The new scheme will include customer complaints on new areas, like credit card complaints, deficiencies in providing the promised services even by banks' sales agents, levying service charges without prior notice to the customer and non-adherence to the fair practices code as adopted by individual banks.
This comes on the back of the RBI's dissatisfaction on the working of the current banking ombudsman scheme.
Bankers attribute the non-performance of the existing scheme to the lack of awareness among customers, the limited scope of complaints and the non-involvement of the staff recruited within the ombudsman.
The new scheme, applicable to all commercial banks, regional rural banks and scheduled primary co-operative banks, will come into effect from January 1, 2006.
In order to make the scheme more effective, the RBI has decided to take the onus of recruitment and funding of the scheme.
The RBI may appoint one or more of its officers belonging to the rank of chief general manager or general manager to be known as banking ombudsman to carry out the functions entrusted to them under the scheme.
It has also decided to depute an equal number of officers to the office of the banking ombudsman as is considered necessary to function as the secretariat of the Banking Ombudsman.
Under the revised banking ombudsman scheme, the RBI has given complainants the facility to file their complaints even in an online format. Customers would also be able to appeal to the central bank against the judgements given by the banking ombudsman.
According to the revised scheme, the customer could lodge his complaint to the banking ombudsman within whose jurisdiction the branch or office of the concerned bank is located.
However, in case of credit card related grievances, the complaint needs to be filed before the banking ombudsman within whose territorial jurisdiction the billing address of the card holder is located and not the place where the bank concerned or the credit card processing unit is located.
A complaint could file grievances related to the bank's refusal to open deposit accounts without any valid reason, levying of charges without adequate prior notice and non-adherence by the bank or its subsidiaries to the instructions of RBI on ATM/Debit card operations or credit card operations.
The RBI is also in an advanced stage of setting up an independent Banking Codes and Standards Board of India to ensure that comprehensive code of conduct for fair treatment to customers are formulated by banks and adhered to.
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