Keep customers central in policies, improve service and reduce grievances: RBI to banks, NBFCs
Mumbai, December 5
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra, on Friday, while announcing the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision, urged banks and NBFCs to keep customers central in their policies and operations, improve customer service and reduce grievances.
Further, the Governor also announced a two-month campaign to resolve all grievances pending for more than a month with the RBI Ombudsman.
"In the recent past, as a result of, inter alia, receipt of a large number of grievances, pendency with the RBI Ombudsman has increased. We propose to hold a two-month campaign from 1st January next year with an aim to resolve all grievances pending for more than a month with the RBI Ombudsman," Governor Malhotra said.
The RBI Governor also highlighted the recent measures taken by the RBI to improve customer services
"We have taken a large number of measures in this regard. Re-KYC, financial inclusion and 'Aapki Poonji, Aapka Adhikar' campaigns are some of the initiatives taken in association with other stakeholders. Earlier in the year, we reviewed our Citizens Charter too. We made applications for all our services online," he said.
"We are publishing the summary of our monthly disposal and pendency of various applications on the first of every month. I am happyto note that more than 99.8% of the applications are disposed of within stipulated timelines," the Governor added.
Earlier this week, RBI had released the Integrated Ombudsman Scheme Annual Report for FY 2024-25 highlighting significant rise in consumer grievances, with 13.34 lakh complaints registered during FY 2024-25, a 13.55% increase from FY 2023-24.
RBI in its report highlighted an expanded digital complaint footprint, improved disposal efficiency, and increasing concerns around loans, credit cards and digital frauds.
The loans and advances remained the largest source of consumer grievances, accounting for 29.25% of total complaints. Credit card-related issues witnessed a steep rise of 20.04%, making them the second-largest category, while complaints related to mobile and electronic banking dropped by 12.74%, indicating either better system efficiencies or shifting consumer behaviour.
In terms of regulated entities, banks formed 81.53% of all complaints, followed by NBFCs at 14.80%.
RBI's Monetary Policy Committee has unanimously decided to reduce the repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.25% with immediate effect maintaining the 'neutral' stance.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Reducing repo rate is good news for loans, but if banks don't improve service, what's the use? 13 lakh+ complaints is shocking. The 'Aapki Poonji, Aapka Adhikar' campaign needs to be more visible on the ground.
As someone who recently moved to India, the banking experience can be frustrating. The online systems are a step forward, but when you need human help for a loan query, the delays are immense. Glad RBI is prioritizing this.
Credit card issues up by 20%! This is the real story. Banks are pushing cards aggressively with hidden charges and poor grievance redressal. RBI should penalize banks for frivolous charges, not just ask them to be nice.
While the intent is good, I hope this is not just another 'campaign'. We need systemic change. The fact that 81% complaints are against banks shows where the problem lies. Customer-centricity needs to be measured and rewarded.
The digital complaint footprint expansion is positive. However, the high volume suggests many issues are not being resolved at the bank level first, forcing customers to escalate. Banks need stronger first-line resolution.
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