RBI Clarifies On The Mode of Receipt of Complaints Under Ombudsman Scheme 2021

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) clarified the mode of receiving complaints under the Reserve Bank - Integrated Ombudsman Scheme 2021 on Wednesday (RB-IOS). RBI has alleged that instances of misinformation concerning the Reserve Bank's Integrated Ombudsman Scheme 2021 (RB-IOS) being spread through certain sections of social media have been notified.

"These messages are conveying to public at large to lodge their complaints against entities regulated by RBI through third parties for a charge/fee or otherwise for early redress of grievances," RBI said.

According to the official statement of RBI issued on 9th March 2022 "It is clarified that RBI does not have any such arrangement with any entity for redress of grievances against the Regulated Entities (REs). RBI has laid down a cost free grievance redress mechanism under RB-IOS which does not involve payment of fees or charges in any form or manner. Customers having grievances against REs for deficiency in services, which is not redressed satisfactorily or in a timely manner by the REs can directly lodge their complaint on the Complaint Management System (CMS) portal (https://cms.rbi.org.in) or by e-mail at [e-mail] or in physical mode at the 'Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre' (CRPC) set up at RBI, 4th Floor, Sector 17, Chandigarh - 160017."

RBI has further claimed that complainants having queries on RB-IOS or desiring information relating to their complaints lodged through the above methods, can reach the Contact Centre of RBI at toll-free #14448 (currently available from 9:30 am to 5:15 pm on working days) in Hindi, English and nine regional languages (Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Odia, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu). The status of complaints can also be tracked on the CMS portal.

Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi announced The Reserve Bank - Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021 on November 12, 2021. The Scheme combines the RBI's three existing Ombudsman schemes: the Banking Ombudsman Scheme of 2006, the Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies of 2018 and the Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions of 2019.

The initiative was introduced in an effort to grant cost-free redress of customer complaints regarding shortfall in services provided by entities regulated by RBI if the complaints were not handled to the customers' satisfaction or the regulated entity did not respond within 30 days. The scheme comprises Non-Scheduled Primary Co-operative Banks with a deposit amount of Rs 50 crore and above, in addition to combining the three existing schemes.