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109556792

Annual Report of Ombudsman Scheme, 2022-23

CONTENTS

S. No.

Particulars

1.

Select Abbreviations

2.

Foreword

3.

Executive Summary

4.

Chapter 1: The Reserve Bank – Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021: Activities during April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023

 

Receipt of complaints

 

Ombudsman Office wise allocation of complaints

 

Geographic dispersion of complaints across the states

 

Mode of receipt of complaints at ORBIOs

 

Population group-wise receipt of complaints at ORBIOs

 

Complainant type-wise receipt of complaints

 

Regulated 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 ratio

5.

Chapter 2: Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre

 

Receipt and disposal of complaints at CRPC

 

Mode of receipt of complaints at CRPC

 

Reasons for closure of complaints at CRPC

 

Calls received at the Contact Centre

 

Handling of calls at CC

 

Language-wise receipt of calls

 

Broad-basing and Upgrade of the Reserve Bank Contact Centre

6.

Chapter 3: Complaints received through Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) and applications under Right to Information Act, 2005

 

Complaints received through Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS)

 

Applications received under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005

7.

Chapter 4: Other Developments

 

Widening the coverage of the RB-IOS, 2021 by inclusion of Credit Information Companies

 

Rolling out the Internal Ombudsman Scheme for Credit Information Companies

 

Committee for Review of Customer Service Standards in RBI Regulated Entities

 

G20 High-Level Principles on Financial Consumer Protection

 

Pan India Intensive Awareness Campaign

 

Review of the framework for Strengthening of Grievance Redress Mechanism in banks

 

Opening / reorganisation of ORBIOs

 

Digitalisation of data compiled through incognito visits

 

Important regulatory measures relating to Customer Service and Protection taken by RBI

 

Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of major areas of complaints

 

Way forward

8.

Appendices


TABLES

Table No.

Table Title

Table 1.1

Total receipt of complaints under the Ombudsman framework

Table 1.2

Office-wise allocation of complaints at the ORBIOs

Table 1.3

Complainant type-wise receipt of complaints at the ORBIOs

Table 1.4

Regulated Entity type-wise receipt of complaints at the ORBIOs

Table 1.5

Category wise receipt of complaints at ORBIOs

Table 1.6

Disposal and Pendency position at the ORBIOs

Table 1.7

Mode of disposal of maintainable complaints by ORBIOs

Table 1.8

Receipt and disposal of Appeals under the Ombudsman Schemes for past three years

Table 2.1

Receipt, Disposal and Pendency position at the CRPC

Table 2.2

Call Data at Contact Centre (April 2022 – March 2023)


CHARTS

Chart No.

Chart Title

Chart 1.1

Geographic dispersion of complaints received per lakh accounts

Chart 1.2

Mode of receipt of complaints for the past three years

Chart 1.3

Population group-wise receipt of complaints at ORBIOs

Chart 1.4

Reasons for non-maintainable complaints

Chart 1.5

Total volume of disposed complaints along with their TAT

Chart 1.6

Complaint Conversion Ratio

Chart 2.1

Complaints received at the CRPC (April 2022 - March 2023)

Chart 2.2

Number of complaints received at the CRPC (April 2022 - March 2023)

Chart 2.3

Mode of receipt of complaints at CRPC (April 2022 - March 2023)

Chart 2.4

Reason for closure of complaints at CRPC (April 2022 - March 2023)

Chart 2.5

Total Calls received at Contact Centre (April 1, 2022 - March 31, 2023)

Chart 2.6

Language-wise calls at Contact Centre (April 2022 - March 2023)

Chart 2.7

Calls received in Regional Languages (April 2022 - March 2023)

Chart 2.8

Contact Centre – Journey so far


APPENDICES

Appendix No.

Appendix Title

Appendix 1.1

Mode of receipt of complaints at the ORBIOs for the past three years

Appendix 1.2

Office-wise receipt of Appeals during April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023

Appendix 1.3

Office-wise Cost of handling complaints

Appendix 1.4

Mode of disposal of Maintainable Complaints against Scheduled Commercial Banks

Appendix 2.1

Receipt of complaints at CRPC

Appendix 2.2

Month wise receipt of complaints at CRPC

Appendix 2.3

Mode of receipt of complaints at CRPC

Appendix 3.1

Position of complaints received through CPGRAMS

Appendix 3.2

Applications received by ORBIOs and CRPC under RTI Act, 2005

Appendix 4.1

Number of awareness programmes conducted during April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023

Appendix 4.2

Important policy initiatives relating to Customer Service issued by RBI in 2022-23 (April – March)


ANNEXURES

Annexure No.

Annexure Title

Annexure 1

Statement of complaints received against banks by the ORBIOs during April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023

Annexure 2

Statement of complaints received against NBFCs by the ORBIOs during April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023

Annexure 3

Statement of complaints received against NBPSPs by the ORBIOs during April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023

Annexure 4

Statement of complaints received against CICs by the ORBIOs during April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023


Select Abbreviations

AEPS

Aadhar Enabled Payment System

AFA

Additional Factor of Authentication

AGR

Alternate Grievance Redress

AI

Artificial Intelligence

ATM

Automated Teller Machine

BBPOU

Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit

BOS

Banking Ombudsman Scheme

CC

Contact Centre

CEPC

Consumer Education and Protection Cell

CEPD

Consumer Education and Protection Department

CIC

Credit Information Company

CMS

Complaint Management System

CPGRAMS

Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System

CRPC

Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre

DC

Debit Card

DLA

Digital Lending Application

FPC

Fair Practices Code

FRC

First Resort Complaint

FSWM

Financially Sound and Well Managed

GoI

Government of India

IO

Internal Ombudsman

IVRS

Interactive Voice Response System

NBFC

Non-Banking Financial Company

NBPSP

Non-Bank Payment System Participant

NIAP

Nationwide Intensive Awareness Programme

NPCI

National Payments Corporation of India

OECD

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

ORBIO

Office of Reserve Bank of India Ombudsman

OSDT

Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions

OSNBFC

Ombudsman Scheme for NBFCs

PPI

Prepaid Payment Instrument

PSO

Payment System Operator

PSU

Public Sector Undertaking

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

RTI

Right to Information

SCB

Scheduled Commercial Bank

SMS

Short Message Service

TAT

Turn Around Time

UCB

Urban Cooperative Bank

UPI

Unified Payments Interface


Foreword

The year 2022 marked a significant juncture in the financial consumer protection landscape as the G20/OECD High Level Principles (HLPs) on Financial Consumer Protection were updated for the first time after their introduction in 2011. The major changes to the Principles were inclusion of two new Principles, viz., ‘Access and Inclusion’ and ‘Quality Financial Products’ and three new cross-cutting themes namely ‘Digitalisation’, ‘Financial Well-being’ and ‘Sustainable Finance’, which are relevant to the consideration and implementation of each and all of the Principles. These Principles are the leading international standards guiding effective and comprehensive financial consumer protection frameworks across the globe.

On the domestic front, as India set a vision for an empowered and inclusive economy, the consumers of the banking and financial sector need to be aware of their rights, responsibilities and safe banking practices as well as avenue for redress of their grievances. RBI has taken series of initiatives to achieve this objective and the Alternate Grievance Redress framework of RBI aims just that backed by a revamped, restructured and integrated Ombudsman mechanism put in place in November 2021.

The Annual Report of the Ombudsman Scheme 2022-23 sheds light on the activities and functioning of the Ombudsmen, awareness initiatives undertaken through Ombudsman Speak and focused Nationwide Intensive Awareness Programme, additional Contact Centres with Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery capabilities and various policy initiatives to strengthen the customer protection framework.

This Annual Report is the second after the launch of the Reserve Bank – Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS) in 2021 and the first full-year report under the RB-IOS, 2021. I hope all the stakeholders would find it useful.

Sd/-
(Neeraj Nigam)
Executive Director & Appellate Authority


Executive Summary

The Annual Report of the Ombudsman Scheme 2022-23 is the first stand-alone report under the Reserve Bank – Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS), 2021 (the Scheme) elucidating the activities of the 22 Offices of the RBI Ombudsman (ORBIOs), Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre (CRPC) and the Contact Centre during the year.

The RB-IOS, 2021 was rolled out in November 2021 by integrating the three erstwhile Ombudsman Schemes viz., Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006, Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies (OSNBFC), 2018, and Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions (OSDT), 2019. Initially, the Scheme covered all Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks, Scheduled Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks and Non-Scheduled Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks with deposits size of ₹50 crore and above as on the date of the audited balance sheet of the previous financial year, all Non-Banking Financial Companies (excluding Housing Finance Companies) which (a) are authorised to accept deposits; or (b) have customer interface, with an assets size of ₹100 crore and above as on the date of the audited balance sheet of the previous financial year, and all Payment System Participants as defined under the Scheme.

With the experience gained ensuing the launch and implementation of RB-IOS, 2021, Credit Information Companies (CICs) were brought under the ambit of the Scheme from September 1, 2022.

Receipt of Complaints under the RB-IOS, 2021 framework

Under the RB-IOS, 2021, 7,03,544 complaints were received at the ORBIOs and the CRPC between April 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023, showing an increase of 68.24% over last year. Of these, 2,34,690 complaints were allocated to and handled by the 22 ORBIOs, whereas 4,68,270 complaints were closed by CRPC as non-complaints / non-maintainable complaints. Around 85.64% 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 overall disposal rate for the year at the ORBIOs stood at 97.99% with an average Turn Around Time (TAT) of 33 days. RB-IOS, 2021 envisages settlement of complaints through facilitation / conciliation / mediation and thereby, majority of the maintainable complaints (57.48%) disposed by ORBIOs were resolved through mutual settlement / conciliation / mediation. During the year, a total of 122 Appeals were received against the decisions of the RBI Ombudsmen, of which 119 Appeals were received under the RB-IOS, 2021 and the remaining three were received under the erstwhile Ombudsman Schemes.

Other developments during the year

The major initiatives undertaken during the year in the consumer education and protection vertical are listed below:

  1. A month long ‘Nationwide Intensive Awareness Programme’ was launched in November 2022 in collaboration with the Regulated Entities (REs) to reach the hitherto excluded / isolated sections of populations and remotest areas in the country, especially in the Tier-III and IV cities, rural areas, etc. The event was a huge success covering approximately three crore people through physical mode and 25 crore people through digital mode.
  2. The second edition of the ‘Ombudsman Speak’ event was conducted on March 15, 2023 on the occasion of ‘World Consumer Rights Day’ and all the 22 RBI Ombudsmen interacted with local / regional multimedia channels in their respective regions.
  3. The RBIOs conducted 48 town-hall events and 238 awareness programmes during the year. These events were carried out on avenues of grievance redress and consumer protection issues with special focus on specific audience group viz., servicemen, school / college students, consumer groups.
  4. A Committee for Review of Customer Service Standards in RBI Regulated Entities (REs) was set up on May 23, 2022, under the Chairmanship of Shri B P Kanungo, former Deputy Governor, RBI, for examining and reviewing the standards of customer service in REs, assessing adequacy of customer service regulation and suggest measures for improving the same. The committee submitted its report on April 24, 2023 and the recommendations are being examined and will be considered for implementation after taking into consideration, the suggestions and feedback received from stakeholders.
  5. The Internal Ombudsman Scheme, rolled out by RBI in 2015 and mandated to all scheduled commercial banks (excluding Regional Rural Banks) in 2018, Non-Bank Payment System Participants in 2019 and select NBFCs in 2021, was extended to all the CICs in October 2022.
  6. To develop Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery capabilities, the project for the development of State-of-the-Art Contact Centre at two more locations viz., Bhubaneshwar and Kochi is underway along with upgradation of the existing Contact Centre at Chandigarh.

Way forward

During the period April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024, as part of the Reserve Bank’s medium-term strategy framework for 2023-25 (Utkarsh 2.0), CEPD will:

  1. Review, consolidate and update the extant Reserve Bank regulatory guidelines on customer service;
  2. Review and integrate the internal ombudsman schemes, applicable to different RE types;
  3. Establish Reserve Bank Contact Centre at two additional locations for local languages, including disaster recovery and business continuity facility.

Additionally, the recommendations made by the Committee for Review of Customer Service Standards in RBI Regulated Entities will be examined for suitable implementation.


Chapter 1
The Reserve Bank – Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021: Activities during April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023

The Reserve Bank of India, as part of its commitment to consumer protection and maintaining trust in the banking system, had introduced the Banking Ombudsman Scheme (BOS) in 1995, followed by Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies (OSNBFC) in 2018 and the Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions (OSDT) in 2019. The Ombudsman Schemes by RBI provided an expeditious and cost-free Alternate Grievance Redress platform for customer complaints that had not been satisfactorily redressed by the Regulated Entities (REs). Since inception, the Ombudsman Schemes have become an essential instrument in enhancing customer protection and encouraging REs to adopt better practices in resolving customer grievances.

