RBI Clarifies Ombudsman Scheme, Says No Need to Pay Fee To Third For Redressal

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) clarified on Wednesday 09, March 2022, that it has not authorized any third party to assist in the redressal of grievances of the central bank's regulated firms, as alleged in messages distributed through some areas of social media. Also, RBI-IOS 2021 (Integrated Ombudsman Scheme) are meant for filling complaints against lenders, And it is free of cost.

RBI tweeted, "Reserve Bank clarifies on the mode of receipt of complaints under Reserve Bank - Integrated Ombudsman Scheme 2021(RB-IOS)" with the Press release.

In its press release, RBI says, "Instances of misinformation being spread through certain sections of the social media about the Reserve Bank - Integrated Ombudsman Scheme 2021 (RB-IOS) have come to the notice of the RBI. 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."
Furthermore, RBI clarifies stating, "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 who have grievances against REs for deficiencies in services that are not redressed properly or in a timely way by the REs can immediately submit their complaint on the RBI's Complaint Management System (CMS) online or through email, phone, or calling the central bank's office.
Customers can submit complaints through CMS at https://www.rbi.org.in or by e-mail at [e-mail] or in physical mode at the 'centralized receipt and processing center' (CRPC) set up at RBI, 4th Floor, Sector 17, Chandigarh - 160017.

Complainants with questions about the RB-IOS or seeking information about their complaints submitted using the foregoing ways can call the RBI contact center at toll-free number #14448 (currently accessible from 9:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. on working days) in Hindi, English, and nine regional languages including Bengali, Odia, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu.