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The Banking Ombudsman is a senior official appointed by the Reserve Bank of India to redress customer complaints. All Scheduled Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks and Scheduled Primary Co-operative Banks are covered under the Scheme.
A Person can make a complaint to the Banking Ombudsman for things such as,
- Inordinate delay in the payment or collection of cheques, drafts, bills etc.
- Non-payment or delay in payment of inward remittances.
- Non-adherence to prescribed working hours
- Complaints from NRIs having accounts in India in relation to their remittances from abroad, deposits and other bank-related matters
- Refusal to open deposit accounts without any valid reason for refusal
- Levying of charges without adequate prior notice to the customer
- Failure to provide or delay in providing a banking facility promised in writing by a bank or its direct selling agents.
- Forced closure of deposit accounts without due notice or without sufficient reason;
- Refusal to close or delay in closing the accounts.
- Refusal to accept or delay in accepting payment towards taxes, as required by Reserve Bank/Government.
- Delays in receipts of export proceeds, handling of export bills, collection of bills etc. for exporters provided the said complaints pertain to the Banks operations in India.
- Non-acceptance of application for loans without furnishing valid reasons to the applicant
The Banking Ombudsman does not charge any fee for filing and resolving customers’ complaints.
If a person is not satisfied with the decision passed by the Banking Ombudsman, he/she can approach the appellate authority against the Banking Ombudsmen’s decision. Appellate Authority is vested with a Deputy Governor of the RBI.