In November 2021, the three erstwhile Ombudsman schemes were integrated into a single scheme viz. the Reserve Bank - Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS), 2021 (the Scheme), based on the recommendations made by an Internal Working Group. The Scheme was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on November 12, 2021. The Scheme adopts “One Nation One Ombudsman” principle and provides single window for resolution of complaints against the REs viz. banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), Payment System Participants and Credit Information Companies. The Scheme has moved away from the multiple and diverse grounds of complaints under the old schemes, to ‘deficiency in service’ as the sole ground for lodging complaints, thereby reducing complexities and facilitating speedy resolution of complaints.

Under RB-IOS, 2021, the redressal / adjudication of complaints is presently handled by 24 Offices of RBI Ombudsman (ORBIOs) and the Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre (CRPC). During the year 2022-23, the total number of complaints received by the ORBIOs and CRPC was 7,03,544 complaints as against 4,18,184 complaints during 2021-22, showing an increase of 68.24%. Of these, 2,34,690 complaints were handled by the ORBIOs and 4,68,854 complaints were disposed at the CRPC. The complaints disposed at the ORBIOs have an average Turn Around Time (TAT) of 33 days during 2022-23, which improved significantly from 44 days during 2021-22.

Majority (57.48%) of maintainable complaints disposed under RB-IOS, 2021 were resolved through mutual settlement / conciliation / mediation. Rest of the maintainable complaints were either rejected by RBIOs or withdrawn by the complainants or adjudicated by passing of Awards. Complaints relating to Mobile / Electronic Banking were the highest contributor to the total number of complaints received against banks as well as non-bank payment system participants, while complaints relating to Non-adherence to Fair Practices Code were the highest in respect of NBFCs.

1.1 The Reserve Bank – Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS), 2021 (the Scheme) was launched on November 12, 2021 by the Hon. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi as part of the Alternate Grievance Redress (AGR) Framework of RBI for resolving customer grievances in relation to services provided by the Regulated Entities of Reserve Bank in an expeditious and cost-effective manner. On the date of the launch, the Scheme covered the following regulated entities:

  1. all Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks, Scheduled Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks and Non-Scheduled Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks with deposits size of ₹50 crore and above as on the date of the audited balance sheet of the previous financial year;
  2. all Non-Banking Financial Companies (excluding Housing Finance Companies) which (a) are authorised to accept deposits; or (b) have customer interface, with an assets size of ₹100 crore and above as on the date of the audited balance sheet of the previous financial year;
  3. all Payment System Participants as defined under the Scheme.

1.2 The Credit Information Companies (CICs) were brought under the Scheme with effect from September 1, 2022 to provide an avenue for AGR to the customers of REs covered under the RB-IOS, 2021 in respect of their complaints against CICs. The Scheme is being administered by the Consumer Education and Protection Department of the Reserve Bank through 24 Ombudsmen offices within the overarching principle of ‘One Nation One Ombudsman’.

Receipt of complaints

1.3 Under RB-IOS, 2021, there was a significant increase in number of complaints and a total of 7,03,544 complaints were received at the ORBIOs and CRPC in 2022-23, showing an increase of 68.24%, due to intense public awareness initiatives and the simplified process for lodging of complaints under RB-IOS. Of these, 2,34,690 complaints were handled by the ORBIOs and 4,68,854 complaints were disposed at the CRPC. It was observed that the number of complaints dealt at the ORBIOs declined from 3,04,496 complaints in 2021-22 to 2,34,690 complaints in 2022-23 as structural changes in the Ombudsman framework under RB-IOS, 2021 led to filtering out of non-maintainable complaints by both, the CRPC and the Complaint Management System (CMS) portal.

1.4 The details relating to the total number of complaints received under the erstwhile Ombudsman Schemes and RB-IOS, 2021 during the past three years are provided in Table 1.1 below:

Table 1.1: Total receipt of complaints under the Ombudsman framework

Scheme

2020-21 (Apr-Mar)

2021-22 (Apr-Mar)

2022-23 (Apr-Mar)

 

Number

Share (%)

Number

Share (%)

Number

Share (%)

BOS

3,41,747

89.39

2,09,196

50.02

-

-

OSNBFC

36,951

9.67

20,439

4.89

-

-

OSDT

3,594

0.94

2,281

0.54

-

-

RB-IOS

-

 

72,580

17.35

2,34,690

33.36%

Sub Total

3,82,292

100.00

3,04,496

72.81

2,34,690

33.36%

CRPC1

-

 

113,688

27.19%

4,68,8542

66.64%

Total

3,82,292

100.00%

4,18,184

100.00%

7,03,544

100.00%

% Change

15.7%

 

9.39%

 

68.24%

 

Ombudsman Office wise allocation of complaints

1.5 RB-IOS, 2021 has done away with the territorial jurisdiction of the ORBIOs and thereby, complaints from any region can be processed at any ORBIO. Under the ‘One Nation One Ombudsman’ approach, a pre-defined algorithm embedded in the CMS portal allocates complaints to all the ORBIOs in an equitable manner3 , which can be observed in Table 1.2 below.

Table 1.2: Office-wise allocation of complaints at the ORBIOs

ORBIO

2020-21 #
(Apr-Mar)

2021-22 $
(Apr-Mar)

2022-23 (Apr-Mar) &

Volume

Share

Ahmedabad

21,078

16,426

11,467

4.89%

Bengaluru

17,407

13,996

10,996

4.68%

Bhopal

15,787

12,841

10,364

4.42%

Bhubaneswar

6,920

7,806

10,728

4.57%

Chandigarh

36,619

20,270

11,177

4.76%

Chennai

27,446

21,396

11,613

4.95%

Dehradun

7,970

8,342

10,462

4.46%

Guwahati

3,543

5,444

8,753

3.73%

Hyderabad

22,161

15,212

10,713

4.56%

Jaipur

22,094

18,145

10,639

4.53%

Jammu

1,767

4,300

10,068

4.29%

Kanpur

26,499

24,214

10,259

4.37%

Kolkata

17,160

14,766

11,455

4.88%

Mumbai I

22,479

18,806

11,847

5.05%

Mumbai II

30,999

20,672

12,313

5.25%

New Delhi I

23,238

15,310

11,234

4.79%

New Delhi II

34,673

24,259

8,921

3.80%

New Delhi III

11,091

8,883

8,474

3.61%

Patna

17,456

13,606

10,675

4.55%

Raipur

4,018

5,362

10,660

4.54%

Ranchi

4,765

6,307

10,495

4.47%

Thiruvananthapuram

7,122

8,133

11,377

4.85%

TOTAL

3,82,292

3,04,496

2,34,690

 
# Data pertains to complaints received during the year under BOS, OSNBFC and OSDT.
$ Data pertains to complaints received during the year under BOS, OSNBFC, OSDT and RB-IOS, 2021.
& Data pertains to complaints received during the year under RB-IOS, 2021.
Note: The data for the three years is not strictly comparable as the complaints received from November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022 and FY 2022-23 exclude the complaints handled at CRPC.

Geographic dispersion of complaints across the states

1.6 The geographic dispersion of complaints received against banks at the ORBIOs under RB-IOS, 2021 during the year across the states in the country, vis-à-vis the total number of accounts held (deposit and credit) by the customers with Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCB) in the respective states is depicted in the map (Chart 1.1) below. The figure presented is based on complaints received per lakh accounts held in the SCBs of the respective States / Union Territories (UTs), as on March 31, 2023.

Geographic dispersion of complaints received per lakh accounts

1.7 It is observed that the States / UTs of Chandigarh, NCT of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Gujarat were the top five contributors to Ombudsman complaints, while the States of Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh were the lowest contributors during the year.

Mode of receipt of complaints at ORBIOs

1.8 Complaints can be received at the ORBIOs either through CMS portal or CRPC. After preliminary scrutiny, CRPC assigns the actionable complaints received through email, physical mode and CPGRAMS (the GoI portal for receipt and monitoring of complaints from the public) to the ORBIOs. A total of 85.64% of the complaints received at the ORBIOs were lodged through digital mode using CMS Portal / email / CPGRAMS portal. A breakup on complaints received through the different modes of receipt in the past three years is provided in Appendix 1.1 and depicted in Chart 1.2.

Mode of receipt of complaints for the past three years

Population group-wise receipt of complaints at ORBIOs

1.9 In 2022-23, majority of complaints at the ORBIOs were received from Metropolitan Centres (45.77%), followed by Urban (24%) and Semi Urban Centres (18.46%). The complaints reflect a proportionate rise with the size of population and bank branches. The share of complaints from Urban, Semi Urban and Rural areas saw a decent uptick during the year. The population group-wise receipt of complaints under the Ombudsman framework for the past three years is depicted in Chart 1.3.

Population group-wise receipt of complaints at ORBIOs
Population group-wise receipt of complaints at ORBIOs

Complainant type-wise receipt of complaints

1.10 Despite drop in the absolute number of complaints from individuals as compared to the previous year, the same constituted 85.92% of total complaints received at the ORBIOs. Notably, complaints lodged by senior citizens declined to 2.16% of total complaints as compared to 3.04% in the previous year. The complainant type-wise receipt of complaints at the ORBIOs during the past three years is provided in Table 1.3.

Table 1.3: Complainant type-wise receipt of complaints at the ORBIOs

Complainant type

2020-21 #
(Apr-Mar)

2021-22 $
(Apr-Mar)

2022-23 &
(Apr-Mar)

Individual

3,05,093
79.81%

2,43,244
79.88%

2,01,646
85.92%

Individual – Business

13,614
3.56%

10,400
3.42%

5,252
2.24%

Proprietorship / Partnership

7,505
1.96%

6,712
2.20%

3,869
1.65%

Limited Company

8,381
2.19%

7,427
2.44%

6,501
2.77%

Trust

665
0.17%

613
0.20%

390
0.17%

Association

372
0.10%

427
0.14%

275
0.12%

Government Department

6,447
1.69%

4,993
1.64%

2,387
1.02%

PSU

1,475
0.39%

1,799
0.59%

2,364
1.01%

Senior Citizen

10,061
2.63%

9,244
3.04%

5,081
2.16%

Others

28,679
7.50%

19,637
6.45%

6,925
2.94%

Total4

3,82,292

3,04,496

2,34,690

# Data pertains to complaints received during the year under BOS, OSNBFC and OSDT.
$ Data pertains to complaints received during the year under BOS, OSNBFC, OSDT and RB-IOS, 2021.
& Data pertains to complaints received during the year under RB-IOS, 2021.
Note: The data for the three years is not strictly comparable as the complaints received from November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022 and FY 2022-23 exclude the complaints handled at CRPC.

Regulated Entity type-wise receipt of complaints

1.11 Regulated Entity-type wise receipt of complaints for the past three years under the Ombudsman framework is provided in Table 1.4.

Table 1.4: Regulated Entity type-wise receipt of complaints at the ORBIOs

Entity type

2020-21 #
(Apr-Mar)

2021-22 $
(Apr-Mar)

2022-23 &
(Apr-Mar)

Public Sector Banks

1,74,974
45.77%

1,54,725
50.81%

1,02,144
43.52%

Private Sector Banks

1,26,303
33.04%

94,275
30.96%

          73,764
31.43%

Payments and Small Finance Banks

6,918
1.81%

8,076
2.65%

            7,888
3.36%

Foreign Banks

6,157
1.61%

4,464
1.47%

            5,639
2.40%

RRBs/ Urban Co-op. Banks

6,382
1.67%

6,508
2.14%

            7,200
3.07%

NBFC

31,158
8.15%

22,317
7.33%

          33,072
14.09%

PPI/BBPOU

3,168
0.83%

3,040
1.00%

            3,456
1.47%

Credit Information Companies5

-
-

-
-

            1,039
0.44%

Others

27,232
7.12%

11,091
3.64%

               488
0.22%

Total

3,82,292

3,04,496

2,34,690

# Data pertains to complaints received during the year under BOS, OSNBFC and OSDT
$ Data pertains to complaints received during the year under BOS, OSNBFC, OSDT and RB-IOS, 2021
& Data pertains to complaints received during the year under RB-IOS, 2021.
Note: The data for the three years is not strictly comparable as the complaints received from November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022 and FY 2022-23 exclude the complaints handled at CRPC.

