complaints received against banks by the ORBIOs during April 1, 2021 – March 31, 2022
Name of the Bank Total Comp laints Comp laints per branch Comp laints related to ATM/DC* per 1,000 ATM/DC* outsta nding Comp laints related to CC* per 1,000 outsta nding CC* Digital comp laints per 1,000 digital transa ctions executed through the bank Non-digital Comp laints per 1,000 acco unts# ATM / Debit Cards Mobile / elec tronic banking Non- obser vance of FPC Credit Cards Failure to meet commit ments Levy of charges without prior notice Loans and adva nces Non- adhe rence to BCSBI Codes Deposit Acco unts related Pen sion pay ments Remit tances DSAs and reco very agents Para banking Notes and Coins Others Out of pur view of BOS
Public Sector Banks                                            
STATE BANK OF INDIA 58,644 2.37 0.042 0.108 0.00087 0.057 11,514 12,275 5,047 1,489 4,305 1,862 4,889 1,085 3,858 2,710 666 77 384 88 7,133 1,262
BANK OF BARODA 13,374 1.59 0.030 0.880 0.00074 0.048 2,242 1,734 1,549 972 1,037 630 1,283 222 1,080 256 229 13 82 16 1,727 302
BANK OF INDIA 7,832 1.46 0.062 0.900 0.00126 0.039 2,773 966 608 150 461 215 602 69 452 217 127 4 32 5 971 180
BANK OF MAHARASHTRA 1,953 0.93 0.051 0.051 0.00059 0.029 620 320 110 4 100 92 145 11 123 30 28 2 7 3 288 70
CANARA BANK 10,970 1.08 0.037 0.307 0.00063 0.069 1,707 1,111 1,256 285 1,010 581 1,202 453 980 343 168 8 88 11 1,487 280
CENTRAL BANK OF INDIA 6,838 1.46 0.075 NA 0.00136 0.041 2,268 904 585 78 438 140 527 75 417 373 83 8 31 8 776 127
INDIAN BANK 8,240 1.35 0.070 0.389 0.00113 0.045 1,880 1,168 777 60 635 275 792 106 757 429 135 7 41 10 999 169
INDIAN OVERSEAS BANK 2,394 0.73 0.024 0.135 0.00042 0.042 482 290 265 10 217 98 351 34 201 46 45 3 21 5 273 53
PUNJAB AND SIND BANK 948 0.60 0.058 NA 0.00239 0.049 204 134 60 3 206 31 82 4 61 7 10 - 4 - 126 16
PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK 20,618 1.81 0.093 0.644 0.00142 0.063 4,281 2,909 1,785 211 2,624 645 1,430 165 1,600 1,192 313 25 125 24 2,834 455
UCO BANK 2,431 0.78 0.039 NA 0.00074 0.034 443 384 221 21 232 84 236 30 206 76 52 4 16 3 341 82
UNION BANK OF INDIA 12,783 1.39 0.062 0.659 0.00083 0.050 2,985 2,031 1,182 355 818 434 1,070 332 897 391 190 14 54 14 1,721 295
All Public Sector Banks 1,47,025 1.63 0.049 0.212 0.00091 0.053 31,399 24,226 13,445 3,638 12,083 5,087 12,609 2,586 10,632 6,070 2,046 165 885 187 18,676 3,291
Private Sector Banks                                            
AXIS BANK LIMITED 16,992 3.45 0.052 0.469 0.00060 0.161 1,450 1,694 1,424 4,235 1,460 1,730 1,499 319 856 7 130 193 101 18 1,590 286
BANDHAN BANK LIMITED 769 0.14 0.036 NA 0.00069 0.013 179 106 83 5 47 21 134 7 48 1 18 7 7 2 85 19
CSB BANK LIMITED 119 0.19 0.017 NA 0.00033 0.040 14 7 24 1 8 10 19 4 7 - 1 - 5 1 8 10
CITY UNION BANK LIMITED 307 0.41 0.016 4.362 0.00026 0.031 41 60 34 8 15 19 54 5 18 - 5 4 1 1 32 10
