There are times when you are not happy with your bank’s complaint redressal process. If this is the case then you have the right to complain to RBI about the service deficiency. RBI has since 2006 initiated a system for acting against the complaints through ‘Banking Ombudsman’. This is called ‘Banking ombudsman scheme, 2006’
Nonetheless, you have to file complain while documenting service deficiency and Bank standpoint on it.
Who is Banking Ombudsman?
The Banking Ombudsman is a senior official (quasi judicial) appointed by the Reserve Bank of India to redress customer complaints against deficiency in certain banking services covered under the grounds of complaint specified under Clause 8 of the Banking Ombudsman Scheme 2006 (As amended upto July 1, 2017).
What is banking Ombudsman scheme?
It is a scheme launched by RBI to protect consumer rights with regards to Bank Customer. Bank Customer can complain against the Bank for any of the listed issues in the scheme. The scheme was last updated in July 2017.
Here is the Link from RBI: Banking Ombudsman Scheme
Here I have listed in stages, how you can file a complaint.
If applying offline, your address with bank will define the Ombudsman location.
Read these before you file a Complaint with Banking Ombudsman
When can one file a complaint?
One can file a complaint before the Banking Ombudsman if the reply is not received from the bank within a period of one month after the bank concerned has received one’s complaint, or the bank rejects the complaint, or if the complainant is not satisfied with the reply given by the bank.
Which are the banks covered under the Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006?
All Scheduled Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks and Scheduled Primary Co-operative Banks are covered under the Scheme.
What are the grounds of complaints?
The Banking Ombudsman can receive and consider any complaint relating to the following deficiency in banking services:
- non-payment or inordinate delay in the payment or collection of cheques, drafts, bills etc.;
- non-acceptance, without sufficient cause, of small denomination notes tendered for any purpose, and for charging of commission in respect thereof;
- non-acceptance, without sufficient cause, of coins tendered and for charging of commission in respect thereof;
- non-payment or delay in payment of inward remittances ;
- failure to issue or delay in issue of drafts, pay orders or bankers’ cheques;
- non-adherence to prescribed working hours ;
- failure to provide or delay in providing a banking facility (other than loans and advances) promised in writing by a bank or its direct selling agents; delays, non-credit of proceeds to parties’ accounts, non-payment of deposit or non-observance of the Reserve Bank directives, if any, applicable to rate of interest on deposits in any savings, current or other account maintained with a bank ;
- complaints from Non-Resident Indians 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;
- Non-adherence to the instructions of Reserve Bank on ATM / Debit Card and Prepaid Card operations in India by the bank or its subsidiaries
- Non-adherence by the bank or its subsidiaries to the instructions of Reserve Bank on credit card operations
- Non-adherence to the instructions of Reserve Bank with regard to Mobile Banking / Electronic Banking service in India by the bank
- Non-disbursement or delay in disbursement of pension (to the extent the grievance can be attributed to the action on the part of the bank concerned, but not with regard to its employees);
- Refusal to accept or delay in accepting payment towards taxes, as required by Reserve Bank/Government;
- Refusal to issue or delay in issuing, or failure to service or delay in servicing or redemption of Government securities;
- Forced closure of deposit accounts without due notice or without sufficient reason;
- Refusal to close or delay in closing the accounts;
- Non-adherence to the fair practices code as adopted by the bank;
- Non-adherence to the provisions of the Code of Bank’s Commitments to Customers issued by Banking Codes and Standards Board of India and as adopted by the bank ;
- Non-observance of Reserve Bank guidelines on engagement of recovery agents by banks;
- Non-adherence to Reserve Bank guidelines on para-banking activities like sale of insurance / mutual fund /other third party investment products by banks
- Any other matter relating to the violation of the directives issued by the Reserve Bank in relation to banking or other services.
A customer can also lodge a complaint on the following grounds of deficiency in service with respect to loans and advances
- non-observance of Reserve Bank Directives on interest rates;
- delays in sanction, disbursement or non-observance of prescribed time schedule for disposal of loan applications;
- non-acceptance of application for loans without furnishing valid reasons to the applicant; and
- non-adherence to the provisions of the fair practices code for lenders as adopted by the bank or Code of Bank’s Commitment to Customers, as the case may be;
- non-observance of any other direction or instruction of the Reserve Bank as may be specified by the Reserve Bank for this purpose from time to time. The Banking Ombudsman may also deal with such other matter as may be specified by the Reserve Bank from time to time.