1.12 Complaints against banks formed the largest portion (1,96,635 complaints), accounting for 83.78% of complaints received by the ORBIOs. The categories of complaints against each entity type, compared to previous years are furnished in Table 1.5.

Table 1.5: Category wise receipt of complaints at ORBIOs

Nature of Complaints

2020-21 #
(Apr-Mar)

2021-22 $
(Apr-Mar)

2022-23 &
(Apr-Mar)

Complaints against banks

Mobile / electronic banking

44,385
12.99%

39,388
14.69%

39,855
20.27%

Loans and advances

20,218
5.92%

24,507
9.14%

39,579
20.13%

Deposit Accounts related

8,580
2.51%

16,388
6.11%

33,612
17.09%

ATM / Debit Cards

60,203
17.62%

41,375
15.43%

28,635
14.56%

Credit Cards

40,721
11.92%

32,162
12.00%

24,549
12.48%

Pension payments

4,966
1.45%

6,179
2.30%

4,377
2.23%

Remittances

3,394
0.99%

3,235
1.21%

2,937
1.49%

Para banking

1,236
0.36%

1,480
0.55%

2,476
1.26%

Notes and Coins

332
0.10%

296
0.11%

505
0.26%

Others

157,712
46.15%

103,075
38.45%

20,110
10.23%

Total (Banks)

3,41,747

2,68,085

1,96,635

Complaints against NBFCs

Loans & Advances related / Non-adherence to FPC

17,915
48.48%

18,729
56.22%

18,657
56.41%

Others

19,036
51.52%

14,585
43.78%

14,415
43.59%

Total (NBFCs)

36,951

33,314

33,072

Complaints against PSOs/PSPs

Mobile/Electronic Fund Transfers / Mobile/Electronic Banking

2,599
72.31%

2,160
69.74%

2,246
64.99%

Others

995
27.69%

937
30.26%

1,210
35.01%

Total (PSOs/PSPs)

3,594

3,097

3,456

Complaints against Credit Information Companies

Loans and advances

-
-

-
-

754
72.57%

Credit Cards

-
-

-
-

63
6.06%

Others

-
-

-
-

222
21.37%

Total (CICs)

-

-

1,039

# Data pertains to complaints received during the year under BOS, OSNBFC and OSDT
$ Data pertains to complaints received during the year under BOS, OSNBFC, OSDT and RB-IOS, 2021
& Data pertains to complaints received during the year under RB-IOS, 2021.
Note: The data for the three years is not strictly comparable as the complaints received from November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022 and FY 2022-23 exclude the complaints handled at CRPC.

Disposal of complaints

1.13 The ORBIOs maintained a healthy disposal rate of 97.99% during the year. Further, there was a significant decline in the number of complaints pending beyond 30 days, from 0.26% as on March 31, 2022 to 0.04% as on March 31, 2023.

1.14 The position of disposal of complaints at the ORBIOs for the past three years, along with their age-wise pending position as at the end of respective years is given in Table 1.6.

Table 1.6: Disposal and Pendency position at the ORBIOs

Number of Complaints

2020-21 #
(Jul-Mar)

2021-22 $
(Apr-Mar)

2022-23 &
(Apr-Mar)

Received during the year

3,03,107

3,04,496

2,34,690

Brought forward from previous year

25,636

11,429

6,447

Complaints received by Email / from CEPCs before the start of the year but registered / assigned to ORBIOs on or after start of the year

6,302

1,589

4,254

Handled during the year

3,35,045

3,17,514

2,45,391

Disposed during the year

3,23,616

3,11,067

2,40,453

Rate of Disposal (%)

96.59%

97.97%

97.99%

Carried forward to the next year

11,429

6,447

4,938

Complaints pending for less than one month (30 days)

7,220

5,622

4,829

2.15%

1.77%

1.97%

Complaints pending for one to two months

2,232

582

92

0.67%

0.18%

0.04%

Complaints pending for two to three months

948

86

9

0.28%

0.03%

0.00%

Complaints pending for more than three months

1,029

157

8

0.31%

0.05%

0.00%

# Data pertains to overall complaints received during the year under BOS, OSNBFC and OSDT
$ Data pertains to overall complaints received during the year under BOS, OSNBFC, OSDT and RB-IOS, 2021
& Data pertains to complaints received during the year under RB-IOS, 2021.
Note: The data for the three years is not strictly comparable as the complaints received from November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022 and FY 2022-23 exclude the complaints handled at CRPC. All pending complaints from FY 2022-23 have since been disposed.

Mode of disposal of maintainable complaints

1.15 The maintainable complaints disposed by ORBIOs stood at 1,72,568 consisting 71.77% of the total complaints disposed by ORBIOs. The RB-IOS, 2021 envisages settlement of complaints by agreement through conciliation and / or mediation and thereby, majority of the maintainable complaints were resolved through mutual settlement / agreement. If the parties fail to arrive at an acceptable resolution of the complaint, the RBIO gives a decision, which includes passing the Award. The mode of disposal of maintainable complaints for the past three years is provided in Table 1.7 below:

Table 1.7: Mode of disposal of maintainable complaints by ORBIOs

Disposal of maintainable complaints

2020-21 #
(Jul-Mar)

2021-22 $
(Apr-Mar)

2022-23 &
(Apr-Mar)

By Mutual Settlement/ Agreement

1,34,504
72.67%

1,11,820
63.63%

99,184
57.48%

Disposal by Award

65
0.04%

33
0.02%

38
0.02%

Maintainable Complaints Rejected

50,326
27.19%

62,936
35.81%

70,729
40.99%

Maintainable Complaints Withdrawn

197
0.11%

952
0.54%

2,617
1.51%

Total

1,85,092

1,75,741

1,72,568

# Data pertains to overall complaints received during the year under BOS, OSNBFC and OSDT
$ Data pertains to overall complaints received during the year under BOS, OSNBFC, OSDT and RB-IOS, 2021
& Data pertains to complaints received during the year under RB-IOS, 2021.
Note: The data for the three years is not strictly comparable as the complaints received from November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022 and FY 2022-23 exclude the complaints handled at CRPC.

Reasons for closure of complaints under non-maintainable clauses

1.16 67,885 complaints were closed as non-maintainable, largely due to (i) complaints having been already dealt at ORBIOs, (ii) First Resort Complaints (FRCs), and (iii) complaints not being represented properly. FRCs are those complaints which are received at the ORBIOs without the complainant having approached the concerned RE first. These complaints are sent to the concerned RE for redress at their end. The complainants are advised through closure letters that they could lodge the complaint again under RB-IOS, 2021, in case no reply is received from RE within 30 days or the reply received from RE is not satisfactory.

1.17 The reasons for closure of the complaints at the ORBIOs as non-maintainable complaints is depicted in the Chart 1.4.

Reasons for non-maintainable complaints

Receipt of Appeals

1.18 The RB-IOS, 2021 provides for an appellate mechanism for the complainant as well as the RE for complaints closed under appealable clauses of the Scheme. The Executive Director-in-Charge of CEPD has been designated as the Appellate Authority for such appeal cases.

1.19 The complainant aggrieved by the Award under Clause 15 (1) or rejection of a complaint under any of the Clauses 16(2) (c) to 16 (2)(f) of the Scheme, can file their appeal before the Appellate Authority in Reserve Bank, within 30 days of the date of receipt of the Award or rejection of the complaint. The REs aggrieved by the Award under Clause 15 (1)(b) or closure of complaint under any of the Clauses 16(2) (c) to 16 (2) (f) of the Scheme, can file their appeal within 30 days from the date of receipt of communication of Award or closure of the complaint. The receipt of appeals cases under the erstwhile Ombudsman Schemes and the RB-IOS, 2021 during the past three years is provided in Table 1.8.

Table 1.8: Receipt and disposal of Appeals under the Ombudsman Schemes for past three years

Particulars

2020-21#
(Jul-Mar)

2021-22$
(Apr-Mar)

2022-23
(Apr-Mar)

Break-up of 2022-23

BOS

OS-NBFC

RB-IOS

Appeals pending at the beginning of the year

48

45

62

25

8

29

Appeals received during the year from complainants

14

80

118

2

0

116

Appeals received during the year from REs

10

12

4

0

1

3

Total appeals handled during the year

72

137

184

27

9

148

Appeal disposed during the year

27

75

103

27

9

67

Pending at the end of the year

45

62

81

0

0

81

Mode of Disposal

Appeals remanded to the RBIO

2

1

0

0

0

0

Appeals withdrawn / settled / infructuous

5

14

24

0

1

23

Appeals rejected

10

33

54

24

3

27

Appeals allowed

10

27

25

3

5

17

Appeals Disposed 

i. In favour of appellants

11

20

24

6

1

17

ii. In favour of REs

5

22

13

4

3

6

iii. Neither in favour of appellants nor in favour of REs (Remanded back to RBIO / infructuous)

11

33

66

17

5

44

# Data pertains to overall appeals received during the year under BOS, OSNBFC and OSDT.
$ Data pertains to overall appeals received during the year under BOS, OSNBFC, OSDT and RB-IOS, 2021.

1.20 The Office wise receipt of appeals during 2022-23 is given in the Appendix 1.2.

Cost of handling a complaint

1.21 For the year 2022-23, the average cost of handling a complaint at the ORBIOs reduced to ₹2,041 per complaint from ₹2,895 per complaint during 2021-22. This reduction in average cost per complaint can be attributed to increased receipt of complaints on account of simplified procedure for lodging of complaints. The office wise cost of handling complaints has been provided at Appendix 1.3.

Turn Around Time (TAT) for disposal of complaints

1.22 The average TAT for disposal of complaints at the ORBIOs has improved continuously from 95 days in 2019-20 to 33 days 2022-23. This decline is in consonance with the enhanced efficiencies brought about in the system on the back of the process re-engineering and structural changes introduced under the RB-IOS, 2021. Focused efforts are being made to further optimize the TAT while ensuring quality disposal.

1.23 The average TAT for disposal of complaints under the erstwhile Ombudsman Schemes and the RB-IOS, 2021 is depicted in the Chart 1.5.

Total volume of disposed complaints along with their TAT

Bank group-wise complaint conversion ratio

1.24 The complaint conversion ratio represents the proportion of complaints received against the concerned bank group at the ORBIOs vis-à-vis the total number of complaints received at the respective bank group from their customers. As seen from the Chart 1.6 given below, all bank groups have improved on the conversion rates except Small Finance Banks.

Complaint Conversion Ratio

Chapter 2
Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre

The Reserve Bank set up a Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre (CRPC) at Chandigarh, along with the roll out of RB-IOS 2021 in November 2021 with an objective to make the RBI Alternate Grievance Redress (AGR) mechanism simpler, easier and more approachable for the customers of its Regulated Entities (REs). CRPC serves as a focal point for receipt of all physical and email complaints lodged by the complainants against the REs, in any language, for digitalizing and initial processing in the Complaint Management System (CMS) portal. While the maintainable complaints are assigned to the Offices of Reserve Bank of India Ombudsmen (ORBIOs) and the REs, the non-maintainable complaints are closed by the CRPC.

The CRPC also houses a Contact Centre with toll free facility #14448 for providing information to customers on RB-IOS 2021, complaint lodging mechanism, status of complaints already lodged with the Reserve Bank as well as imparting education relating to the do’s and don’ts for safeguarding themselves against digital and electronic transaction frauds. The Contact Centre facility is available through the Reserve Bank staff on all working days from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm in Hindi and English and 9:30 am to 5:15 pm in 10 regional languages and 24x7x365 through Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) facility.

Since its launch in November 2021, in addition to the CMS portal, the CRPC has turned into an important pillar of the AGR mechanism instituted by the Reserve Bank and emerged as a leading channel for lodging complaints by the customers of the REs for expeditious resolution.

2.1 The Reserve Bank - Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021 (RB-IOS, 2021) launched in November 2021 envisaged filing of complaints through three channels, viz., online, email and physical mode. Accordingly, the Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre (CRPC) was established at Reserve Bank of India, Chandigarh, as a focal point for receipt and processing of email and postal complaints, in any language. Along with the CRPC, a Contact Centre also started functioning to provide information / clarifications to the public regarding the AGR mechanism of RBI, guide complainants in filing of complaints, as well as for obtaining the status of complaints already filed with the Reserve Bank, in Hindi, English and ten regional languages.

