Not authorised any external entity to address public grievances: RBI

The Reserve Bank on Wednesday said it has not authorised any external agency to redress public complaints against regulated entities.

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, the central banks said in a statement.

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

"It is clarified that RBI does not have any such arrangement with any entity for (the) 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," it said.

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://www.rbi.org.in) or by e-mail at crpc@rbi.org.in, the apex bank noted.

"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)," it said.

The status of complaints can also be tracked on the CMS portal, it added.