DCB BANK LIMITED 648 1.54 0.032 2.118 0.00126 0.242 27 26 90 8 90 50 188 18 31 1 6 1 5 4 86 17
DHANLAXMI BANK LIMITED 64 0.24 0.010 0.140 0.00033 0.028 5 5 7 1 3 4 16 4 6 - 2 - 2 - 6 3
FEDERAL BANK LIMITED 1,041 0.78 0.020 0.141 0.00050 0.030 222 207 118 19 51 38 119 15 77 - 15 7 5 - 110 38
HDFC BANK LIMITED 20,044 3.13 0.041 0.254 0.00083 0.103 1,748 2,673 1,849 4,202 1,950 1,248 2,077 355 834 18 191 143 104 29 2,234 389
ICICI BANK LIMITED 22,043 4.11 0.049 0.309 0.00108 0.133 1,804 3,158 2,102 4,011 1,882 1,698 2,529 416 1,050 21 274 131 93 17 2,424 433
IDBI BANK LIMITED 2,500 1.19 0.027 0.795 0.00042 0.128 350 301 250 33 209 217 392 43 179 5 34 5 16 5 370 91
IDFC FIRST BANK LIMITED 3,787 4.23 0.042 0.294 0.00057 0.103 171 289 527 235 406 232 790 87 136 1 42 162 28 - 564 117
INDUSIND BANK LIMITED 5,423 2.59 0.055 0.840 0.00204 0.076 381 515 488 1,579 524 298 467 90 221 - 59 85 20 3 575 118
JAMMU & KASHMIR BANK LIMITED 657 0.66 0.048 0.280 0.00070 0.017 167 143 52 23 28 31 59 1 28 2 9 1 6 1 96 10
KARNATAKA BANK LIMITED 592 0.65 0.019 NA 0.00038 0.028 97 106 55 1 37 45 76 52 36 - 8 3 1 - 63 12
KARUR VYSYA BANK LIMITED 536 0.61 0.016 0.448 0.00021 0.036 66 79 83 3 41 27 103 16 48 1 4 1 2 2 45 15
KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK LIMITED 7,741 4.22 0.029 0.463 0.00078 0.200 673 1,048 706 1,479 615 503 765 170 326 5 80 227 45 5 924 170
NAINITAL BANK LIMITED 61 0.36 NA NA 0.00300 0.039 11 12 9 - 5 3 8 - 6 - 2 - - - 5 -
RBL BANK LIMITED 7,302 14.07 0.099 1.283 0.01080 0.161 130 294 433 4,726 323 297 234 94 114 - 9 228 22 - 337 61
SOUTH INDIAN BANK LIMITED 500 0.52 0.024 0.051 0.00035 0.034 85 77 67 3 17 31 89 19 32 - 10 3 - - 50 17
TAMILNAD MERCANTILE BANK LIMITED 330 0.62 0.022 0.122 0.00052 0.032 45 51 69 4 11 28 43 6 30 - 4 1 - 5 23 10
YES BANK LIMITED 2,819 2.49 0.046 0.419 0.00051 0.214 165 329 292 496 310 197 364 52 132 - 30 51 17 1 327 56
All Private Sector Banks 94,275 2.43 0.039 0.424 0.00087 0.103 7,831 11,180 8,762 21,072 8,032 6,727 10,025 1,773 4,215 62 933 1,253 480 94 9,954 1,882
Payment Banks                                            
AIRTEL PAYMENTS BANK LIMITED 3,062 109.36 0.042 NA 0.00081 NA 83 1,167 131 19 358 92 5 39 346 1 22 4 15 - 691 89
FINO PAYMENTS BANK LIMITED 205 4.77 0.011 NA 0.00017 NA 49 34 15 1 19 3 3 4 15 - 7 2 1 1 40 11
INDIA POST PAYMENTS BANK LIMITED 287 0.44 0.010 NA 0.00026 NA 50 84 15 3 27 7 2 6 32 - 10 1 - 1 43 6
JIO PAYMENTS BANK LIMITED 14 1.27 NA NA 0.00205 NA 1 9 1 - 1 - - - 1 - - - - - - 1
NSDL PAYMENTS BANK LIMITED 89 89.00 0.006 NA 0.00023 NA 2 10 8 - 13 7 2 2 17 - 2 - - - 21 5
PAYTM PAYMENTS BANK LIMITED 2,480 413.33 0.005 NA 0.00022 NA 201 1,129 108 52 150 24 32 26 167 - 41 7 11 - 464 68
All Payment Banks 6,137 8.30 0.008 NA 0.00033 NA 386 2,433 278 75 568 133 44 77 578 1 82 14 27 2 1,259 180
                                             