Receipt and disposal of complaints at CRPC

2.2 During the year 2022-23, the number of complaints received at the CRPC witnessed a steady increase reflecting the growing awareness among public about the AGR mechanism of the Reserve Bank. A total of 5,95,371 complaints were handled at the CRPC during the year, out of which 5,94,787 were disposed as on March 31, 2023. With improved efficiency, the pendency at CRPC declined significantly and the disposal rate improved remarkably to 99.90% during 2022-23 from 96.07% during 2021-22 (since launch of CRPC in November 2021). The disposal and pendency position at the CRPC is provided in Table 2.1.

Table 2.1: Receipt, Disposal and Pendency position at the CRPC

Particulars

November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022

April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023

Received during the period (A)

1,49,419

5,89,504

Brought forward from previous year (B)

-

5,867

Handled during the period (A+B)

1,49,419

5,95,371

Disposed during the period (C)

1,43,552

5,94,787

Rate of Disposal at CRPC (C/A+B)

96.07%

99.90%

Carried forward to the next year (A+B-C)

5,867

584

Note: 584 complaints have since been disposed.

2.3 A total of 5,89,504 fresh complaints were received at the CRPC during the year. Of these, 4,68,270 complaints were closed at the CRPC as non-complaints / non-maintainable complaints, while 1,20,650 complaints were assigned to ORBIOs and CEPCs for further redress. The details are provided in Appendix 2.1 and Chart 2.1.

Complaints received at the CRPC (April 2022 - March 2023)

2.4 As regards 5,867 complaints, which were brought forward from the last year 2021-22, 4,533 complaints were closed at the CRPC as non-complaints / non-maintainable complaints. The remaining 1,334 complaints were assigned to the ORBIOs and the CEPCs for redress during the year 2022-23.

2.5 Month-wise receipt of complaints at the CRPC during 2022-2023 is given in Appendix 2.2 and depicted in Chart 2.2.

Number of complaints received at the CRPC (April 2022 - March 2023)

Mode of receipt of complaints at CRPC

2.6 Complaints are received at CRPC either through e-mail, physical letter or Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS). The break-up of complaints received at the CRPC through different modes during the year 2022-23 is depicted in Chart 2.3.

Mode of receipt of complaints at CRPC (April 2022 - March 2023)

A comparative position of various modes through which complaints were received at the CRPC since its inception is given in Appendix 2.3.

Reasons for closure of complaints at CRPC

2.7 The reasons for closure of 4,68,270 complaints at the CRPC as non-complaints/ non-maintainable complaints is depicted in Chart 2.4.

2.8 Out of 4,68,270 complaints closed at the CRPC, 47.46% complaints were closed as First Resort Complaints whereas 22.65% complaints were closed on account of being addressed to other authorities. The average Turn Around Time for closure of complaints at the CRPC improved significantly, which stood at 4 days during the year 2022-23 as against 12 days during the year 2021-22.

Reason for closure of complaints at CRPC (April 2022 - March 2023)

Calls received at the Contact Centre

2.9 The CRPC at Chandigarh also houses a Contact Centre (CC) with toll free facility #14448 for providing information to customers on RB-IOS 2021 and complaint lodging mechanism, status of complaints already lodged with the Reserve Bank as well as imparting education relating to the do’s and don’ts for safeguarding themselves against digital and electronic transaction frauds. The CC is available through the Reserve Bank staff on all working days from 8.00 am to 10.00 pm in Hindi and English and 9.30 am to 5.15 pm in ten6 regional languages and 24x7x365 through the IVRS facility.

2.10 During the year 2022-23, 8,18,958 calls were received at the CC, of which 33.59% calls were received in November 2022 during the NIAP. The impact of NIAP was also observed in subsequent months, as 74.16% of the calls were received during November 2022 to March 2023. The month-wise call distribution at the CC during the year 2022-23 is presented in Chart 2.5.

Total Calls received at Contact Centre (April 1, 2022 - March 31, 2023)

Handling of calls at CC

2.11 Of the 8,18,958 calls received during the year 2022-23, 66.27% of the calls were attended through the IVRS facility, 23.16% of the calls were attended directly by the Reserve Bank staff at the CC and 10.57% of calls were abandoned. The details of the calls handled at the CC are provided in Table 2.2.

Table 2.2: Call Data at Contact Centre (April 2022 - March 2023)

Details

Number of calls

Calls attended through IVRS (A)

5,42,702
(66.27%)

Calls attended by the RBI Staff (B)

1,89,690
(23.16%)

Calls abandoned7 (C)

86,566
(10.57%)

Total Calls received (A+B+C)

8,18,958

Language-wise receipt of calls

2.12 A total of 2,76,256 calls (including abandoned calls) were received in various languages at the CC during the year 2022-23. It was observed that 71.51% of calls were received in Hindi, 19.63% calls were received in regional languages and 8.86% of calls were received in English. The month-wise trend in receipt of calls at the CC in Hindi, English and regional languages is depicted in Chart 2.6.

Language-wise calls at Contact Centre (April 2022 - March 2023)

2.13 Among the ten regional languages, the highest number of calls were received in Tamil (29.22%) followed by Telugu (22.10%), Malayalam (10.31%), Kannada (10.26%) and Bengali (9.80%). The breakup of calls received in ten regional languages during 2022-23 is depicted in Chart 2.7.

Calls received in Regional Languages (April 2022 - March 2023)

Broad-basing and Upgrade of the Reserve Bank Contact Centre

2.14 The CC, set up in RBI, Chandigarh, began its operations in November 2021. At the time of launch, the CC timings for interaction with the Reserve Bank staff was 9:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. (7 hours and 45 minutes) in Hindi, English as well as the eight regional languages (Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Tamil and Telugu), while the IVRS facility was available on 24×7×365 basis. With effect from November 7, 2022, the timings of CC for interaction with the staff in Hindi and English was extended to 8.00 A.M. to 10.00 P.M. (14 hours) on all weekdays except national holidays. Punjabi and Assamese8 were also added to the menu of the regional languages.

2.15 In view of the surge in the number of calls at the CC and to develop Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery capabilities, the project for development of State-of-the-Art CC at two more locations viz., Bhubaneshwar and Kochi is underway. CC would be staffed as per a hybrid model where the operations will be handled by an outsourced agency, under the overall supervision of the Reserve Bank. The evolution of CC since inception is depicted in Chart 2.8.

Contact Centre - Journey so far

Chapter 3
Complaints received through Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) and applications under Right to Information Act, 2005

During the year, 8,453 complaints were received through CPGRAMS and 1,372 applications were received under the RTI Act, 2005 in the 22 RBIO offices and the Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre (CRPC), which were replied to.

Complaints received through Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS)

3.1 CPGRAMS is a mechanism to receive and address consumer complaints regarding different products and schemes offered by the Government of India or its agencies. The CPGRAMS portal has been developed by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances of Government of India. 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.

3.2 During the year, 8,453 CPGRAMS complaints were received by the 22 Ombudsman offices of RBI. A comparative position of the complaints received through this portal and handled by the ORBIOs during the last three years is given at Appendix 3.1.

Applications received under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005

3.3 The RBI Ombudsmen are the Central Public Information Officers under the RTI Act, 2005 to receive applications and furnish information related to complaints handled by the ORBIOs. During the year, 1,372 RTI applications were received by all the ORBIOs and CRPC. The office-wise position of such applications received during the last three years is detailed at Appendix 3.2.


Chapter 4
Other Developments

RBI continued its endeavours towards spreading awareness on customer rights, consumer protection, grievance redress mechanism and prevention of financial frauds with greater fervour and intensity, through a wide range of innovative strategies during the year 2022-23. The Nationwide Intensive Awareness Programme and Ombudsman Speak event on ‘World Consumer Rights Day’ during the months of November 2022 and March 2023, respectively, were conducted under the aegis of the Pan India Intensive Awareness Campaign by employing diverse strategies to reach out to the most isolated segments of population and remotest locations of the country to create awareness on the nuances of the Customer Protection as well as the Alternate Grievance Redress (AGR) facilities laid out by the Reserve Bank, including with RB-IOS, 2021, and to raise public awareness on the modus operandi of digital frauds. A booklet, namely, ‘Raju and the Forty Thieves’ was released in multiple languages to provide glimpses of fraudulent financial incidents to the customers for safeguarding themselves from retail transaction frauds.

The year also witnessed a series of policy initiatives to strengthen the customer protection framework and facilitate better customer services across the Regulated Entities (REs). A Committee, under the Chairmanship of Shri B.P. Kanungo, former Deputy Governor, RBI, was constituted to examine and review the standards of customer service in the REs, assess adequacy of customer service regulation and suggest measures for improving the same. As part of the AGR mechanism, Credit Information Companies were brought under the ambit of the RB-IOS, 2021 for raising grievances. The Internal Ombudsman Scheme was further extended to the Credit Information Companies.

On the global front, G20 / OECD reviewed and updated the High-Level Principles on Financial Consumer Protection to include two new Principles, i.e., ‘Access and Inclusion’ and ‘Quality Financial Products’, with a view to provide holistic approach for financial consumer protection across jurisdictions.

Widening the coverage of the RB-IOS, 2021 by inclusion of Credit Information Companies

4.1 In order to make the RB-IOS, 2021 more broad based, the Credit Information Companies (CICs) were brought under RB-IOS, 2021 with effect from September 1, 2022 for raising grievances against CICs if the complaints are not resolved to the satisfaction of the complainant or not replied within a period of 30 days by CICs. This provides an avenue for cost free AGR to customers of REs for grievances against CICs.

Rolling out the Internal Ombudsman Scheme for Credit Information Companies

4.2 Reserve Bank of India had mandated implementation of the Internal Ombudsman mechanism for banks in 2018, Non-Bank Payment System Participants in 2019 and select NBFCs in 2021. The Internal Ombudsman mechanism serves as an apex level review mechanism for disposal of complaints which are partially or wholly rejected, with a view to strengthen the internal customer grievance redressal structure at the REs. In October 2022, the Internal Ombudsman mechanism was also extended to the Credit Information Companies (CICs) as a step towards strengthening the internal grievance redressal system of CICs. All CICs holding a Certificate of Registration under sub-section (2) of Section 5 of the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005, were directed to comply with the Reserve Bank (Credit Information Companies - Internal Ombudsman) Directions, 2022 by April 1, 2023. The direction, inter alia, covers the appointment/tenure, role and responsibilities, procedural guidelines, and oversight mechanism for the Internal Ombudsman. All complaints that are partly or wholly rejected by the CICs will be reviewed by the Internal Ombudsman before the final decision of the CIC is conveyed to the complainant.

Committee for Review of Customer Service Standards in RBI Regulated Entities

4.3 Considering the rapid transformation in the financial landscape consequent to the rising customer base of the banks, the number of service providers, advent of new technology and digital products, as also keeping in view the increase in volume of digital transactions emerging from innovations in payment systems, it was announced in the bi-monthly Monetary Policy Review Statement on April 08, 2022 to set up a Committee to examine and review the standards of customer service in the REs, assess adequacy of customer service regulation and suggest measures for improving the same. Accordingly, the Committee under chairmanship of Shri B P Kanungo, former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India was constituted on May 23, 2022. The Committee has since submitted its report to RBI, suggesting measures for strengthening customer service regulation, improving customer service in REs and leveraging technology for better customer service delivery and fraud prevention. The report of the Committee was uploaded on the Reserve Bank website on June 05, 2023 inviting comments and feedback from the stakeholders and members of the public by July 7, 2023. The recommendations of the committee are under examination and will be considered for implementation after taking into consideration, the suggestions and feedback received.

G20 High-Level Principles on Financial Consumer Protection9

4.4 In 2022, the G20 High-Level Principles on Financial Consumer Protection, which were first released in 2011, were reviewed and updated. The update was undertaken by the G20/OECD Task Force on Financial Consumer Protection, in collaboration with the Global Partnership on Financial Inclusion. The updated Principles were endorsed by G20 Leaders at the Bali Summit on November 15-16, 2022 and adopted by OECD Governments on December 12, 2022. The major change to the Principles were inclusion of two new Principles, viz., ‘Access and Inclusion’ and ‘Quality Financial Products’, with a view to ensuring a holistic approach to financial consumer protection. Further, three new cross-cutting themes namely ‘Digitalisation’, ‘Financial Well-being’ and ‘Sustainable Finance’ were enumerated, which are relevant to the consideration and implementation of each of the Principles. These Principles are the leading international standard for effective and comprehensive financial consumer protection frameworks.

