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Banking Ombudsman

Who is the Banking Ombudsman?

• Banking Ombudsman is a senior official appointed by the RBI to redress

customer complaints against pitfalls in the stipulated banking services
covered by the Banking Ombudsman Scheme.
• Banking Ombudsman is a quasi-judicial authority, and the authority was
created pursuant to a decision made by the Government of India.

Offices: There are 22 Offices of Banking Ombudsman (OBOs) covering all states
and union territories.

Tenure: The period of appointment is not more than 3 years and can be reduced
by the regulator if needed. The ombudsman is provided with the area of
jurisdiction which he must control, and RBI provides him a Secretariat (office of
Banking Ombudsman) which is a well-developed institution managed by various
individuals.

Banking Ombudsman Scheme

The Banking Ombudsman Scheme was implemented by the RBI to redress the
complaints of customers on certain types of banking services provided by banks
and to facilitate the settlement of those complaints.

Establishment: The scheme was introduced under the Banking Regulation Act of
1949 by RBI. It can into effect from 1995. Later it was legally refined and modified
through the introduction of regulations under Banking Ombudsman Scheme 2006.
Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transaction has also been launched. The latest
revision is RBI’s Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021, which has integrated the
previous three schemes

Fees: The Banking Ombudsman does not charge any fee for filing and resolving
customers’ complaints.

Integrated Ombudsman Scheme 2021

About the scheme

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched Reserve Bank of India’s

Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021.
• It will provide cost-free redressal of customer complaints involving
deficiency in services rendered by entities regulated by the RBI, if not
resolved to the satisfaction of the customers within 30 days by banks,
NBFCs, and payment system operators.

What is included in this scheme?

Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021 has integrated existing three Ombudsman

schemes of RBI:

1. Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006

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2. Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies, 2018

3. Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions, 2019.

Acts related to the new scheme

This integrated Scheme has been framed by Reserve Bank of India in exercise of
the powers conferred on it under:

• Section 35A of Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (10 of 1949)

• Section 45L of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (2 of 1934)
• Section 18 of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (51 of 2007)

Salient features of Integrated Ombudsman Scheme

• Hassle-free process: It will no longer be necessary for a complainant to

identify under which scheme he/she should file complaint with the
respective Ombudsman.
• Ground of complaint: The Scheme defines ‘deficiency in service’ as the
ground for filing complaint, with a specified list of exclusions. Therefore,
complaints will no longer be rejected simply on account of not covered
under the grounds listed in the scheme.
• A new turn: Scheme also included Non-Scheduled Primary Co-operative
Banks under its ambit with a deposit size of ₹50 crore and above. Scheme
adopts ‘One Nation One Ombudsman’ approach by making the RBI
Ombudsman mechanism jurisdiction neutral.
• It has done away with the jurisdiction of each ombudsman office.
• Under this, Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre has been set up at
RBI, Chandigarh for receipt and initial processing of physical and email
complaints in any language.

Authority representing Regulated Entity

• The responsibility of representing Regulated Entity and furnishing

information in respect of complaints filed by customers against Regulated
Entity will be that of the Principal Nodal Officer in the rank of a General
Manager in a Public Sector Bank or equivalent.
• Regulated Entity will not have the right to appeal in cases where an Award
is issued by ombudsman against it for not furnishing satisfactory and timely
information/documents.

Appellate Authority for the scheme

Executive Director-in charge of Consumer Education and Protection Department

of RBI will be the Appellate Authority under the Scheme.

How complaints can be filed?

• Complaints can file their complain online on https://cms.rbi.org.in.

• Complaints can also be filed through the dedicated e-mail or sent in physical
mode to the ‘Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre’ set up at
Reserve Bank of India, Chandigarh.

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• Contact Centre with a toll-free number 14448 (9:30 am to 5:15 pm)

is also being operationalised in Hindi, English and in eight regional
languages to begin with and will be expanded to cover other Indian
languages in due course. It will provide information/clarifications regarding
the alternate grievance redress mechanism of RBI and to guide
complainants in filing of a complaint.
• It is available on the RBI website and on the CMS portal
(https://cms.rbi.org.in).