Do you know you can complain to Banking
Ombudsman in case you have any complaints against your bank in India?
Banking
Ombudsman is a body created by RBI to look after banking related complaints. In
this article, I’ll show you the power of the Banking Ombudsman and some case
studies which show you that getting your complaints addressed is easier that
you think!
What
is Banking Ombudsman?
The Banking
Ombudsman is a senior official, appointed by the Reserve Bank of India to
address grievances and complaints from customers, regarding deficiencies in
banking services. It covers all kinds of banks – PSU Banks, Private Banks,
Rural banks and co-operative banks.
Even though, it was originally setup in 1995,
there were major revisions in 2006 covering transactions related to complaints
of ATM cards, debit cards and credit cards, deduction of service charges by
banks without prior intimation, unfair practices of banks and non-compliance by
direct sales agents (DSA) of banks for services promised while opening an
account etc. It was last amended in Feb, 2009 to cover deficiencies arising out
of internet banking too.
Today, the
Banking Ombudsman covers almost all kind of complaints for banking services. To
give you a brief idea about their effectiveness, Banking Ombudsmen received
79,266 complaints in the year 2009-2010 out of which around 94% were handled
and just 5-6% of the complaints remained pending for more than three months as
on June 30, 2010.
There are a
total of 15 Banking Ombudsman in our country. You complain to the one which
comes under the jurisdiction of the Bank location, i.e., if your bank is in
Bangalore, you can complain to the BO from Bangalore region.
In case you
or the bank is not satisfied by the decision given by the Banking ombudsman, in
that case within 30 days of BO decision, the complaint can be taken forward to
Appellate Authority, which is a Deputy Governor of the RBI. It’s just like
going to Supreme Court if you are not satisfied by High court decision.
What kinds
of complaints are taken care by banking ombudsman?
Most basic
problems, a common man faces (See an example of what I faced) , like rude behavior
of bank officials, delays in disbursing loans, forcing customers to buy
insurance policies for processing loans etc., are all addressed by Banking
Ombudsman (BO), and the process of complaining is as simple as filling up a
form online or sending in a filled form to a postal address.
The best
part is that if you are harassed because of any issue or have undergone through
mental agony, you can ask for compensation up to Rs 1 lac.
Let me list
down some of the possible scenarios where you can file a complaint with banking
ombudsman.
·
Levying of charges without any notice or Information.
·
Charging higher rate of interest linked to BPLR on Housing Loan
·
Any Loss suffered because of lack of co-ordination from Bank side
·
Unreasonable credit card charges
·
Fraudulent transfer of funds by using net banking
·
Fraudulent transactions against lost credit card
·
Cheque lost in transit by the bank
·
Non-updating of CIBIL records
·
Loss of cheque from Cheque drop box
·
Closure of any account with providing any information or reason
·
When bank demands unreasonable proofs for openening of account
·
Change in terms and conditions without notice or valid reason
·
Delay in providing any service
·
Mis selling of Insurance products
·
Forcing customers to take insurance policies for processing Loans
·
Rejection of Loans
·
Harassment to customer or misbehavior for any reason
·
Casual approach from Bank on performing its duties