G20 High-Level Principles on Financial Consumer Protection

Pan India Intensive Awareness Campaign

4.5 RBI launched a Pan India Awareness Campaign during the year 2022-2023 to ensure deeper percolation of the financial consumer awareness on safe banking practices, RBI’s AGR mechanism and extant regulations for protection of consumer interests. The campaign was run as a multi-phased, multi-pronged financial awareness campaign in the wake of the “Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav” and covered three phases, viz., i) the Ombudsman Speak events, ii) Talkathon by Top Management and iii) a month long Nationwide Intensive Awareness Programme (NIAP). The objective of the campaign was to reach the hitherto excluded/ isolated sections of populations and remotest areas in the country, especially in the Tier-III and IV cities, rural areas, etc.

4.6 The NIAP encompassed month long awareness events from November 1 to 30, 2022 in collaboration with the REs to leverage on their extensive reach across the nooks and corners of the country. During the campaign awareness messages were broadcast through print, multimedia channels, RBI website, ‘RBI-says’, interactive voice response system and ‘RBI Kehta Hai’, etc., in addition to various physical interactions / interface programmes with the common public. Majority of the campaigns were carried out in regional / local languages using channels with local outreach. Several innovative strategies along with regular public awareness campaigns were deployed to reach out to the public, a few of which included, folk arts, nukkad nataks, puppet shows, skits, magic shows, street plays, sports competitions, flash mobs, rallies, half-marathons, cyclethon, formation of human chains, crosswords, etc.

4.7 During the NIAP campaign, approx. 1.63 lakh programmes were carried out, of which around 1.28 lakh programmes were carried out in physical mode. Approximately three crore persons participated physically in these programmes and the online channel reached out to near-about 25 crore people. Special drives were conducted for vulnerable sections of the population and around 16,000 differently abled and over 82,000 senior citizens participated in these activities. Focused drives were organised for around 22,000 recovery agents on fair practices and extant guidelines on loan recovery.

4.8 Further, Talkathon / Media Interaction by Senior Management of RBI on August 29, 2022 at New Delhi Office was held to generate awareness on AGR framework of RBI, inter alia, covering salient features of RB-IOS, 2021, procedure to lodge complaint, Do’s and Don’ts for filing a complaint, different modes of resolution of complaints, etc.

4.9 The second edition of ‘Ombudsman Speak’ event on March 15, 2023 on the occasion of ‘World Consumer Rights Day’ was conducted during India’s ongoing presidency of G20. The 22 RBI Ombudsmen across the country interacted with the local / regional multimedia channels in their respective regions and employed diverse strategies for spreading awareness in regional languages for vulnerable sections, such as senior citizens, women, members of Self-Employed Women’s Organization, differently abled citizens, members of merchant associations, etc.

4.10 In addition, 238 awareness programmes and 48 town-hall 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 is provided in the Appendix 4.1.

4.11 A booklet, namely, ‘Raju and the Forty Thieves’ in Hindi and English was released to provide glimpses of the modus operandi in fraudulent financial events and simple tips about Do’s and Don’ts as safeguards against such incidents. The booklet is also available in multiple regional languages such as Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Kannada, Oriya, Malayalam, Gujrati, Bengali, Telugu, Assamese, and Urdu, and on the RBI website.

Review of the framework for Strengthening of Grievance Redress Mechanism in banks

4.12 Reserve Bank had rolled out the ‘Framework for Strengthening the Grievance Redress mechanism in banks’ in January 2021, comprising enhanced disclosure requirements on complaints, recovery of cost of redress of complaints from outlier banks, intensive review of banks’ internal grievance redress mechanism and supervisory actions against banks having persistent issues in their grievance redress mechanism. For the year 2022-23, recoveries to the tune of ₹5.9 crore shall be made from 32 banks.

4.13 The Reserve Bank has reviewed the existing framework on the basis of feedback received from the REs as well as the experience gained in implementing the framework since January 2021. Based on the outcomes, further enhancement to the mechanism is being examined.

Opening / reorganisation of ORBIOs

4.14 All Ombudsman offices operate under the overarching "One Nation One Ombudsman" principle. In 2022-23, the Reserve Bank reviewed the geographic presence of the Offices of RBI Ombudsman (ORBIOs) in an attempt to spread them across the country and also make them available in different regions keeping in view the volume of origination of complaints. Accordingly, a new ORBIO was operationalized at Shimla with effect from April 01, 2023. The opening of the new ORBIO at Shimla shall also give a fillip to the focused awareness activities in the distant regions of Himachal Pradesh. Further, considering the higher volume of complaints received from the states of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, additional ORBIOs have been operationalized at Chennai and Kolkata with effect from April 17, 2023 and June 01, 2023, respectively. ORBIO, New Delhi I and ORBIO, New Delhi III were merged into single office i.e. ORBIO, New Delhi I.

Digitalisation of data compiled through incognito visits

4.15 Incognito Visits play an important role in assessing compliance to regulatory guidelines on customer service aspects at field level and as an effective tool of supervision for protection of consumers through appropriate action against poor customer service by the REs. The Regional Offices of RBI, conduct Incognito Visits of bank branches on half yearly basis, to assess the level of customer service through a checklist. The checklist for Incognito Visits consists of a questionnaire to assess overall customer service standards in banks, with focused assessment of customer services in specific areas as identified on basis of complaints received. During the year, in order to capture granular details, expedite the compilation of reports submitted, and effective resource utilization at offices, the process was digitalised for enhanced data utility and analysis.

Important regulatory measures relating to Customer Service and Protection taken by RBI

4.16 The most important regulatory measures during the year 2022-23, for improving customer experience of banking services, covered guidelines / instructions relating to establishment of Digital Banking Units to facilitate customers in adopting digital modes / channels and create awareness on digital banking, Interoperable Card-less Cash Withdrawal facility at ATMs through use of Unified Payments Interface, provision of doorstep banking services by financially sound and well managed (FSWM) Primary (Urban) Co-operative banks (UCB) on voluntary basis and non-FSWM UCBs with the approval of RBI, enhancement of per transaction limit for subsequent transactions (without additional factor of Authentication) under the e-mandate framework for recurring transactions from ₹5000/- to ₹15,000/-, revised eligibility criteria for Regional Rural Banks to offer Internet Banking Facility and extension of timeline for renewal of existing agreements for the safe deposit lockers in a phased manner till December 31, 2023.

4.17 Steps were also taken to address issues related to customer protection and grievance redress, which included issuance of guidelines for digital lending to address concerns arising out of unbridled engagement of outsourced agents, specification of permissible hours for calling the borrowers for recovery of overdue loans by the RBI’s regulated entities and their Recovery Agents and restrictions on Storage of Actual Card Data to prevent misuse of card data.

4.18 A chronology of the salient policy initiatives is given in the Appendix 4.2.

Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of major areas of complaints

4.19 The RCA of major grounds 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 root causes of the complaints also serve as inputs for policy interventions. The major findings from RCAs undertaken during the year are summarized below:

  1. Occurrence of unauthorized / fraudulent digital transactions due to lack of robust fraud prevention mechanisms in REs as well as customers divulging sensitive information.
  2. Inordinate delay in reversal of failed transaction due to lack of daily reconciliation by the REs.
  3. Lack of proper communication from REs / DLAs regarding terms and conditions of the loan such as applicable interest rate, foreclosure and other charges.
  4. Non-availability of adequate and centralised bank-level mechanism for resolution of pension related issues.
  5. Levying charges on non-maintenance of minimum balance in deposit accounts due to gap in the Board approved policy of the bank.
  6. Cross selling / mis-selling of products due to information asymmetry between the customer and the REs.
  7. Inordinate delay in reporting updated credit information to the CICs resulting in wrong credit report.
  8. REs’ failure to sensitize their recovery agents regarding extant regulatory guidelines on the recovery operations.

Way forward

4.20 During the period April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024, Consumer Education and Protection Department has identified the following goals, under the Reserve Bank’s medium-term strategy framework (Utkarsh 2.0), for enhancing consumer protection and improving grievance redress mechanisms:

  1. Review, consolidate and update the extant Reserve Bank regulatory guidelines on customer service;
  2. Review and integrate the internal ombudsman schemes, applicable to different RE types;
  3. Establish Reserve Bank Contact Centre at two additional locations for local languages, including disaster recovery and business continuity facility.

4.21 RBI will also explore leveraging Artificial Intelligence in Complaint Management System for better complaint categorisation, decision-making support and better customer experience with a view to strengthening customer protection and improving expediency of grievance redressal.

4.22 Further, the recommendations of the Committee for Review of Customer Service Standards in RBI Regulated Entities will be pursued for enriching the experience of customers and quality customer service by the Regulated Entities.


APPENDICES

Appendix 1.1: Mode of receipt of complaints at the ORBIOs for the past three years
Mode of receipt

2020-21 #

2021-22 $

2022-23

Number

Share

Number

Share

Number

Share

Complaint Portal / Online

2,21,911

58.05%

1,83,887

60.39%

1,31,569

56.06%

Email

1,25,859

32.92%

86,541

28.42%

69,419

29.58%

Physical Letter

34,522

9.03%

34,068

11.19%

33,702

14.36%

TOTAL

3,82,292

 

3,04,496

 

2,34,690

 
Note: Excludes complaints handled at CRPC during FY 2021-22 and 2022-23
# Data pertains to overall appeals received during the year under BOS, OSNBFC and OSDT
$ Data pertains to overall appeals received during the year under BOS, OSNBFC, OSDT and RB-IOS, 2021
 
Appendix 1.2: Office-wise receipt of Appeals during April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023
ORBIO

Overall

RBIOS

BOS

OSNBFC

Ahmedabad

3

3

 

 

Bangalore

7

7

 

 

Bhopal

4

4

 

 

Bhubaneswar

10

10

 

 

Chandigarh

1

1

 

 

Chennai

11

11

 

 

Dehradun

3

3

 

 

Guwahati

15

14

1

 

Hyderabad

5

5

 

 

Jaipur

3

3

 

 

Jammu

7

7

 

 

Kanpur

6

5

1

 

Kolkata

2

2

 

 

Mumbai-I

4

4

 

 

Mumbai-II

4

4

 

 

New Delhi-I

12

12

 

 

New Delhi-II

5

4

 

1

New Delhi-III

11

11

 

 

Patna

1

1

 

 

Raipur

5

5

 

 

Ranchi

2

2

 

 

Thiruvananthapuram

1

1

 

 

Total

122

119

2

1

 
Appendix 1.3: Office-wise Cost of handling complaints

ORBIO

Average Cost (in ₹)

Total Cost (in ₹)

Ahmedabad

8,637

9,90,41,231

Bengaluru

5,336

5,86,78,714

Bhopal

6,685

6,92,85,773

Bhubaneswar

5,067

5,43,63,232

Chandigarh

5,300

5,92,33,060

Chennai

6,245

7,25,18,101

Dehradun

5,386

5,63,50,000

Guwahati

9,153

8,01,18,000

Hyderabad

4,067

4,35,66,781

Jaipur

4,610

4,90,50,696

Jammu

4,965

4,99,87,750

Kanpur

5,561

5,70,45,882

Kolkata

5,188

5,94,23,145

Mumbai-I

5,883

6,97,01,694

Mumbai-II

6,681

8,22,60,322

New Delhi-I

5,485

6,16,15,371

New Delhi-II

6,248

5,57,35,347

New Delhi-III

6,449

5,46,48,020

Patna

5,703

6,08,82,199

Raipur

1,081

1,15,26,054

Ranchi

2,501

2,62,50,100

Thiruvananthapuram

4,573

5,20,27,048

CRPC Cost

247

11,60,13,302

CMS Cost

39

3,62,99,710

Cost of handling a complaint

2,041

143,56,21,531

 
Appendix 1.4: Mode of disposal of Maintainable Complaints against Scheduled Commercial Banks

Name of the Bank

Total Maintainable Complaints disposed during the year 2022-23

Of (2), Complaints resolved through conciliation/ mediation/ issuance of advisories

Of (2) Complaints resolved through Awards

Of (4),
Awards unimplemen-ted within stipulated time
(other than appealed)

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Public Sector Banks

 

 

 

 

STATE BANK OF INDIA

30,011

17,354

3

0

BANK OF BARODA

7,216

4,557

7

0

BANK OF INDIA

4,636

3,200

0

0

BANK OF MAHARASHTRA

1,473

970

1

0

CANARA BANK

5,938

3,719

0

0

CENTRAL BANK OF INDIA

3,393

2,323

2

0

INDIAN BANK

4,044

2,644

0

0

INDIAN OVERSEAS BANK

1,432

804

1

0

PUNJAB AND SIND BANK

401

241

0

0

PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK

9,766

6,282

2

0

UCO BANK

2,042

1,465

2

0

UNION BANK OF INDIA

6,167

3,924

2

0

All Public Sector Banks

76,519

47,483

20

0

 

