Banking ombudsman: Customer complaints up marginally in FY12

Customer complaints in Banking Ombudsman offices of the Reserve Bank of India increased marginally to 72,889 in 2011-12. The number of complaints in the previous year were 71,274.

According to RBI, Kanpur and Delhi continued to receive the highest number of complaints followed by Chennai and Bhopal in 2011-12. While the number of complaints rose marginally, the rate of disposal of complaints was same at 94 per cent like in the previous year.

About 25 per cent of total complaints received pertained to the banks failure to meet commitments and non-observance of fair practices code, while 21 per cent were card-related (credit/debit/ATM) complaints. About 12 per cent complaints were related to deposit accounts.

Card related complaints continued to be the single-largest ground of complaint, though it declined three per cent compared to the previous year. Of 14,492 card-related complaints, 9,348 pertained to ATM and debit cards. Unsolicited cards, unsolicited insurance policies and recovery of premium, charging of annual fee in spite of being offered as 'free' card were some among the reasons for which customers complained to the ombudsman.

RBI also announced it would set up a committee to review and update Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006.

The committee will be chaired by Suma Verma. A working group has been constituted on the recommendations of Damodaran Committee on customer service.