Small Finance Banks                                            
AU SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED 729 1.03 0.021 0.124 0.00055 0.218 41 60 88 21 99 45 160 4 39 - 7 8 4 - 137 16
CAPITAL SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED 41 0.25 0.011 0.000 0.00060 0.050 2 4 - - 15 1 10 1 1 - 1 1 - - 4 1
EQUITAS SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED 340 0.39 0.007 0.000 0.00039 0.048 24 35 49 - 27 19 85 12 28 - 4 - 3 1 46 7
ESAF SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED 68 0.12 0.003 0.000 0.00030 0.005 13 8 10 - 6 4 9 1 3 - 2 - - - 8 4
FINCARE SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED 162 0.24 0.006 0.000 0.00109 0.018 21 20 17 - 12 10 22 7 26 - 2 - - - 23 2
JANA SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED 213 0.38 0.012 NA 0.00169 0.029 29 5 36 2 26 12 42 7 16 - 2 3 - - 26 7
NORTH EAST SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED 5 0.02 0.007 0.000 0.00063 0.002 2 - 1 - - - 1 - 1 - - - - - - -
SURYODAY SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED 33 0.06 0.002 0.000 0.00007 0.010 1 - 10 - 1 2 4 - 6 - - 1 - - 6 2
UJJIVAN SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED 274 0.47 0.004 NA 0.00030 0.018 31 43 24 2 27 19 49 6 23 1 1 3 1 - 34 10
UTKARSH SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED 74 0.11 0.005 0.000 0.00187 0.013 7 14 8 - 11 3 6 1 12 - 3 1 - - 6 2
All Small Finance Banks 1,939 0.35 0.007 0.148 0.00048 0.031 171 189 243 25 224 115 388 39 155 1 22 17 8 1 290 51
Foreign Banks                                            
AB BANK LIMITED 3 3.00 NA NA NA 2.532 1 - - 1 - - - - - - - 1 - - - -
ABU DHABI COMMERCIAL BANK PJSC 1 1.00 NA NA NA NA - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - -
AMERICAN EXPRESS BANKING CORP. 309 154.50 NA 0.168 0.00475 0.035 1 4 14 232 14 26 2 5 1 - - 1 - - 7 2
BARCLAYS BANK PLC 19 4.75 0.000 NA 0.00672 0.568 - 1 - 6 2 1 1 - 2 - 2 - - - 3 1
BANK OF AMERICA NATIONAL ASSOCIATION 8 2.00 NA 0.000 0.00017 0.374 - 2 2 - - - - - - - 4 - - - - -
BANK OF BAHRAIN & KUWAIT B.S.C. 1 0.25 NA NA 0.00000 0.052 - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
BNP PARIBAS 2 0.29 NA NA 0.00000 0.610 - - 1 - - - 1 - - - - - - - - -
CITIBANK N.A 1,361 33.20 0.047 0.278 0.00145 0.084 68 136 98 709 58 41 34 22 33 - 16 9 6 - 112 19
DBS BANK INDIA LIMITED 433 0.71 0.025 3.000 0.00049 0.067 53 105 48 3 28 20 27 12 54 2 11 - 1 - 59 10
DEUTSCHE BANK AG 124 6.20 0.033 NA 0.00012 0.388 4 3 15 - 13 5 38 5 7 - 10 - - - 21 3
DOHA BANK QSC 1 0.33 NA NA 0.00000 0.047 - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
EMIRATES NBD BANK (P.J.S.C.) 1 1.00 NA NA 0.00000 0.438 - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - -
FIRSTRAND BANK LTD 1 1.00 NA NA 1.10742 0.000 - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
HONGKONG AND SHANGHAI BANKING CORPN.LTD. 379 13.07 0.023 0.258 0.00119 0.093 12 27 32 205 12 11 26 9 14 - 6 2 - - 20 3
INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL BANK OF CHINA 1 1.00 NA NA 0.00000 0.543 - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - -
JPMORGAN CHASE BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION 1 0.25 NA NA 0.00000 0.027 - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - -
MIZUHO BANK LTD 2 0.40 NA NA 0.00000 0.766 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2 -
MUFG BANK LTD. 1 0.20 NA NA 0.00000 0.241 - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
NATWEST MARKETS PLC (ERSTWHILE THE ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND PLC) 11 5.50 NA NA NA NA - - 2 4 3 - - 1 - - - - - - - 1
SBM BANK (MAURITIUS)LTD. 115 10.45 0.115 0.107 0.00828 0.031 6 11 2 60 7 1 6 2 10 - 2 1 - - 7 -
SHINHAN BANK 3 0.50 NA NA 0.00000 0.098 - - - - 1 - 1 - - - - - - - - 1
SONALI BANK 1 0.50 NA NA 0.00000 0.310 - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - -
STANDARD CHARTERED BANK 1,680 16.15 0.083 0.468 0.00285 0.314 92 168 138 628 100 98 177 29 41 3 24 16 2 1 131 32
UNITED OVERSEAS BANK LTD 1 0.50 NA NA 0.00000 41.667 - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - -
WOORI BANK 5 1.67 NA NA 0.00000 0.675 - - - - 2 - 3 - - - - - - - - -
All Foreign Banks 4,464 5.10 0.044 0.278 0.00157 0.112 237 458 355 1,848 241 203 318 85 163 6 76 30 9 1 362 72
                                             
All Regional Rural Banks 4,236           1,021 401 588 66 287 86 577 115 322 30 43 6 24 4 553 113
All Co-operative Banks 2,272           222 221 335 36 86 49 517 36 304 7 31 15 27 6 301 79
SBI CARDS 7,700           107 274 440 5,399 510 365 22 105 16 1 2 104 8 1 288 58
                                             
OTHERS 37           1 6 - 3 - - 7 - 3 1 - - 12 - 4 -
                                             
TOTAL COMPLAINTS AGAINST BANKS 2,68,085           41,375 39,388 24,446 32,162 22,031 12,765 24,507 4,816 16,388 6,179 3,235 1,604 1,480 296 31,687 5,726
DC – Debit Card; CC- Credit Card; #Sum of deposit and credit accounts

Annex 2: Statement of complaints received against NBFCs by the ORBIOs during April 1, 2021 – March 31, 2022
NAME OF THE NBFC NON-
ADHE RENCE TO FAIR PRAC TICES CODE / LOANS & ADVA NCES RELATED
NOT COVERED UNDER THE CLAUSE 8 OF THE SCHEME NON-OBSER VANCE RBI DIREC TIONS TO NBFC LEVY ING OF CHAR GES WITH OUT NOTICE DELAY IN REPAY MENT OF DEPOSITS NO TRANS PARENCY IN CONT RACT/LOAN DELAY IN RELEASE OF SECU RITIES / DOCU MENTS NO COMMU NICATION ABOUT LOAN SANC TIONED NON-UNDERS TANDABLE OR NO ADEQ UATE NOTICE ON TERMS AND CONDI TIONS NON-UNDERS TANDABLE OR SANCTION LETTER/ TERMS DELAY IN PAYMENT OF INTE REST OTHERS TOTAL
ADITYA BIRLA CAPITAL LIMITED 133 2 8 8 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 8 161
ADITYA BIRLA FINANCE LIMITED 550 74 63 59 10 11 19 11 2 1 3 46 849
AKARA CAPITAL ADVISORS PRIVATE LIMITED 98 1 21 6 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 3 132
BAJAJ FINANCE LIMITED 3266 403 294 343 37 92 15 56 21 10 16 237 4790
BAJAJ FINSERV LIMITED 170 2 6 10 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 34 225
BAJAJ HOLDINGS AND INVESTMENT LIMITED 144 6 14 45 1 10 0 3 2 2 2 9 238
BHANIX FINANCE & INVESTMENT LTD 165 38 7 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 8 223
BOB FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS LIMITED (PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS BOBCARDS LIMITED) 80 3 5 25 2 4 0 4 0 0 1 152 276
CAPFLOAT FINANCIAL SERVICES PRIVATE LIMITED. 91 6 15 13 2 5 0 2 0 1 1 11 147
CHOLAMANDALAM INVESTMENT AND FINANCE COMPANY LIMITED 502 72 83 33 8 7 9 7 3 0 3 31 758
CLIX CAPITAL SERVICES PRIVATE LIMITED 179 14 28 5 0 3 0 0 0 3 0 7 239
DMI FINANCE PVT LTD. 462 2 61 50 29 20 2 13 4 1 8 59 711