Private Sector Banks

AXIS BANK LIMITED

10,482

5,640

0

0

BANDHAN BANK LIMITED

490

268

0

0

CSB BANK LIMITED

78

50

0

0

CITY UNION BANK LIMITED

148

82

0

0

DCB BANK LIMITED

268

159

0

0

DHANLAXMI BANK LIMITED

32

16

0

0

FEDERAL BANK LIMITED

1073

581

0

0

HDFC BANK LIMITED

10,187

4,622

2

0

ICICI BANK LIMITED

12,114

6,486

0

0

IDBI BANK LIMITED

1,264

702

0

0

IDFC FIRST BANK LIMITED

3,045

1,939

0

0

INDUSIND BANK LIMITED

3,049

1,508

0

0

JAMMU & KASHMIR BANK LIMITED

364

221

0

0

KARNATAKA BANK LIMITED

353

192

0

0

KARUR VYSYA BANK LIMITED

369

225

0

0

KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK LIMITED

4,921

2,654

0

0

NAINITAL BANK LIMITED

48

30

0

0

RBL BANK LIMITED

2,802

1,660

0

0

SOUTH INDIAN BANK LIMITED

279

117

0

0

TAMILNAD MERCANTILE BANK LIMITED

169

77

0

0

YES BANK LIMITED

1,922

1061

1

0

All Private Sector Banks

53,457

28,290

3

0

 

Payment Banks 

AIRTEL PAYMENTS BANK LIMITED

1,070

753

0

0

FINO PAYMENTS BANK LIMITED

147

88

0

0

INDIA POST PAYMENTS BANK LIMITED

188

89

0

0

PAYTM PAYMENTS BANK LIMITED

2,399

1356

0

0

All Payment Banks

3,804

2,286

0

0

 

Small Finance Banks 

AU SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED

671

307

0

0

CAPITAL SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED

21

10

0

0

EQUITAS SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED

221

108

0

0

ESAF SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED

40

19

0

0

FINCARE SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED

92

62

0

0

JANA SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED

208

111

0

0

NORTH EAST SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED

6

5

0

0

SHIVALIK SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED

29

17

0

0

SURYODAY SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED

51

33

0

0

UJJIVAN SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED

155

82

0

0

UNITY SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED

10

5

0

0

UTKARSH SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED

71

44

0

0

All Small Finance Banks

1,575

803

0

0

 

Foreign Banks 

AB BANK LIMITED

-

-

0

0

ABU DHABI COMMERCIAL BANK PJSC

1

1

0

0

AMERICAN EXPRESS BANKING CORP.

252

128

0

0

BARCLAYS BANK PLC

11

8

0

0

BANK OF AMERICA NATIONAL ASSOCIATION

7

6

0

0

BNP PARIBAS

2

2

0

0

CITIBANK N.A

1,061

404

0

0

DBS BANK INDIA LIMITED

263

163

5

0

DEUTSCHE BANK AG

71

39

0

0

HONGKONG AND SHANGHAI BANKING CORPN. LIMITED

252

140

0

0

JPMORGAN CHASE BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION

1

1

0

0

MUFG BANK LIMITED

1

1

0

0

NATWEST MARKETS PLC (ERSTWHILE THE ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND PLC)

1

1

0

0

SBER BANK

1

1

0

0

SBM BANK (INDIA) LIMITED

796

611

0

0

SHINHAN BANK

1

1

0

0

STANDARD CHARTERED BANK

1,538

914

0

0

WOORI BANK

4

2

0

0

All Foreign Banks

4,263

2,423

5

0

All Regional Rural Banks

3,774

1,777

1

0

All Scheduled Commercial Banks

1,43,392

83,062

29

0

 

 

 

 

 

Others (Including Co-operative Banks, NBFCs and NB-PSPs)

29,176

16,122

9

0

GRAND TOTAL

1,72,568

99,184

38

0

 
Appendix 2.1: Receipt of complaints at CRPC

Particulars

November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022

April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023

Complaints received during the period

1,49,419

5,89,504

Out of above, complaints which were:

     (a) Assigned to ORBIOs

32,551 

1,11,574

     (b) Assigned to CEPCs

3,180 

9,076

     (c) Closed at CRPC as non-complaint / non-maintainable complaints

1,07,821

4,68,270

Complaints pending at the end of the period

5,867

584

Note: 584 complaints have since been disposed.
 
Appendix 2.2: Month wise receipt of complaints at CRPC

Month

2021-22

2022-23

Received during the month

Disposed during the month

% of complaints disposed during the month

Received during the month

Disposed during the month

% of complaints disposed during the month

April

 

 

 

43,176

21,739

50.35%

May

41,809

42,392

101.39%

June

42,615

45,307

106.32%

July

42,699

47,080

110.26%

August

50,498

49,522

98.07%

September

54,453

54,621

100.31%

October

48,754

46,918

96.23%

November

16,565

2,446

14.77%

51,774

54,386

105.05%

December

27,745

15,379

55.43%

54,159

52,412

96.77%

January

29,399

27,268

92.75%

56,988

58,866

103.30%

February

32,026

45,648

142.53%

49,170

49,193

100.05%

March

43,684

52,811

120.89%

53,409

66,484

124.48%

Total

1,49,419

1,43,552

 

5,89,504

5,88,920

 

 
Appendix 2.3: Mode of receipt of complaints at CRPC

Mode of Receipt

November 12, 2021 to March 31, 2022

% to total complaints

April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023

% to total complaints

Email

1,24,367

83.23%

5,19,484

88.12%

Physical Letter

23,027

15.41%

58,794

9.97%

CPGRAMS

2,025

1.36%

11,226

1.91%

Total

1,49,419

 

5,89,504

 

 
Appendix 3.1: Position of complaints received through CPGRAMS

Name of the RBIO

2020-21
(Apr – Mar)

2021-22
(Apr – Mar)

2022-23
(Apr – Mar)

Ahmedabad

107

156

395

Bengaluru

106

123

350

Bhopal

54

111

524

Bhubaneswar

31

33

323

Chandigarh

62

102

324

Chennai

1,063

629

293

Dehradun

27

55

390

Guwahati

16

44

228

Hyderabad

49

74

326

Jaipur

59

94

437

Jammu

4

56

322

Kanpur

152

141

534

Kolkata

737

568

451

Mumbai-I

145

178

369

Mumbai-II

1,324

765

507

New Delhi-I

146

144

544

New Delhi-II

1,779

1,292

401

New Delhi-III

50

66

240

Patna

55

102

552

Raipur

8

82

290

Ranchi

15

85

409

Thiruvananthapuram

24

56

244

Total

6,013

4,956

8,453

 
Appendix 3.2: Applications received by ORBIOs and CRPC under RTI Act, 2005

Name of the RBIO

2020-21
(Apr – Mar)

2021-22
(Apr – Mar)

2022-23
(Apr - Mar)

Ahmedabad

25

39

35

Bengaluru

55

76

49

Bhopal

28

18

26

Bhubaneswar

35

21

41

Chandigarh

150

156

47

Chennai

101

96

73

Dehradun

39

48

54

Guwahati

15

13

36

Hyderabad

34

48

28

Jaipur

123

80

56

Jammu

3

11

40

Kanpur

190

187

90

Kolkata

69

61

41

Mumbai-I

106

114

56

Mumbai-II

105

68

57

New Delhi-I

108

81

61

New Delhi-II

160

132

72

New Delhi-III

46

42

60

Patna

79

72

57

Raipur

7

7

33

Ranchi

9

9

46

Thiruvananthapuram

12

18

47

Total (A)

1,499

1,397

1,105

CRPC (B)

-

99

267

Total (A+B)

1,499

1,496

1,372

Note: Where a single RIA is marked to more than one ORBIO or to CRPC; that RIA is counted for all the Ombudsman offices concerned / CRPC for that particular RIA. Further, RIAs which were dealt by Ombudsman Office of BOS, NBFC and Digital Transactions have been clubbed for the year 2020-21 and 2021-22
 
Appendix 4.1: Number of awareness programmes conducted during April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023

ORBIO

No. of Townhall Events

No. of Awareness Programmes

Ahmedabad

2

13

Bengaluru

2

12

Bhopal

2

12

Bhubaneswar

2

8

Chandigarh

2

9

Chennai

3

13

Dehradun 

2

6

Guwahati

2

12

Hyderabad

2

7

Jaipur

2

22

Jammu

4

9

Kanpur

2

12

Kolkata

2

11

Mumbai-I

3

13

Mumbai - II

2

18

New Delhi I

2

12

New Delhi II

1

4

New Delhi-III

2

15

Patna

2

8

Raipur

2

6

Ranchi

2

4

Thiruvananthapuram

3

12

Total

48

238

 
Appendix 4.2: Important policy initiatives relating to Customer Service issued by RBI in 2022-23 (April – March)

Date of Announcement

Policy Initiative

April 01, 2022

Master Circular - Disbursement of Government Pension by Agency Banks (RBI/2022-23/09 DGBA.GBD.No.S2/31.02.007/2022-23): The Master Circular mandated prompt implementation of Government order relating to payment of Dearness Relief to pensioners, procedure for recovery of excess pension payment, acknowledgement for receipt of life certificate, compensate the pensioner for delay in crediting pension/ arrears, compensation to the pensioner for delay in crediting pension/ arrears, etc., in order to obviate the difficulty faced by the pensioners.

April 01, 2022

Master Circular– Facility for Exchange of Notes and Coins (RBI/2022-23/01 DCM(NE)No.G-5/08.07.18/2022-23): Mandates, inter-alia, all branches of banks in all parts of the country to issue fresh/ good quality notes and coins of all denominations, exchange soiled/ mutilated/ defective notes and accept coins and notes either for transactions or exchange to the members of public, so that there is no need for them to approach the RBI Regional Offices for this purpose.

April 01, 2022

Master Direction – Scheme of Penalties for bank branches and Currency Chests for deficiency in rendering customer service to the members of public
(RBI/2022-23/04 DCM (CC) No.G-5/03.44.01/2022-23): The Scheme of Penalties for bank branches including currency chests has been formulated in order to ensure that all bank branches / currency chests provide better customer service to the members of public / linked bank branches keeping in view the objectives of Clean Note Policy and enhancing operational efficiency.

April 07, 2022

Establishment of Digital Banking Units (DBUs) (RBI/2022-23/19 DOR.AUT.REC.12/22.01.001/2022-23): Guidelines on establishment of Digital Banking Units (DBUs) were issued to all domestic scheduled commercial banks (excluding regional rural banks, payments banks and local area banks). The guidelines define digital banking, DBU, digital banking products and digital banking segment, and cover the infrastructure and resources required by DBUs, and the products and services that could be offered by them. The DBUs shall facilitate customers in adopting digital modes/channels and create awareness on digital banking.

April 21, 2022

Master Direction – Credit Card and Debit Card – Issuance and Conduct Directions, 2022 (RBI/2022-23/92 DoR.AUT.REC.No.27/24.01.041/2022-23): The instructions contained in Master Circular (July 2015) on credit card, debit card and rupee denominated co-branded pre-paid card operations of banks and credit card issuing NBFCs, were updated and issued in the form of Master Direction (MD) - Credit Card and Debit Card - Issuance and Conduct. Aspects such as closure of a credit card account, issuance of credit card for business purpose, billing issues, adjustment of credit transactions, new form factors, issues relating to co-branded arrangement, mis-selling, etc., have been strengthened in the circular.

May 19, 2022

Interoperable Card-less Cash Withdrawal (ICCW) at ATMs (RBI/2022-23/54 CO.DPSS.POLC.No.S-227/02-10-002/2022-23): All banks, ATM networks and WLAOs were advised to provide the option of ICCW at their ATMs. NPCI was advised to facilitate Unified Payments Interface (UPI) integration with all banks and ATM networks. While UPI would be used for customer authorisation in such transactions, settlement would be through the National Financial Switch (NFS) / ATM networks. Withdrawal limits for ICCW transactions is in-line with the limits for regular on-us / off-us ATM withdrawals.

May 23, 2022

Committee for Review of Customer Service Standards in RBI Regulated Entities: A Committee (Chairman: Shri B P Kanungo, Former Deputy Governor, RBI) for Review of Customer Service Standards in RBI Regulated Entities (REs) was constituted for examining and reviewing the customer service standards in the REs and adequacy of customer service regulations and suggest measures to improve customer protection.

June 16, 2022

Processing of e-mandates for recurring transactions
(RBI/2022-23/73 CO.DPSS.POLC.No.S-518/02.14.003/2022-23): The e-mandate framework for recurring transactions was revised enhancing the limit for subsequent transactions without additional factor of authentication (AFA) from ₹5,000 to ₹15,000.

