Ombudsman scheme extended to non deposit-taking NBFCs

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday extended the "ombudsman scheme" for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) to non deposit-taking NBFCs with asset size of at least Rs 100 crore.

The decision comes after the central bank in its "Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies" released earlier this month after the monetary policy meet said that it has decided to extend the ambit of the ombudsman scheme.

"The Reserve Bank of India today has extended the coverage of Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), 2018 (the Scheme) to eligible Non Deposit Taking Non Banking Financial Companies (NBFC-NDs) having asset size of Rs 100 crore or above with customer interface," the RBI circular said.

NBFC-Infrastructure Finance Companies (NBFC-IFC), core investment companies (CIC), infrastructure debt fund-non-banking financial company (IDFNBFC) and an NBFC under liquidation, are excluded from the ambit of the scheme.

The scheme was launched on February 23, 2018 for redressal of complaints against NBFCs registered with RBI under Section 45-IA of the RBI Act, 1934 and covered all deposit accepting NBFCs to begin with. It provides a cost-free and expeditious complaint redressal mechanism relating to deficiency in the services by NBFCs covered under the scheme.

The offices of the NBFC ombudsmen are functioning at four metro centres -- New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai -- and handle complaints of customers in the respective zones.

The scheme also provides for an appellate mechanism under which the complainant or the NBFC has the option to appeal against the decision of the ombudsman before the appellate authority.

--IANS

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