How can I complaint to ombudsman?
One can file a complaint with the Banking Ombudsman simply by writing on a plain paper. One can also file it online at Complaint Link or by sending an email to the Banking Ombudsman. There is a form along with details of the scheme in our website. However, it is not mandatory to use this format.
The complaint in writing shall be duly signed by the complainant or his authorized representative and shall be, as far as possible, in the form specified in Annexure ‘A’ or as near as thereto as circumstances admit, stating clearly: (i) the name and the address of the complainant, (ii) the name and address of the branch or office of the bank against which the complaint is made, (iii) the facts giving rise to the complaint, (iv) the nature and extent of the loss caused to the complainant, and (v) the relief sought for.
DOWNLOAD COMPLAINT FORMAT: PDF WORD
Is there any cost involved in filing complaints with Banking Ombudsman?
No. The Banking Ombudsman does not charge any fee for filing and resolving customers’ complaints.
Is there any limit on the amount of compensation as specified in an Award?
The amount, if any, to be paid by the bank to the complainant by way of compensation for any loss suffered by the complainant is limited to the amount arising directly out of the act or omission of the bank or ₹ 20 lakhs (₹ Two Million), whichever is lower.
Can compensation be claimed for mental agony and harassment?
The Banking Ombudsman may award compensation not exceeding ₹ 1 lakh (₹ One Hundred Thousand) to the complainant for mental agony and harassment. The Banking Ombudsman will take into account the loss of the complainant’s time, expenses incurred by the complainant, harassment and mental anguish suffered by the complainant while passing such award.
Addresses of Office of Banking Ombudsman covering respective States & Union Territories
| Sl. No. | Centre | Name & Address of the Office of
Banking Ombudsman |
Area of Operation |
| 1. | Ahmedabad | Shri G J Raju
C/o Reserve Bank of India La Gajjar Chambers, Ashram Road Ahmedabad-380 009 STD Code: 079 Tel. No. 26582357/26586718 Fax No. 26583325 Email : [email protected] |
Gujarat, Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu |
| 2. | Bengaluru | Ms. C R Samyuktha
C/o Reserve Bank of India 10/3/8, Nrupathunga Road Bengaluru -560 001 STD Code: 080 Tel. No. 22210771/22275629 Fax No. 22244047 Email : [email protected] |
Karnataka |
| 3. | Bhopal | Shri V K Nayak
C/o Reserve Bank of India Hoshangabad Road Post Box No. 32, Bhopal-462 011 STD Code: 0755 Tel. No. 2573772/2573776 Fax No. 2573779 Email : [email protected] |
Madhya Pradesh |
| 4. | Bhubaneswar | Shri S Behera
C/o Reserve Bank of India Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru Marg Bhubaneswar-751 001 STD Code: 0674 Tel. No. 2396207/2396008 Fax No. 2393906 Email : [email protected] |
Odisha |
| 5. | Chandigarh | Shri J L Negi
C/o Reserve Bank of India 4th Floor, Sector 17 Chandigarh Tel. No. 0172 – 2721109 Fax No. 0172 – 2721880 Email : [email protected] |
Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Union Territory of Chandigarh and Panchkula, Yamuna Nagar and Ambala Districts of Haryana. |
| 6. | Chennai | Shri R. Lakshmi Kanth Rao
C/o Reserve Bank of India Fort Glacis, Chennai 600 001 STD Code: 044 Tel No. 25395963 / 25395964 Fax No. 25395488 Email : [email protected] |
Tamil Nadu, Union Territories of Puducherry (except Mahe Region) and Andaman and Nicobar Islands |
| 7. | Guwahati | Shri A. R. Samal
C/o Reserve Bank of India Station Road, Pan Bazar Guwahati-781 001 STD Code: 0361 Tel.No.2542556/2540445 Fax No. 2540445 Email : [email protected] |
Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura |
| 8. | Hyderabad | Smt Reeny Ajit
C/o Reserve Bank of India 6-1-56, Secretariat Road Saifabad, Hyderabad-500 004 STD Code: 040 Tel. No. 23210013/23243970 Fax No. 23210014 Email : [email protected] |
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana |
| 9. | Jaipur | Shri C D Srinivasan
C/o Reserve Bank of India, Ram Bagh Circle, Tonk Road, Post Box No. 12 Jaipur-302 004 STD Code: 0141 Tel. No. 2577931 Fax No. 2562220 Email : [email protected] |
Rajasthan |
| 10. | Kanpur | Shri D K Srivastava
C/o Reserve Bank of India M. G. Road, Post Box No. 82 Kanpur-208 001 STD Code: 0512 Tel. No. 2306278/2303004 Fax No. 2305938 Email : [email protected] |
Uttar Pradesh (excluding Districts of Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Saharanpur, Shamli (Prabudh Nagar), Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Meerut, Bijnor and Amroha (Jyotiba Phule Nagar) |
| 11. | Kolkata | Smt. Reena Banerjee
C/o Reserve Bank of India 15, Netaji Subhash Road Kolkata-700 001 STD Code: 033 Tel. No. 22304982 Fax No. 22305899 Email : [email protected] |
West Bengal and Sikkim |
| 12. | Mumbai (I) | Smt. Ranjana Sahajwala
C/o Reserve Bank of India 4th Floor, RBI Byculla Office Building, Opp. Mumbai Central Railway Station, Byculla, Mumbai-400 008 STD Code: 022 Tel No. 23022028 Fax : 23022024 Email : [email protected] |
Districts of Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban and Thane |
| 13. | Mumbai (II) | Shri P K Jena
C/o Reserve Bank of India, 4th Floor, RBI Byculla Office Building, Opp. Mumbai Central Railway Station, Byculla, Mumbai-400 008 STD Code: 022 Telephone: 23028140 Fax : 23022024 Email : [email protected] |
Goa and Maharashtra, (except the districts of Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban and Thane) |
| 14. | New Delhi (I) | Smt. Anupam Sonal
C/o Reserve Bank of India, Sansad Marg, New Delhi STD Code: 011 Tel. No. 23725445/23710882 Fax No. 23725218 Email : [email protected] |
Delhi |
| 15. | Patna | Smt. Nandita Singh
C/o Reserve Bank of India Patna-800 001 STD Code: 0612 Tel. No. 2322569/2323734 Fax No. 2320407 Email : [email protected] |
Bihar |
| 16. | Thiruvananthapuram | Shri H N Iyer
C/o Reserve Bank of India Bakery Junction Thiruvananthapuram-695 033 STD Code: 0471 Tel. No. 2332723/2323959 Fax No. 2321625 Email : [email protected] |
Kerala, Union Territory of Lakshadweep and Union Territory of Puducherry (only Mahe Region). |
| 17. | New Delhi (II) | Shri R S Amar
C/o Reserve Bank of India Sansad Marg, New Delhi STD Code: 011 Tel. No. 23724856 Fax No. 23725218-19 Email : [email protected] |
Haryana (except Panchkula, Yamuna Nagar and Ambala Districts) and Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar districts of Uttar Pradesh |
| 18. | Dehradun | Shri H S Khitaulia
C/o Reserve Bank of India 74/1 G.M.V.N. Building, 1st floor, Rajpur Road, Dehradun – 248 001 STD Code : 0135 Telephone : 2742003 Fax : 2742001 Email : [email protected] |
Uttarakhand and seven districts of Uttar Pradesh viz., Saharanpur, Shamli (Prabudh Nagar), Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Meerut, Bijnor and Amroha (Jyotiba Phule Nagar) |
| 19. | Ranchi | Smt Chandana Dasgupta
C/o Reserve Bank of India 4th Floor, Pragati Sadan, RRDA Building, Kutchery Road, Ranchi Jharkhand 834001 STD Code : 0651 Telephone : 2210512 Fax : 2210511 Email : [email protected] |
Jharkhand |
| 20. | Raipur | Shri. Keshab Korkora
C/o Reserve Bank of India 54/949, Shubhashish Parisar, Satya Prem Vihar Mahadev Ghat Road, Sundar Nagar, Raipur- 492013 STD Code : 0771 Telephone: 2242566 Fax : 2242566 Email : [email protected] |
Chhattisgarh |
| 21. | Jammu | Shri P Shimrah
C/o Reserve Bank of India, Rail Head Complex, Jammu- 180012 STD Code : 0191 Telephone: 2477617 Fax : 2477219 Email: [email protected] |
State of Jammu and Kashmir |
Customer Care Details for major Banks in India
- ICICI Bank customer care email id : Customer Care
- HDFC Bank customer care email id : Customer Center
- AXIS Bank customer care email id: Grievance Redressal
- SBI Bank customer care email id: Complaints and Compliments
I hope this detailed information will help you to file complaint against the bank who are non responsive to your requests or charge misleading amounts