July 28, 2022

Restriction on Storage of Actual Card Data [i.e. Card-on-File (CoF)] (RBI/2022-2023/95 CO.DPSS.POLC.No.S-760/02-14-003/2022-23): For ease of transition to an alternate system in respect of transactions where cardholders decide to enter the card details manually at the time of undertaking the transaction, merchants or their Payment Aggregator (PAs) were permitted to store card data till settlement or T+4 days (whichever is earlier) and acquiring banks were permitted to store card data till January 31, 2023.

August 05, 2022

Extension of Reserve Bank - Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021 (RB-IOS, 2021) to Credit Information Companies (CICs) (CEPD.PRD.No.S544/ 13.01.001/ 2022-23): To provide an avenue for expeditious and cost free Alternate Grievance Redress to the customers of REs covered under the RBIOS, 2021 for grievances relating to credit information, the CICs have been brought under the ambit of RB-IOS, 2021 with effect from September 1, 2022.

August 12, 2022

Outsourcing of Financial Services - Responsibilities of regulated entities employing Recovery Agents (RBI/2022-23/108 DOR.ORG.REC.65/21.04.158/2022-23): Regulated Entities of RBI shall strictly ensure that they or their agents do not resort to intimidation or harassment of any kind, either verbal or physical, against any person in their debt collection efforts, including acts intended to humiliate publicly or intrude upon the privacy of the debtors' family members, referees and friends, sending inappropriate messages either on mobile or through social media, making threatening and/ or anonymous calls, persistently calling the borrower and / or calling the borrower before 8:00 a.m. and after 7:00 p.m. for recovery of overdue loans, making false and misleading representations, etc.

September 02, 2022

Guidelines on Digital Lending (RBI/2022-23/111 DOR.CRE.REC.66/21.07.001/2022-23): Guidelines on Digital Lending were issued to address concerns such as, mis-selling, breach of data privacy, customer grievance redressal, unfair business conduct, and unethical recovery practices, arising out of unbridled engagement of outsourced agents (lending service providers) to carry out various lending activities.

September 21, 2022

MANI (Mobile Aided Note Identifier) – Introduction of multi-lingual audio notification (Press Release: 2022-2023/899):
MANI which identifies the denomination of banknotes through audio notification in Hindi and English, is now capable of notifying the banknote denomination in 11 other languages (Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu). The MANI application is free and can be downloaded from the Android Play Store and iOS App Store without any charges/payment.

October 06, 2022

Appointment of Internal Ombudsman (IO) by the Credit Information Companies (CICs) (RBI/2022-23/124 CEPD.PRD.No.S806/13-01-008/2022-23): To strengthen and improve the efficiency of the internal grievance redressal mechanism of CICs, all CICs were directed to appoint an Internal Ombudsman (IO) by April 1, 2023. The IO is an independent authority at the apex of the CIC’s internal grievance redress mechanism and reviews consumer complaints rejected wholly or partly by the CIC.

November 01, 2022

Eligibility Criteria for offering Internet Banking Facility by Regional Rural Banks, 2022 (RBI/2022-23/135 DoR.AUT.REC.81/24.01.001/2022-23): Keeping in view the need to promote the spread of digital banking for customers in rural areas, the eligibility criteria applicable to Regional Rural Banks for offering Internet Banking with transactional facility to their customers have been revised.

November 02, 2022

Nation-wide Awareness Programme:
The Reserve Bank, in collaboration with REs, initiated a nation-wide consumer financial awareness programme with deeper outreach covering all segments of population, especially those in rural and semi-urban areas. The campaign was customised regionally for a better connect. While emphasising information on customer rights, customer protection and grievance redress framework under RB-IOS, 2021, the campaign also endeavored to deepen percolation of awareness on protection against digital and electronic financial transaction frauds covering do’s and don’ts, safeguards and prevention.

December 07, 2022

Enhancements to Unified Payments Interface (UPI) – Processing Mandates with Single-Block-and-Multiple-Debits: To ease making payments in e-commerce space and towards investments in securities, RBI has announced enhancements to UPI to facilitate processing mandates with single-block-and-multiple-debits.

January 23, 2023

RBI extends time for renewal of agreements for existing Safe Deposit Locker/Safe Custody Article Facility Provided by Banks (RBI/2022-23/168 CO.CEPD.PRS.No.S1233/13-01-018/2022-2023): In order to alleviate the difficulties faced by customers in renewing their locker agreement with banks, the deadline for banks to complete the process of renewal of existing agreements for the safe deposit lockers was extended by an year to December 31, 2023, with intermediate milestones of 50 per cent by June 30, 2023, and 75 per cent by September 30, 2023. The banks were advised to facilitate execution of the fresh/supplementary stamped agreements with their customers by taking measures such as arranging stamp papers, franking, electronic execution of agreement, e-stamping, etc. and provide a copy of the executed agreement to the customer. Where operations in lockers had been frozen for non-execution of agreement by January 1, 2023, the same were advised to be unfrozen with immediate effect.

February 10, 2023

Issuance of PPIs to Foreign Nationals / Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) visiting India (RBI/2022-23/176 CO.DPSS.POLC.No.S–1907/02.14.006/2022-23): NRIs and foreign nationals (from G20 countries) were permitted access to UPI for their merchant payments [peer-to-merchant (P2M)] in India.

 
Annex 1: Statement of complaints received against banks by the ORBIOs during April 1, 2022 – March 31, 2023

Name of the Bank

Total Complaints

Complaints per branch

Complaints related to ATM/DC* per 1000 ATM/DC*
Outstanding

Complaints related to CC* per 1000 CC* Outstanding

Digital Complaints per 1000 digital transactions executed through the bank

Non-digital Complaints per 1000 accounts #

ATM / Debit Cards

Mobile / electronic banking

Credit Cards

Loans and advances

Deposit Accounts related

Pension payments

Remittances

Para banking

Notes and Coins

OTHERS

Public Sector Banks

STATE BANK OF INDIA

40,345

1.61

0.027

0.084

0.00039

0.036

7,470

10,202

1,405

6,599

7,516

1,517

603

603

131

4,299

BANK OF BARODA

9,944

1.18

0.022

0.289

0.00038

0.030

1,807

2,045

562

1,736

2,052

224

186

146

24

1,162

BANK OF INDIA

5,958

1.10

0.030

1.128

0.00067

0.034

1,403

1,011

87

1,082

1,205

187

121

86

16

760

BANK OF MAHARASHTRA

1,920

0.84

0.041

0.388

0.00034

0.029

555

357

13

309

294

46

31

29

8

278

CANARA BANK

7,925

0.78

0.025

0.232

0.00031

0.044

1,274

1,217

145

1,975

1,774

261

144

118

25

992

CENTRAL BANK OF INDIA

4,412

0.95

0.036

-

0.00055

0.028

1,014

685

48

787

860

322

78

39

19

560

INDIAN BANK

5,332

0.87

0.035

0.470

0.00040

0.028

1,103

770

80

1,197

1,087

293

95

85

17

605

INDIAN OVERSEAS BANK

2,080

0.63

0.019

0.288

0.00019

0.024

312

309

23

612

415

64

51

21

3

270

PUNJAB AND SIND BANK

552

0.34

0.034

-

0.00080

0.027

126

75

1

140

105

12

11

7

-

75

PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK

12,850

1.14

0.069

0.511

0.00061

0.036

2,818

2,157

162

2,170

2,724

934

214

216

57

1,398

UCO BANK

2,629

0.81

0.028

-

0.00061

0.028

352

894

16

447

430

100

49

18

6

317

UNION BANK OF INDIA

8,197

0.93

0.036

0.338

0.00032

0.030

1,823

1,606

218

1,500

1,482

277

153

101

28

1,009

All Public Sector Banks

1,02,144

1.13

0.031

0.134

0.00041

0.033

20,057

21,328

2,760

18,554

19,944

4,237

1,736

1,469

334

11,725

 

Private Sector Banks

AXIS BANK LIMITED

13,713

2.70

0.041

0.379

0.00063

0.081

1,254

1,668

4,593

2,417

2,295

24

167

193

28

1,074

BANDHAN BANK LIMITED

666

0.11

0.017

-

0.00030

0.012

92

125

6

220

113

-

7

19

4

80

CITY UNION BANK LIMITED

237

0.31

0.007

0.660

0.00009

0.026

18

43

4

79

51

1

1

2

-

38

CSB BANK LIMITED

145

0.20

0.010

0.310

0.00017

0.044

9

8

2

66

39

1

2

-

-

18

DCB BANK LIMITED

388

0.87

0.021

-

0.00048

0.131

20

18

2

244

78

-

4

4

1

17

DHANLAXMI BANK LIMITED

55

0.20

0.011

0.219

0.00022

0.022

6

4

2

16

21

-

1

1

-

4

FEDERAL BANK LIMITED

1,468

1.04

0.020

0.172

0.00044

0.030

256

422

95

243

310

1

16

16

1

108

HDFC BANK LIMITED

14,979

1.90

0.029

0.201

0.00046

0.053

1,490

3,273

3,516

3,124

1,909

13

205

175

33

1,241

ICICI BANK LIMITED

16,602

2.87

0.046

0.317

0.00075

0.072

1,515

3,096

4,581

3,189

2,254

27

291

173

34

1,442

IDBI BANK LIMITED

1,658

0.77

0.019

0.660

0.00022

0.076

215

313

29

491

322

5

36

38

2

207

IDFC FIRST BANK LIMITED

4,158

3.71

0.032

0.295

0.00077

0.066

200

680

456

2,003

441

1

39

43

3

292

INDUSIND BANK LIMITED

3,954

1.68

0.044

0.457

0.00100

0.044

368

493

1,017

1,046

587

1

80

38

8

316

JAMMU & KASHMIR BANK
LIMITED

483

0.48

0.036

0.116

0.00208

0.011

138

128

9

83

53

6

4

6

-

56

KARNATAKA BANK
LIMITED

440

0.47

0.018

-

0.00026

0.016

95

112

2

112

59

-

5

1

5

49

KARUR VYSYA BANK
LIMITED

530

0.59

0.009

0.384

0.00014

0.035

40

101

4

203

89

-

8

4

1

80

KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK
LIMITED

7,414

3.82

0.017

0.245

0.00057

0.093

495

2,845

1,203

1,438

808

7

87

59

6

466

NAINITAL BANK LIMITED

61

0.35

0.053

-

0.01308

0.042

11

10

-

18

13

-

1

-

1

7

RBL BANK LIMITED

3,486

6.52

0.085

0.529

0.00442

0.060

137

149

2,335

471

227

1

11

13

2

140

SOUTH INDIAN BANK
LIMITED

427

0.44

0.014

0.143

0.00039

0.024

50

100

29

122

78

1

6

3

-

38

TAMILNAD MERCANTILE
BANK LIMITED

302

0.55

0.028

0.049

0.00034

0.026

62

45

2

104

51

-

3

1

1

33

YES BANK LIMITED

2,598

2.13

0.038

0.394

0.00037

0.146

168

440

559

747

335

2

40

39

2

266

All Private Sector Banks

73,764

1.74

0.031

0.310

0.00059

0.057

6,639

14,073

18,446

16,436

10,133

91

1,014

828

132

5,972

 

Payment Banks

AIRTEL PAYMENTS BANK
LIMITED

1,370

41.52

0.014

-

0.00029

0.011

57

801

20

8

309

2

4

5

2

162

FINO PAYMENTS BANK
LIMITED

226

2.94

0.008

-

0.00010

0.014

50

68

2

4

63

-

3

2

-

34

INDIA POST PAYMENTS
BANK LIMITED

364

0.56

0.006

-

0.00016

0.003

57

131

1

11

106

1

3

12

1

41

JIO PAYMENTS BANK
LIMITED

43

3.91

-

-

0.00124

-

3

26

1

-

4

-

1

-

-

8

NSDL PAYMENTS BANK
LIMITED

107

107.00

0.006

-

0.00037

-

3

36

1

16

32

-

-

1

-

18

PAYTM PAYMENTS BANK
LIMITED

3,513

501.86

0.006

-

0.00025

0.042

219

1,851

136

311

487

1

20

26

5

457

All Payment Banks

5,623

7.22

0.007

-

0.00024

0.014

389

2,913

161

350

1,001

4

31

46

8

720

 