FULLERTON INDIA CREDIT COMPANY LIMITED 477 67 80 59 6 16 7 8 2 1 11 32 766
HDB FINANCIAL SERVICES LIMITED 577 85 61 80 11 17 16 9 4 5 6 35 906
HERO FINCORP LIMITED (EARLIER NAME-HERO HONDA FINLEASE LIMITEDVIDE GM'S ORDER DTD.02/09/11) 365 20 52 29 4 11 3 10 1 2 4 34 535
HINDUJA LEYLAND FINANCE LIMITED 219 13 18 19 5 8 16 2 0 0 4 33 337
HOME CREDIT INDIA FINANCE PRIVATE LIMITED (FORMERLY KNOWN AS RAJSHREE AUTO FINANCE LIMITED) 549 42 81 50 10 19 0 12 3 4 12 34 816
IIFL FINANCE LIMITED (FORMERLY KNOWN AS IIFL HOLDINGS LIMITED) 95 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 104
INDIA INFOLINE FINANCE LIMITED (OLD NAME- INDIA INFOLINE INVESTMENT SERVICES LTD.) 307 30 42 21 3 15 9 8 3 0 2 26 466
INDIABULLS COMMERCIAL CREDIT LTD.(EARLIER NAME INDIABULLS INFRASTRUCTURE CREDIT LIMITED ) 72 3 22 32 3 12 3 4 2 1 4 28 186
INDIABULLS CONSUMER FINANCE LIMITED (EARLIER NAME-IVL FINANCE LIMITED) 1891 19 179 316 52 71 21 29 13 3 15 420 3029
INDOSTAR CAPITAL FINANCE LTD 75 16 6 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 108
KOTAK MAHINDRA PRIME LTD. 169 14 19 24 1 8 3 2 0 0 0 19 259
L&T FINANCE LIMITED 232 26 22 24 2 5 7 2 2 1 2 21 346
LENDINGKART FINANCE LIMITED (FORMERLY KNOWN AS AADRI INFIN LIMITED) 111 12 8 12 4 4 0 1 1 1 0 2 156
MAGMA FINCORP LTD 100 15 23 10 1 5 3 1 0 1 1 5 165
MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA FINANCIAL SERVICES LTD 299 23 32 19 4 10 4 4 3 0 5 30 433
MANAPPURAM FINANCE LIMITED 92 14 11 12 1 9 4 3 4 0 3 8 161
MUTHOOT FINANCE LIMITED 197 30 23 19 1 10 7 3 0 0 4 36 330
SBFC FINANCE PRIVATE LIMITED (ERSTWHILE SMALL BUSINESS FINCREDIT INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED) 96 13 13 6 4 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 138
SBI CARDS & PAYMENT SERVICES PVT. LTD. 41 1 2 12 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 2360 2420
SHRIRAM CITY UNION FINANCE LIMITED 298 28 31 33 9 11 15 3 2 2 2 28 462
SHRIRAM TRANSPORT FINANCE COMPANY LIMITED 163 16 12 6 4 8 9 1 0 0 7 11 237
SI CREVA CAPITAL SERVICES PRIVATE LIMITED 94 13 4 4 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 119
SIDVIK LEASING PRIVATE LIMITED 130 5 2 2 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 142
TATA CAPITAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LIMITED 465 58 80 41 7 16 10 9 1 2 1 51 741
TVS CREDIT SERVICES LTD 134 11 12 23 1 3 3 1 0 0 5 13 206
                           
