RBI guv raps banks for poor grievance record

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra came down heavily on regulated entities like banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) for the spike in customer complaints in recent years, urging them to improve services and strengthen grievance redress in a time-bound manner.

- MANOJIT SAHA

He said that senior executives, including chief executive officers (MDs), should spend time on the issue at least once a week.

"In this age of competition, we will not survive long if we do not provide quality service to our consumers," Malhotra said in a speech on Monday at the annual conference of the RBI Ombudsmen.

Commenting that the high number of customer grievances remains a serious concern, Malhotra cited data showing that complaints received under RBI's Integrated Ombudsman Scheme grew at a compound average rate of almost 50 per cent per year over the past two years, reaching 934,000 in 2023-24 (FY24). The number of complaints processed by the office of the RBI Ombudsman increased by 25 per cent, from about 235,000 in 2022-23 to almost 294,000 in 2023-24. "Not only are a large number of complaints getting escalated, but a large proportion — nearly 57 per cent of maintainable complaints last year — required mediation or formal intervention by the RBI Ombudsmen. You would all agree that this is a highly unsatisfactory situation and needs our urgent attention," he said.