Issues related to cards, net banking, fair practices top complaint grounds at banking ombudsman: RBI

Issues related to ATM/ debit cards, mobile/ electronic banking, credit cards, failure to meet commitments and non-observance of fair practices code were the top-five grounds of complaints received at the Office of Banking Ombudsman (OBO) during July 2020-March 2021, said an RBI report on Wednesday.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released the Annual Report of the Ombudsman Schemes for the year 2020-21, which has been prepared for the nine-month period from July 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021, in alignment with the change in the financial year of the RBI from 'July-June' to 'April-March' with effect from July 1, 2020.

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It covers the activities under the Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006 (BOS), the Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies, 2018 (OSNBFC), and the Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions, 2019 (OSDT).

As per the report, the volume of complaints received under all the three ombudsman schemes increased 22.27 per cent on an annualised basis and stood at 3,03,107 during the reported period.

The BOS accounted for 90.13 per cent of total complaints (2,73,204) received under the three ombudsman schemes. The number of complaints received under OSNBFC and OSDT stood at 8.89 per cent and 0.98 per cent, respectively, of the total number of complaints.

"Complaints related to (a) ATM/debit cards and (b) mobile/electronic banking (c) credit cards (d) failure to meet commitments and (e) non-observance of fair practices code (FPC) were the top-five grounds of complaints received at the OBOs," it said.

The shares of ATM/debit card complaints, mobile/electronic banking and credit card complaints to total complaints received during July 1, 2020-March 31, 2021, stood at 17.40 per cent, 12.98 per cent and 12.36 per cent, respectively.

The corresponding percentage of complaints against these grounds during July 1, 2019-June 30, 2020, were 21.97 per cent, 13.38 per cent and 9.30 per cent, respectively.

It further said complaints related to credit cards, failure to meet commitments, and direct selling agents (DSAs) and recovery agents increased during July 1, 2020-March 31, 2021, vis-?-vis July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020, with complaints related to DSAs and recovery agents registering a surge of over 60.66 per cent.

Regarding the Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies (OSNBFC), the report said the receipt of complaints at ONBFCOs stood at 26,957 during July 1, 2020-March 31, 2021, increasing from 19,432 complaints received during July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020.

"Thus, an increase of 38.72 per cent was witnessed, despite the current period being short by a quarter," the report said.

The number of complaints received at the Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions (OSDT) rose from 2,481 during July 1, 2019-June 30, 2020, to 2,946 during July 1, 2020-March 31, 2021.

Fund transfers/ unified payments interface (UPI)/ BBPS/ Bharat QR Code, mobile/ electronic fund transfer and non-reversal of debit due to wrong beneficiary transfer by system participant were the top-3 grounds of complaints under OSDT, 2019, with the shares in total complaints at 51.15 per cent, 22.57 per cent, and 8.18 per cent, respectively.

As per the report, the overall disposal rate improved to 96.59 per cent from 92.52 per cent in the previous year, despite a higher volume of complaints, which can be attributed to the end-to-end digitisation of complaint processing in the Complaint Management System (CMS).

Of the maintainable complaints, 72.67 per cent were resolved by mutual agreement i.E. Through the intervention of the ombudsman offices/ conciliation/ mediation efforts.

The report said during the period under review, the groundwork for the launch of Reserve Bank-Integrated Ombudsman Scheme 2021 (RB-IOS), along with accompanying changes in the CMS have been carried out.

RB-IOS, 2021 will replace the three existing Ombudsman Schemes: BOS, OSNBFC and OSDT.

The scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 12, 2021. It has adopted a 'One Nation-One Ombudsman' approach, for all customers of RBI-regulated entities. It will ensure that all customers have one platform, one email and one address to lodge, track and monitor their complaints anytime and from anywhere.