RBI to conduct customer satisfaction survey on impact of bank mergers

This is to find out the impact of the recent mergers of state-owned banks on banking services being availed by individuals.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to conduct a customer satisfaction survey to find out the impact of the recent mergers of state-owned banks on banking services being availed by individuals.

Among other things, the respondents will be asked whether the merger was positive from the point of customer services. The choice before the customer will be to tick one of the following options -- strongly agree; agree; neutral; disagree; or strongly disagree.

The proposed survey will cover a total of 20,000 respondents from 21 states, including Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat. In all, there will be 22 questions.

Of the 22, a set of four questions has been drafted separately for assessing customer service and grievance redress issues of customers of branches of banks that have been merged with other banks in the year 2019 and 2020.

Among public sector banks, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank were merged with Bank of Baroda; Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India with Punjab National Bank; Syndicate Bank with Canara Bank; Allahabad Bank with Indian Bank; Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank with Union Bank of India.

Also, Lakshmi Vilas Bank was merged with DBS Bank.

The questions related to mergers are: 'I did not face any problem in availing services after the merger'; 'I faced problems in the following product(s)/service(s)/area(s)'; and 'The nature of problem I faced in the product(s)/service(s)/area(s)'.

The participants will also be asked: "overall, the merger has been positive from customer service perspective"; and options against this are 'strongly agree'; 'agree'; 'neutral'; 'disagree'; and 'strongly disagree'.

While inviting quotations for conducting the 'Bank Customers' Satisfaction Survey' from survey agencies, the central bank said the approved vendor will be required to conduct interview over phone with recording of customers of bank branches falling in identified states.

The RBI will provide the contact number of the customers of bank branches selected from the 21 states. The selected agency will have to complete the survey work and submit the report to theRBI by June 22, 2021.

Request for quotations (RFQ) document said the questions have been framed to capture the customer's experience and perception of the grievance redress mechanism of his/her bank. It is also for awareness about the grievance redressal mechanism of the bank and the banking ombudsman.