OTHERS 5641 429 441 293 95 93 96 47 16 5 61 3780 10997
                           
TOTAL COMPLAINTS AGAINST NBFCs 18729 1626 1881 1751 319 512 284 264 91 46 185 7626 33314
Note: Entity-wise complaints have been given only for those NBFCs wherein more than 100 complaints have been received under the Ombudsman Schemes during 2021-22

Annex 3: Statement of complaints received against PSOs/PSPs by the ORBIOs during April 1, 2021 – March 31, 2022
Name of the Non- bank Payment System Participants Mobile/Electronic Fund Transfers / Mobile Electronic Banking Fund Transfers/UPI/ BBPS/Bharat QR Code Non- reversal of Funds due to Wrong Beneficiary Transfer by System Participant. Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) Violation of RBI Directives in relation to Fees/Charges Out of Subject OTHERS TOTAL
Amazon Pay (India) Private Limited 147 128 24 42 4 2 62 409
Appnit Technologies Private Limited 2 2 0 5 0 0 2 11
Balancehero India Private Limited 2 2 0 4 0 0 18 26
CSC e – Governance Services India Ltd 27 11 3 1 0 0 9 51
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2
Euronet Services India Private Limited 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
GI Technology Private Limited 6 4 1 0 0 1 0 12
Hitachi Payment Services Private Limited 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 3
India Transact Services Limited. 1 1 2 1 1 0 0 6
IndiaIdeas.com Limited 4 2 0 0 0 0 4 10
Itz Cash Card Limited 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 5
National Payments Corporation of India 54 0 0 0 0 0 1 55
One Mobikwik Systems Private Limited 257 49 11 38 33 3 162 553
Pay Point India Network Private Limited 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 3
PayU Payments Private Limited 92 83 16 17 3 1 37 249
Phonepe Private Limited (formerly named as FX Mart Pvt. Ltd) 512 622 110 51 7 2 102 1406
Pine Labs Private Limited 14 13 5 10 3 1 12 58
QwikCilver Solutions Pvt. Ltd 9 0 0 3 0 0 0 12
RapiPay Fintech Private Limited 7 1 3 0 1 0 1 13
Smart Payment Solutions Pvt. Ltd. 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Sodexo SVC India Pvt. Ltd 4 0 0 4 1 0 4 13
Spice Money Limited 13 4 1 8 2 0 5 33
Transaction Analysts (India) Private Ltd 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 3
Transcorp International Limited 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
TranServ Private Limited 15 5 1 14 2 1 17 55
UNIMONI FINANCIAL SERVICES LIMITED 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 3
Vakrangee Limited 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3
ZipCash Card Services Pvt. Ltd 15 0 0 10 2 0 15 42
OTHERS 18 21 8 5 1 0 4 57
TOTAL COMPLAINTS AGAINST NBPSPs 1209 951 186 218 61 11 461 3097

1 Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu

2 RB-IOS, 2021 launched on November 12, 2021.

3 Includes complaints that were closed or pending for disposal at CRPC. Those complaints which were forwarded to various ORBIOs/ CEPC post preliminary scrutiny have been excluded to avoid duplication.

4 Of the 1,13,688 references, 5,867 references were pending as on March 31, 2022. These references have since been disposed of.

5 The figure is a “box plot” showing the quartiles in number of complaints received across ORBIOs in the blue and red boxes and the line extending from the lowest to the highest value for the number of complaints.

6 The figure is a “box plot” showing the quartiles in TAT in disposal of complaints received across ORBIOs in the blue and red boxes and the line extending from the lowest to the highest TAT in days.

7 In terms of clause 3(1)(g) of the RB-IOS, 2021, “Deficiency in service” means a shortcoming or an inadequacy in any financial service, which the Regulated Entity is required to provide statutorily or otherwise, which may or may not result in financial loss or damage to the customer.

8 Complaints which cannot be admitted under the RB-IOS, 2021 in terms of Clause 10 of RB-IOS, 2021.

9 Clause 17 of the RB-IOS, 2021 provides that “any party aggrieved by an Award under clause 15(1) or rejection/closure of a complaint under clauses 16(2)(c) to 16(2)(f), within 30 days of the date of receipt of the Award or rejection/closure of the complaint, prefer an appeal before the Appellate Authority.”


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