Central, state co-op banks brought under ambit of RBI's Ombudsman scheme

State co-operative banks and central co-operative banks will come under the ambit of the Reserve Bank Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021, from November 1, the central bank said on Tuesday.

The RBI has issued a notification in this regard.

With this enhancement, the Integrated Ombudsman Scheme would cover all commercial banks, regional rural banks, state co-operative banks, central co-operative banks, scheduled primary (urban) co-operative banks, and non-scheduled primary (urban) co-operative banks with a deposit size of Rs 50 crore.

All non-banking financial companies -- excluding housing finance companies, which are authorised to accept deposits or have a customer interface, with an asset size of Rs 100 crore and above -- are covered under the scheme.

Credit information companies are also covered under the scheme.

The Reserve Bank Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS) - launched in November 2021, provides customers of regulated entities (REs) a speedy, cost-effective and expeditious alternate grievance redress mechanism.