How It Works

Once the ombudsman gives his decision, the customer either accepts it in toto, or refuses to accept it. If he refuses to accept it, he has the option of approaching other available fora such as consumer court to pursue the matter.

A bank, on the other hand, has no such choice according to the provisions of the scheme. If the bank refuses to accept the award handed down by the ombudsman, the latter will forward it to the RBI who will persuade the bank to accept it.

What happens after this is a grey area. The scheme says that the bank has no option after this. Legal experts, however, feel that this may not hold ground in a court of law. If a bank refuses to wilt under RBIs pressure and prefers to go to a high court, chances are that the high court will admit the plea. If on the other hand the award has been accepted by both the sides, then the bank has one month within which to execute it.