Small Finance Banks

AU SMALL FINANCE BANK
LIMITED

899

1.13

0.014

0.450

0.00074

0.153

36

103

227

340

112

-

9

5

1

66

CAPITAL SMALL FINANCE
BANK LIMITED

32

0.18

0.005

0.000

0.00050

0.031

1

8

-

10

7

-

1

-

-

5

EQUITAS SMALL FINANCE
BANK LIMITED

375

0.40

0.010

-

0.00038

0.051

33

55

7

173

72

-

4

3

-

28

ESAF SMALL FINANCE
BANK LIMITED

63

0.09

0.003

-

0.00023

0.003

14

14

1

14

9

-

2

-

-

9

FINCARE SMALL FINANCE
BANK LIMITED

122

0.14

0.001

-

0.00025

0.013

4

12

1

46

42

-

1

4

-

12

JANA SMALL FINANCE
BANK LIMITED

310

0.52

0.010

-

0.00176

0.035

27

28

3

127

97

-

-

5

-

23

NORTH EAST SMALL
FINANCE BANK LIMITED

6

0.03

0.005

0.000

0.00018

0.003

2

-

-

1

1

-

-

-

-

2

SHIVALIK SMALL FINANCE
BANK LIMITED

42

1.17

0.059

0.000

0.00178

0.082

5

6

-

17

5

-

-

-

1

8

SURYODAY SMALL
FINANCE BANK LIMITED

71

0.14

0.007

0.000

0.00026

0.020

4

4

-

25

29

-

-

-

-

9

UJJIVAN SMALL FINANCE
BANK LIMITED

229

0.36

0.003

0.000

0.00013

0.014

29

29

-

81

60

-

1

1

-

28

UNITY SMALL FINANCE
BANK LIMITED

33

0.10

-

0.000

-

0.017

1

-

-

13

9

-

-

1

-

9

UTKARSH SMALL FINANCE
BANK LIMITED

83

0.10

0.007

-

0.00079

0.012

11

11

1

32

18

-

-

2

-

8

All Small Finance Banks

2,265

0.34

0.006

0.476

0.00045

0.027

167

270

240

879

461

-

18

21

2

207

 

Foreign Banks

AB BANK LIMITED

2

2.00

-

-

-

3.125

-

-

1

-

1

-

-

-

-

-

ABU DHABI COMMERCIAL
BANK PJSC

3

-

-

-

-

-

-

2

-

-

-

-

1

-

-

-

AMERICAN EXPRESS
BANKING CORP.

311

155.50

-

0.194

0.00580

0.027

5

4

260

15

5

-

1

2

-

19

BARCLAYS BANK PLC

18

4.50

1.101

-

0.00293

0.373

1

-

6

5

4

-

-

-

-

2

BANK OF AMERICA
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION

6

1.50

-

-

0.00015

0.248

-

2

-

1

1

-

2

-

-

-

BANK OF CHINA LIMITED

1

0.50

-

-

-

30.303

-

-

-

-

1

-

-

-

-

-

BNP PARIBAS

2

0.29

-

-

0

0.639

-

-

-

-

-

-

1

-

-

1

CITIBANK N.A

1,409

88.06

-

5.428

0.00211

0.358

82

134

882

113

111

-

29

8

-

50

DBS BANK INDIA LIMITED

382

0.69

0.016

0.103

0.00029

0.066

30

96

23

69

107

2

8

5

1

41

DEUTSCHE BANK AG

105

5.25

0.009

-

0.00009

0.312

1

4

2

73

15

-

2

-

-

8

DOHA BANK Q.P.S.C.

1

0.33

-

-

0

0.045

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

1

EMIRATES NBD BANK
(P.J.S.C.)

1

0.33

-

-

0

0.381

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

1

FIRST ABU DHABI BANK
PJSC

2

2.00

-

-

2.63158

7.353

-

-

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

1

FIRSTRAND BANK LTD

2

2.00

-

-

0

-

-

-

-

2

-

-

-

-

-

-

HONGKONG AND
SHANGHAI BANKING CORPN.LTD.

346

11.93

0.024

0.255

0.00059

0.088

14

24

178

66

38

-

4

2

-

20

JPMORGAN CHASE BANK
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION

2

0.40

-

-

0

0.046

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

2

MUFG BANK LTD.

1

0.20

-

-

0

0.237

-

-

-

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

NATWEST MARKETS PLC.

4

2.00

-

-

0

-

-

-

-

-

2

-

-

-

-

2

QATAR NATIONAL BANK
(Q.P.S.C)

1

1.00

-

-

0

9.709

-

-

-

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

SBERBANK

1

1.00

-

-

0

2.809

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

1

SBM BANK (INDIA) LIMITED

1,054

58.56

0.144

0.459

0.02458

0.169

87

82

492

180

134

-

9

1

-

69

SHINHAN BANK

2

0.33

-

-

0.00222

0.000

-

2

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

SONALI BANK

2

1.00

-

-

0

0.638

-

-

-

1

-

-

-

-

-

1

STANDARD CHARTERED
BANK

1,972

18.96

0.084

0.962

0.00336

0.271

96

143

1,021

389

189

-

17

4

2

111

UNITED OVERSEAS BANK
LIMITED

2

1.00

-

-

0

55.556

-

-

-

-

1

-

1

-

-

-

WOORI BANK

7

2.33

0

-

0

1.188

-

-

-

5

1

-

-

-

-

1

All Foreign Banks

5,639

7.10

0.073

0.629

0.00188

0.153

316

493

2,866

921

610

2

75

22

3

331

 

All Regional Rural Banks

3,665

         

820

498

45

982

695

32

35

47

15

496

All Co-operative Banks

3,535

         

247

280

31

1,457

768

11

28

43

11

659

 

GRAND TOTAL

1,96,635

         

28,635

39,855

24,549

39,579

33,612

4,377

2,937

2,476

505

20,110

* 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, 2022 – March 31, 2023

Name of the NBFC

Non-adherence to fair
practices code / loans & advances related

Others

TOTAL

SBI Cards & Payment Services Pvt. Ltd.

228

9,227

9,455

Bajaj Finance Limited

2,534

416

2,950

Indiabulls Consumer Finance Limited
(Erstwhile IVL Finance Limited)

1,264

358

1,622

Dmi Finance Pvt Ltd.

913

306

1,219

Aditya Birla Finance Limited

920

152

1,072

HDB Financial Services Limited

629

123

752

Hero Fincorp Limited
(Erstwhile Hero Honda Finlease Limited)

612

105

717

Home Credit India Finance Private Limited
(Erstwhile Rajshree Auto Finance Limited)

572

86

658

Fullerton India Credit Company Limited

483

106

589

Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company Limited

448

88

536

Bhanix Finance & Investment Ltd

465

62

527

IIFL Finance Limited
(Erstwhile IIFL Holdings Limited)

413

93

506

Hinduja Leyland Finance Limited

367

94

461

PayU Finance India Private Limited
(Erstwhile Sidvik Leasing Private Limited)

308

146

454

TVS Credit Services Ltd

357

97

454

Tata Capital Financial Services Limited

382

58

440

Muthoot Finance Limited

332

99

431

Bob Financial Solutions Limited
(Erstwhile Bobcards Limited)

15

375

390

Krazybee Services Private Limited

317

68

385

L&T Finance Limited

311

65

376

Shriram City Union Finance Limited

292

80

372

Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Ltd

294

52

346

Clix Capital Services Private Limited

253

30

283

Capfloat Financial Services Private Limited.

207

53

260

Navi Finserv Private Limited

219

39

258

Quadrillion Finance Private Limited

94

147

241

Manappuram Finance Limited

195

36

231

Shriram Transport Finance Company Limited

180

49

229

Bajaj Finserv Limited

149

46

195

SBFC Finance Private Limited
(Erstwhile Small Business Fincredit India Private Limited)

160

33

193

SI Creva Capital Services Private Limited

142

40

182

Kotak Mahindra Prime Ltd.

143

35

178

Lendingkart Finance Limited
(Erstwhile Aadri Infin Limited)

148

28

176

India Infoline Finance Limited
(Erstwhile India Infoline Investment Services Ltd.)

136

37

173

Akara Capital Advisors Private Limited

123

40

163

Tata Motors Finance Limited
(Erstwhile Sheba Properties Limited)

135

21

156

Avanse Financial Services Ltd

128

20

148

Poonawalla Finance Private Limited
(Erstwhile Adar Poonawalla Finvest Private Limited)

120

14

134

Aditya Birla Capital Limited

103

25

128

Magma Fincorp Ltd

100

10

110

InCred Financial Services Limited

86

15

101

Others

3,380

1,441

4,821

Grand Total

18,657

14,415

33,072

Note: Entity-wise complaints have been given only for those NBFCs wherein more than 100 complaints were received at the ORBIOs.
 
Annex 3: Statement of complaints received against NBPSPs by the ORBIOs during April 1, 2022 – March 31, 2023

Name of the NBPSP

Mobile/Electronic Fund
Transfers / Mobile Electronic Banking

Others

TOTAL

Amazon Pay (India) Private Limited

287

106

393

Appnit Technologies Private Limited

5

0

5

Balancehero India Private Limited

2

11

13

CSC e – Governance Services India Ltd

24

9

33

Ebix Payment Services Private Limited
(Erstwhile Itz Cash Card Limited)

0

2

2

Eko India Financial Services Private Limited

0

1

1

Eroute Technologies Private Limited

3

0

3

GI Technology Private Limited

1

0

1

Hip Bar Private Limited

1

0

1

India Transact Services Limited.

3

3

6

IndiaIdeas.com Limited

6

3

9

Infibeam Avenues Limited
(Erstwhile Avenues India Private Limited)

4

2

6

LivQuik Technology (India) Private Limited

3

3

6

National Payments Corporation of India

44

5

49

Ola Financial Services Pvt. Ltd.
(Erstwhile ZipCash Card Services Pvt. Ltd)

44

66

110

One Mobikwik Systems Private Limited

810

665

1,475

Paul Merchants Finance Private Limited

0

6

6

Pay Point India Network Private Limited

7

1

8

PayU Payments Private Limited

163

95

258

Phonepe Private Limited
(Erstwhile FX Mart Pvt. Ltd)

626

117

743

Pine Labs Private Limited

44

32

76

QwikCilver Solutions Pvt. Ltd

5

1

6

RapiPay Fintech Private Limited

17

6

23

Razorpay Technologies Private Limited

95

45

140

Sodexo SVC India Pvt. Ltd

15

3

18

Spice Money Limited

32

11

43

Supreme Securities Limited

0

1

1

TranServ Private Limited

2

6

8

Tri O Tech Solutions Private Ltd.

1

0

1

Unimoni Financial Services Limited
(Erstwhile UAE Exchange & Financial Services Limited)

0

4

4

Uniorbit Payment Solutions Limited
(Erstwhile Weizmann Impex Service Enterprise Limited)

0

3

3

Western Union Financial Services Incorporated USA

0

1

1

Worldline ePayments India Private Limited
(Erstwhile Ingenico ePayments India Private Limited and TechProcess Payment Services Limited)

2

2

4

Grand Total

2,246

1,210

3,456

 
Annex 4: Statement of complaints received against CICs by the ORBIOs during April 1, 2022 – March 31, 2023

NAME OF THE CIC

Credit Card

Loans and Advances

Others

TOTAL

Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited

42

581

173

796

CRIF High Mark Credit Information Services Private Limited

9

70

20

99

Equifax Credit Information Services Private Limited

5

37

8

50

Experian Credit Information Company of India Private Limited

7

66

21

94

 

Grand Total

63

754

222

1,039


1 The number provided pertains only to number of complaints that were disposed or pending for processing at CRPC. The complaints that were assigned to ORBIOs/CEPCs post preliminary scrutiny have not been included in the number to avoid duplication.

2 Of the 4,68,854 complaints, 584 complaints were pending as on March 31, 2023. These complaints have since been disposed.

3 Slight differential in auto allocation of complaints is on account of volume of specific regional language complaints, redistribution due to pendency / staff shortages, etc.

4 This decline is in consonance with the process re-engineering and structural changes introduced in the Ombudsman framework subsequent to the launch of RB-IOS, 2021, whereby, only actionable complaints flow to ORBIOs as compared to the erstwhile schemes.

5 The Credit Information Companies (CICs) have been brought under the ambit of the RB-IOS, 2021 w.e.f. September 1, 2022.

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

7 Abandoned calls are those calls wherein all CC personnel were busy on other calls. The caller remains in queue for certain time and then the call gets disconnected by the system. Several of these callers call back again.

8 Punjabi operational from January 6, 2022, Assamese operational from June 21, 2022.

9 Source: https://www.oecd.org/finance/high-level-principles-on-financial-consumer-protection.htm

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