On Customer Service - Officers

Indian Overseas Bank
इण्डियन ओवरसीज़ बैंक

GOOD PEOPLE TO GROW WITH
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Group – JM I to MMIII
Prepared by
Bharathi Manivannan.S
Senior Manager (Faculty)
STC Trivandrum
DEFINITION OF A CUSTOMER
Customers are people who need your assistance.

They are not an interruption to your job, they are the
reason you have a job..
CUSTOMER SERVICE
 Customer service is the support you offer your customers —
both before and after they buy and use your products or
services — that helps them have an easy and enjoyable
experience with you.
 Offering amazing customer service is important if you want to

retain customers and grow your business.
 Today’s customer service goes far beyond the traditional

telephone support agent. It’s available via email, web, text
message, and social media. Many companies also provide
self-service support, so customers can find their own answers
at any time day or night.
 Customer support is more than just providing answers; it’s an

important part of the promise your brand makes to its
customers.
REWARDS FOR EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE
 Increased customer loyalty
 Positive word-of-mouth promotion
 Happier customers
 More productive and happier employees
 Smoother working operations

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Eye contact & visible mouth

Body language
Some questions
Effective
Encouragement Communication skills silence
to continue
Summarizing Checking for understanding

what has been said Smiling face
ATTITUDE CHECKLIST
What attitudes assist in providing good service?
 Enjoy helping people ?
 Handle people well ?
 Care for your customers ?
 Give fair and equal treatment to all ?
 Be understanding of people with special needs ?

SKILLS FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE
 Know about your organisation
 Learn the technical parts of the job
 Communicate well
 Be consistent
 Be organised
 Know your place in the team and be a team player
GREETING CUSTOMERS
The purpose is to create and maintain a welcoming
environment - how can we achieve this?
 Be attentive, acknowledge a person as soon as they appear,

even if you’re busy
 SMILE!
 Establish eye contact

 Tell them your name
 Ask how you can help

 Give the customer your full attention
 Be polite and courteous……………
FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN HELP
 How can you find out what people want?

 If you can’t help, what should you do?
 Offer alternatives if possible
 If they have to wait, how would you handle it?

COMMUNICATION IS A 2-WAY PROCESS
Communication skills involve:
 Listening to others (Receiving) message
sender
 Asserting/ Expressing (Sending)
receiver
sender
Barriers
receiver
The Communication Equation
What you hear
 Tone of voice
 Vocal clarity
 Verbal expressiveness 40% of the message
What you see or feel

 Facial expression
 Dress and grooming
 Posture/ Body Language
 Eye contact
 Touch
 Gesture 50% of the message
WORDS…….. ONLY 10% of the message!

BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
Language Noise
Time Distractions
Other people Put downs

Barriers to
effective communication
Too many Lack of interest
Questions
Distance Disability
Discomfort
with the topic
HOW TO LISTEN TO CUSTOMERS
Active listening = Attending skills (being ready)
o Attend to immediate needs (if you need to finish

something before giving your full attention)
o Being available
o Eye contact
o Attentive posture
o Concentration
USING YOUR VOICE
Do you
 Become loud when angry or upset
 Speak faster when nervous
 Speak slowly when tired or bored
 Have a cheerful voice
 My tone of voice is warm and understanding
 Find it easy to talk to people you don’t know
 Control your tone in most situations
 Sound bossy, weak or unsure
 Have a clear and easy-to-hear voice
 Speak in a very formal or very trendy manner?
Think about how you might modify your voice in certain

situations
BODY LANGUAGE FOR A POSITIVE RESULT
Brainstorm some examples of good body language
➢ Smile
➢ Introduce yourself (if appropriate) or wear a name badge
➢ Shake hands if appropriate
➢ Lean forward
➢ Be aware of cultural differences

PRESENTATION AND MANNER
 Uniforms, badges, etc

 Personal hygiene
 Clothing – appropriate to the situation
 Hair – cleanliness and style
 Accessories – jewellery, earrings, watches, tattoos,
 Expression – facial expressions
 Tone of voice
 Body language
 Surroundings (Can they see a messy desk?
Dead flowers in the vase?
Eating your lunch?...)
A POSITIVE FIRST IMPRESSION
 Be confident
 Knowledge - know your organisation and the services you

provide
 Confidentiality
 Follow up (don’t just say you’ll do something, do it)
 Strengthen the customer’s commitment to your

organisation
WHAT TO AVOID ?
 Saying ‘I don’t know’ without offering an option
 Saying you don’t know where a colleague is or saying they’re

at lunch/ toilet/ gone for coffee etc
 Leaving people on hold for a long time
 Ignoring people if you’re busy
 Treating people unequally

FACTORS AFFECTING THE QUALITY OF SERVICE
 Reliability
 Confidence
 Responsiveness
 Efficiency
 Consistency
 Organisation
 Acceptance of and adherence to policies and procedures

CUSTOMERS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
 People for whom English is not their first language
 People with disabilities
 People from other areas who may not be familiar with the
way things are done here
 People with limited mobility
 Unaccompanied children
DEALING WITH DIFFICULT BEHAVIOUR
 Label the behaviour, not the customer
 Listen
 Don’t get defensive
 Don’t take it personally
 Find out what the customer wants
 Discuss alternatives
 Take responsibility for what you CAN do
 Agree on action
THE TALKATIVE CUSTOMER
 Ask closed questions
 Limit the time available for them
to interrupt (don’t have long pauses)
 Provide minimal response
 Smile and be pleasant, but don’t encourage them
 Wind up – thank them for coming, walk them to the door but
don’t be rude or dismissive
THE ANGRY CUSTOMER
 Listen carefully without interrupting so you understand the

problem
 Empathize, Stay calm and remain polite
 Don’t escalate the problem
 Don’t take it personally, be defensive
or blame others.
 Propose an action plan and follow it
 Seek support if you are scared, if you can’t agree on a solution or
if the customer asks to see “whoever’s in charge”
THE ‘KNOW IT ALL’ CUSTOMER
 Acknowledge what they say
 Compliment them on their research
 Be generous with praise
 Don’t put them in their place no matter how tempting
 Don’t try to be smart – you can’t win!
 Ask them questions and use them to improve your knowledge

THE INDECISIVE CUSTOMER
 Find out what they really want
 Ask them for the options
 Reflect back to them what they’ve said
 Assume control gently and point out the best course of action
from what they’ve told you they need
 Be logical
 Confirm a plan of action with them
 Maybe even put it in writing

THE SUSPICIOUS CUSTOMER
 Establish your credibility
 Ensure you know your product or service
 They will try and catch you out so don’t guess or tell them
something you’re not sure of
 Be careful what you say
 Be polite
 Don’t take it personally, they don’t trust anyone!

REMEMBER !!!
 Customer service can have a big impact on your bottom line.
 Customer service can make or break your reputation.
 Support is an integral part of the product experience.
 Customers are willing to pay more for a better experience.

VARIOUS COMMITTEE ON CUSTOMER SERVICE
TALWAR COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
o Nomination facility helps easy settlement of claims.
o Introduction of cheque drop box.
o Customer should be reimbursed for loss of interest and any

commission/charge, should be waived, in case of
unreasonable delay in credit of cheque/bill due to banker’s
fault.
o Enforcement of basic discipline at all levels.
o Notional time test tables showing measurement of normal

time required for completing different activities/transaction
should be developed for jobs at counters wherever possible.
This will attack one of the problems in enforcing time frame
discipline.
TALWAR COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
➢ BRANCH LEVEL CUSTOMER SERVICE COMMITTEE

o Meet once in a month, Branch Manager and representatives
of all categories of staff, customer representatives, in which
one should be senior citizen
o Study complaints/ suggestions from customers
o Difficulties/ Problems faced/ reported by customers
o About new products launched by our Bank
o Customer day 15th of every month at Branches and

controlling offices, customers allowed to meet the top
officials
GOIPORIA COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
o All branches except very small branches should have

‘Enquiry’ or ‘May I help you’.
o All customer who enter the banking hall before the close of
business hours should be attended to.
o Service relating to exchange of mutilated and soiled notes

must be made more customer friendly by proper training of
employees
o Introduction of notes/coins counting machines
o Customer education drives may be launched to bring home

the advantages of getting the passbooks updated regularly /
periodically
o As a rule, passbooks may be updated immediately on

submission. If updating is not possible immediately due to a
large number of entries, then paper tokens be issued for
collection of passbooks on the next day.
o The banks should provide assistance/guidance to customers

in the area of investment of funds in the various deposit
schemes vis-à-vis the requirement of the customers
o Banks may devise appropriate procedures to ensure that no

counter remains unattended during the business hours and
uninterrupted service is rendered to the customers by making
adequate relief arrangements as may be necessary.
o Banks may get the account opening forms amended to

incorporate a space to mention the name and address of
the nominee and statutorily prescribed nomination forms
may be obtained and preserved with the account
opening forms.
o Dishonoured instruments should be returned and

despatched to the customer within 24 hours
o Nomination facilities are available not only for deposit

accounts but also for safe custody articles and safe deposit
lockers. As nomination facility for deposit accounts is more
known to the customers, compared to the one available
for safe custody articles and safe deposit lockers,
publicizing availability of the facility for these two services
also may be effectively
o Trilingual brochures and pamphlets containing information
useful to customers should be brought out
o Each employee should wear on his person an identity badge,

displaying photograph and name
o Training programme should be in line with customer service

orientation. The employee should be trained to develop the
right kind of attitude towards customer service, and empathy
towards customer’s needs and expectations.
o Reward and recognition system should be used effectively to

motivate employees to perform better. The ultimate goal
should be customer service.
o With a view to ensuring that the service to customers is made

available exactly at the commencement of business hours fix
the working hours of the staff 15 minutes before the start of
business hours.
COMMITTEE ON PROCEDURE AND PERFORMANCE AUDIT ON
PUBLIC SERVICES (CPPAPS)
o Bank to inform customers upfront about the requirement of
minimum balances and the charges if such balances are
not maintained. Any changes in such minimum balances
and charges be conveyed one month in advance
o NRO accounts can be held jointly with residents.
o To provide both the drop box facility and the facility for
acknowledgement of the cheques at the regular counter
and no branch should refuse to give an
acknowledgement, if the customer tenders the cheques at
the counters.
o To settle the claims in respect of deceased depositors and
release payments to survivor/ nominee within a period not
exceeding 15 days from the date of receipt of the claim
subject to the production of proof of death of the depositor
and suitable identification of the claims to he banks
satisfaction.
DAMODARAN COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
o The name of the payee as well as instrument number in case

of debit entries and the name of payee bank/drawer of
instrument as well as instrument number in case of credit
entries should be provided by the banks in the
passbooks/statement of account.
o KYC norms for additional accounts opened in the same bank

should have relax conditions and there should not be repeat
exercise.
o Bank must ensure that loan statements are issued to the

borrowers periodically giving details of loan disbursed,
demands and repayments effected along with interest and
details of charges
 The title deeds should be returned to the customers within a

period of 15 days after the loan closure and the boards of
bank should put in place a suitable compensatory policy to
compensate the customer for delays return of title deeds
 There should be prioritized service to senior citizens,

physically handicapped persons by effective crowd/people
management available at all branches.
 Banks should ensure proper currency exchange facilities and

also the quality of notes in circulation in rural areas.
 Bank should ensure full transparency to the customer in

levying of various fees/service charges and penalties.
 All banks should implement a relevant Customer Relationship

Management system to capture and track customer issues
and complaints.
 There must be a completely transparent process in the

allocation of locker facility
 All exchange facilities of notes and coins should be extended

free of charge.
o There should be Online grievance redressal system and bank
should provide for online registration of grievance in its
website
o There is a need for banks in developing their Internal

Grievance Redressal Mechanism to ensure only the minimum
number of cases gets escalated to the Banking Ombudsman
and the Scheme is strictly utilised only as an appellate
mechanism.
o The bank should train and familiarize all the staff in following
and implementing the BCSBI code.
o Pensioner may be allowed to submit the annual life certificate

at any of the (linked) branches and not necessarily at the
home branch. All the life certificates may be maintained in a
centralised database.
o Bank should streamline and fine-tune the functioning of their

centralised pension processing centers to ensure timely
disbursal of pension, commencement of family pension on
time and error-free calculation of pension.
o In line with the RBI guideline and board approved policies

there must be hassle-free settlement of amount dues to the
nominee/legal heirs as and when required.
o Registering and issuance of acknowledgements to the

account holders in respect of nominees
IMPORTANT INITIATIVES/ INSTRUCTIONS FROM
CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT
PHONE BANKING
➢ Our bank have a 24x7x365 basis toll free number active since
12th January 2007 with the number 1800 425 4445 for the
customer to attend calls on queries or requests or complains
(Q-R-C) basis. The requests can be viewed by branches
through HCHNLREQ menu in finacle daily to attend to the
request of customers
PHONE BANKING
➢ Empowered help desk at digital banking division
➢ Starting from June 2018 a separate help desk is

established at DBD manned jointly by agents of the call
centre and DBD officials. At present 9 agents of the call
centre and one official from DBD are working in this help
desk in three shifts on 24x7x365 basis to cater to the
need of the customers.
➢ Landline numbers for this helpdesk are 044-

28519464,9470 and 2888 9338,9350
INCENTIVE FOR STAFF
 Branches against which no complaint has been made from
any channel, viz directly, email, SPGRS, RBl, Banking
Ombudsman, CPGRAMS (Govt of lndia) etc. for one whole
year will be considered as Complaint Free branches.
 For this, cases where complaints received and resolved /

closed within next working day, will not be considered as
complaints.
 Staff member of those branches will be awarded onetime

payment of Rs.500/- (Rupees Five Hundred only) per staff as
incentive for the branch being complaint -free, for the
previous financial year.
BANKING FACILITY FOR SENIOR CITIZENS AND
DIFFERENTLY ABLED PERSONS
As per RBI instructions, Banks have been advised lo put in Place
appropriate mechanism with the following Specific provisions for
meeting the needs of such customers so that they are able to avail
of the bank's Services without Difficulty:
a. A separate counter to be designated for providing priority

service to the senior citizens and differently abled persons and
a board to be displayed with the wordings - " Priority Counter
for Senior Citizens and Differently Abled Persons".
b. Ease of Submitting Life Certificates.
c. Branch shall not insist for physical presence of senior citizens

and differently abled persons for issuing the cheque books.
d. Automatic Conversion of Status of Account to 'Senior Citizen

Account“
e. Visually impaired persons to be facilitated with the
authorised person facility for withdrawing the amount from
the account as in the case of sick / old / incapacitated
persons by two independent witness.
f. Ease of filling form 15G/H within stipulated time.
g. Senior citizens above 70 years and differently abled persons

or infirm persons (having medically certified chronic illness or
disability) including those who are visually impaired,
branches are advised to provide basic facility such as
picking up of cash instruments against receipt, delivery of
cash against withdrawal from account, delivery of demand
drafts, submission of KYC documents and life certificate at
the premises/residence of such customers.
RBI has informed to all agency banks dealing with Pension

Payments that they are receiving Complaints from various
quarters that pensioners ore not being treated with due
Consideration by Bank officials specially the Old Pensioners,
when they come to the Branches for Pension related
Transactions. Thus, all the Banks disbursing Pension are advised
to provide considerate and sympathetic Customer Service to
the Pensioners especially to those Pensioners who are of Old
age.
 Operational Instructions for Doorstep Banking:
 BC attached branches are advised to start Doorstep
banking services at their respective centres with
immediate effect.
 ROs to form separate cell for door step banking with
two staff members, who will be the contact point for the
customer who require door step banking services.
 These services will be available only upto radius of 3 km
from the respective branch.
 Charge of Rs.100/- per transaction to be collected from
customer. Of which BC will be get a commission of
Rs.60/- per transaction
CLEANLINESS OF BRANCHES/OFFICES
As per the Policy of General management of Branches
the Bank's ongoing efforts to meet the expectations of the
customers and make the bank's Systems Are Oriented
towards Providing Better Customer Service. In this regard
following guidelines with reference to the Cleanliness of
the Branches and provision of required infrastructure
facilities by the branches:
 Providing infrastructure facilities
 Providing separate counters for enquiry senior citizens
and differently abled Persons
 Posting of Roving official to ensure employees response.
 Visit by senior officials from controlling offices to the
Branches
 Branch should ensure that entrance gate should be free
from any Obstacle and easily accessible to all
 Branches should ensure that unnecessary blockades is
not kept in front of entrance of Branch.
CUSTOMER GRIEVANCES RELATING TO THE AREA OF
STAFF ATTITUDE / BEHAVIOUR
 Members of the staff to take care of the "3Rs" –
 Receptive
 Responsive and
 Responsible.
 The queries raised by the customers should be listened to carefully and
answered appropriately.
 Under no circumstances inappropriate / rude language should be used
while interacting with the customers either in person or over phone or
email.
 The transactions across the counter should be attended to with utmost
speed and the customers should not be mode to wait in long queues.
 Members of the staff should equip themselves with the latest information
on all the products and services of the Bank. ln case of any doubt on the
features of the products / schemes, the member should get them
clarified from the other members of staff or higher officials and guide the
customers Properly.
 Ambience of the customer area, ATM, branch, etc. should be neat,
clean and pleasing.
PRESERVATION OF CCTV FOOTAGE OF COMPLAINTS RECEIVED
All Branches are advised to preserve the CCTV footage of

the day on which any complaint is received. Complaints
may be received through any of the channels viz.
SPGRAMS, CPGRAMS, Banking Ombudsman, RBl, E-moils
etc. Branches ore also advised to seek the support of
security officer attached to their region in order to get it
organized through the vendor.
CUSTOMER RIGHTS POLICY
The objective of the policy is to ensure basic rights to the
customers. It covers five basic rights of customer which are:
1. Right to fair treatment
2. Right to transparency, fair and honest dealing
3. Right to suitability
4. Right to privacy &
5. Right to grievance redress and compensation

Right to fair treatment
Both the customer and the bank have the right to be treated with
courtesy. The customer should not be unfairly discriminated against on
grounds such as gender, age, religion, caste and physical ability when
offering and delivering financial products.
Right to transparency, fair and honest dealing

The Bank will make every effort to ensure that the contract or
agreements it frames are transparent, easily understood by and well
communicated to, the common person. The products price, the
associated risks, the terms and conditions that govern use over the
product’s life cycle and the responsibilities of the customer and the
bank, shall be clearly disclosed. The customer shall not be subject to
unfair business or marketing practices, coercive contractual terms or
misleading representations, over the course of their relationship. The
bank will not exert undue influence, engage in blatant harassment or
threaten the customer with physical harm.
Right to suitability
The products offered should be appropriate to the needs of the
customer and based on an assessment of the customer’s financial
circumstances and understanding.
Right to privacy
Customer’s personal information should be kept confidential unless
they have offered specific consent to the Bank or such information is
required to be provided under the law or it is provided for a mandated
business purpose ( eg. CIC). The customer should be informed upfront
about likely mandated business purposes. Customer have the right to
protection from all kinds of communication, electronic or otherwise.
Which infringe their privacy
Right to grievance redress and compensation
The customer has a right to hold Bank accountable for the products
offered and to have a clear and easy way to have any valid
grievances redressed. The provider should also facilitate redress of
grievances stemming from its sale of third party products. The financial
services provider must communicate its policy for compensating
mistakes, lapses in conduct as well as non-performance or delays in
performance, whether caused by the provider or otherwise.
PSB ALLIANCE-DOORSTEP BANKING SERVICES
o PSB Alliance –Doorstep Banking Services has been launched

to customers of all Public Sector Banks through common
platform under supervision of IBA ( Two vendors (M/S Atyati
Tech. Pvt Ltd and M/S Integra Microsystems Pvt Ltd) shall
provide end to end process/solutions including manpower for
service delivery.
o These services shall be provided at 100 centres pan-India. To

start with M/S Atyati Technologies Pvt Ltd shall provide
services at 60 centres and M/S Integra Microsystems Pvt Ltd
shall provide services at 40 centres
The following type of accounts/customers are not eligible

for Doorstep Banking Services:
 Joint Accounts operated jointly, Former/Survivor and

Later/Survivor
 Minors Accounts including under Guardianship
 Accounts operated through Power of Attorney
 Non-KYC compliant Accounts & Inoperative Accounts
 NRI/ Foreign National Account Holder
 Non-individual Customers like Trust, HUF, Associations etc.
 Accounts having status as Stop and/or Hold
 Illiterate customers
 The details of services provided are as follows:

➢ Service Charges:
Description Cost per call/service
Financial/Non- Financial Service Rs.75/- + GST

For State of Kerala Rs.75/- + GST + 0.12
(CM relief Fund)
POLICY FOR GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL
OBJECTIVE:
o This policy document aims to frame a strong Internal

grievance Redressal mechanism with integrated control
and Review system along with a root cause analysis in the
bank so that the customer complaints and grievances are
redressed promptly and effectively within the timelines.
o The Grievance Redressal mechanism will also aid in

understanding the trends and gaps of the banking system
with the corrective actions and also ensure that short
comings do not happen in future by way of adopting the
preventive measures.
o The policy aims to ensure clear segregation of grievances

in terms so that unnecessary escalations are avoided &
there by resolve issues of customers at entry level.
OBJECTIVE:
o The policy also aims to ensure that only the minimum

number of genuine cases gets escalated to the Banking
Ombudsman which would help in strengthening customer
confidence on the Internal Grievance Redressal
Mechanism.
o The review mechanism should help in identifying

shortcomings in product features and service delivery.
PRINCIPLES OF POLICY:
 Customer be treated fairly at all times
 Bank will handle all complaints efficiently, fairly and in a
time bound manner.
 Customers are fully informed of avenues to escalate their
complaints/grievances within the organization and their
rights to alternative remedy, if they are not fully satisfied with
the response of the bank to their complaints.
 The bank employees must work in good faith and without
prejudice to the interest of the customer.
Customer complaint arises due to …..
 The attitudinal aspects in dealing with customers
 Inadequacy of the functions/arrangements made available to

the customers or gaps in standard of services expected and
actual services rendered.
 The customer is having full right to register his/her complaint if

he/she is not satisfied with the services provided by the bank. A
customer can give his/her complaint or grievance in writing,
orally in person, over telephone or by email to the bank or to the
Allied Call Centre with dedicated Toll free Line. The customer shall
be facilitated with a link to lodge Online complaint directly into the
Bank Web page. If Customer Complaint is not resolved within 30
days/ a month from date of lodging the complaint or if he is not
satisfied with the solution provided by the bank, he can approach
banking Ombudsman or CPGRAMS (Centralized Public Grievances
Redressal System- Govt of India. DFS portal) with his/her complaint
or other legal avenues available for grievance Redressal
INTERNAL MACHINERY TO MONITOR AND REVIEW
CUSTOMER SERVICE/GRIEVANCES
1. Customer Service Committee of the Board (CSCB)
 The committee would deal with the Customer Service and Grievances
issues related to Deposits and Advances. The committee would also
examine any other issues having a bearing on the quality of customer
service rendered. This committee would also review the functioning of
standing committee on Customer Service. The CSCB shall facilitate
appointment of IO (Internal Ombudsman) and place the Internal
Ombudsman at the Apex position of the Banks‘ s Internal Grievance
Redressal machinery.
 The CSCB shall establish a system of auto escalation of complaints that are
partly or wholly rejected by the Internal GRM to the Internal Ombudsman
for a final decision and approve an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure)
to ifs effect.
 The CSCB shall have a system to discuss and deliberate upon the cases
where the decision of the IO has been rejected by the Bank, which is to be
done with the approval of ED.
 The CSCB shall approve implementation and usage of centralized system

for Internal Grievance Machinery for effectiveness
2. Standing Committee on Customer Service:
The Standing Committee may be chaired by the MD and CEO or the ED, and
includes two or three Senior executives of the bank and non-officials as its
members to enable an independent feedback on the quality of customer
service rendered by the bank. The committee would have the following
functions:
 Evaluate feed-back on quality of customer service received from various

quarters. The committee would also review comments/feed-back on
customer service and implementation of commitments in the Code of
Bank’s Commitments to Customers received from BCSBI.
 The Committee would be responsible to ensure that all regulatory
instructions regarding customer service are followed by the bank. Towards
this the committee would obtain necessary feed-back from Regional
Managers/functional heads.
 The committee also would consider unresolved complaints/grievances
referred to it by functional heads responsible for Redressal and offer their
advice.
 The committee would submit report on its performance to the customer
service committee of the board at quarterly intervals.
3. Branch Level Customer Service:
Bank to constitute Branch Level Customer Service Committee headed
by Branch head. The Committee may meet at least once a month
(15th of every month , if 15th is a holiday then next working day) to
study complaints/ suggestions, cases of delay, difficulties faced /
reported by customers / members of the Committee and evolve ways
and means of improving customer service.
The Committee acts as a forum to enable customers meet and

interact with the senior officials of the Bank with the following
objectives:
 Collect customer feedback on services provided by the Bank
 Reduce information gap between customers and Bank
 Most importantly build trust amongst customers
The branch level committees may submit monthly report to Central

office of the bank and consolidated quarterly report of the branches
will be submitted as inputs / suggestions to the Standing Committee
on Customer Service thus enabling the Standing Committee to
examine them and provide relevant feedback to the Customer
Service Committee of the Board for necessary policy / procedural
action.
4. Principal Nodal Officer (PNO) and other designated officials to
handle complaints and grievances
 Bank would appoint a Principal Nodal Officer of the rank of General

Manager (or its equivalent) who will be responsible for the
implementation of customer service and complaint handling for the
entire bank. The bank may also appoint other designated officers
(Assistant General Manager or Chief Managers at specified centers
as Customer Relation Officer at Regional offices to handle customer
grievances in respect of branches under their control. The name
and contact details of Principal nodal officer will be displayed on
branch notice boards.
 The Principal Nodal officer before communicating his decision

(Rejected or partially accepted complaints) will be referred to the
internal Ombudsman of the bank for his final views. If the customer is
still not satisfied he has the Option to go to Banking Ombudsman
with his complaint or other avenues available for grievance
Redressal
MANDATORY DISPLAY REQUIREMENTS
All the branches of the bank will display the following boards:
a. Appropriate arrangement for receiving complaints and

suggestions.
b. The name, address and contact number of Nodal Officer at

Regional Office/Central office
c. Contact details of Banking Ombudsman of the area.
d. Toll free telephone number for lodging complaints over

telephones
e. Code of bank's commitments to customers/Fair Practice code.
f. The name and address and the contact number of code

compliance office
g. Certificate regarding membership of BCSBI

RESOLUTION OF GRIEVANCES
Branch Manager is responsible for the resolution of complaints/grievances in
respect of customer' s service by the branch. Branch Manager / Regional
Manager/ Head of the Department at Central Office is responsible for
resolution/ Redressal of customer grievances respectively at Branch/ RO/CO
depending on the gravity and nature, escalation in their control areas. The
PNO and his Customer Service Department at Central office is responsible for
the Internal Grievance Redressal System and its effectiveness. He would be
responsible for ensuring closure of all complaints received at the branches. It is
his foremost duty to see that the complaint should be resolved completely to
the customer's satisfaction and if the customer is not satisfied. then he should
be provided with alternate avenues to escalate the issue.
If the branch manager feels that it is not possible at his level to solve the
problem, he can refer the case to Regional Office for guidance. Similarly, if
Regional office finds they are not able to solve the problem such cases may
be referred to the General Manager, Customer Service Department, Central
Office who is the Principal Nodal Officer of the Bank.
The complaints relating to the noncompliance of Code of Commitment will

also be resolved as laid down under the policy.
TIME FRAME
In compliance with Damodaran Committee Recommendations. bank
will accept all complaints. An acknowledgement will be sent to the
complainant within 2 days from date of receipt of complaint.
Complaint are being analyzed in the right perspective because they

indirectly reveal a weak spot in the working of the bank. Specific time
schedule is evolved for handling complaints and disposing them.
Even though code of commitment permits Redressal within 6 weeks,

we have in our policy stipulated specific time frame for resolution of
the complaints as indicated in the next slide
TIME FRAME
TIME FRAME
COMPLAINTS ARE RECEIVED AT THE BANK THROUGH VARIOUS CHANNELS
Complaints are received at the bank through various channels viz
(a) Letter, E-mail. Over Phone, oral, Direct in person, social media etc.
(b) Toll free number 1800 425 4445
(c) Standardized Public Grievances Redressal System (SPGRS)
(d) Banking Ombudsman
(e) Govt of India Portal (CPGRAM/INGRAM)
(f) Complaints received by Executive Directors and MD & CEO

Secretariat
a) Letter, E-mail. Over Phone, oral, Direct in person, social media etc.
The Bank has integrated all complaint channel under SPGRS portal.
However, the Banking Ombudsman and Ministry Channels shall be
maintained separately. It is aimed that all the Bank complaints are to
be lodged. Complaints are intended to be received at any premises of
the Bank Viz., Branch, any Depts. of Regional Office. Central Office.
The complaints received through these channels shall be entered by
the recipient official into the SPGRS immediately as a mandate.
b) COMPLAINT RECEIVED THROUGH CALL CENTRES (TOLL FREE NUMBER):
An Out sourced call Centre is functional with toll free number 1800 425
4445. Bank shall facilitate and ensure that the Call centre lodges aIl
complaints received through toll free line as a mandate.
c) SPGRS (Standardised Public Grievance Redressal System):
In compliance to Damodaran Committee recommendations, Ministry of

Finance Directive on EASE, RBI guidelines, centralized Grievance
Management and Reporting system called as SPGRS shall be in Place for
effective Grievance Redressal in the Bank. The System shall be made easily
available and accessible internally for all officials/Staff and should also be
accessible to all customers at the banks Public site https://www.iob.in at a
dedicated place. The Application shall facilitate entry of grievances into
the system at any point or premises of the bank by any bank official where
the complaint is received. The system shall automatically acknowledge
customer once the complaint is lodged by way of SMS/ Email. The system
shall facilitate real time tracking to the customer direct online from public
website. The system shall also facilitate collection of feedback direct from
customer on the quality and time of Redressal and is accessible. The system
shall also have a mechanism to auto escalate the complaints to next higher
level as per the defined escalation matrix.
d) Complaint through Banking Ombudsman:
 Basically the complainant shall approach the Banking Ombudsman
if his/her complaint at bank is not redressed or not satisfactory within
30 days of time and has the Opinion/ views of Internal ombudsman.
 In cases where the complainant has approached the BO before

the IO has examined the complaint, the bank shall obtain the views
of IO and include the views in the reply submission to the Banking
Ombudsman. In other words, the decision of IO shall be mandatorily
included in the information submitted by bank to the BO while
responding to the complaints received from BO.
 Branches will reply to the complaints referred to them by Banking

Ombudsman as per the norms stipulated by Banking Ombudsman
scheme. The Redressal of the complaint will be on the basis of
decision / award given by Banking Ombudsman. The Banking
ombudsman will close the complaints based on the replies sent by
the branches. Decision to prefer appeal against the award by
banking Ombudsman will be token on a case to case basis.
o lf decided to honour the award, it will be implemented within the

time frame of stipulated by Bonking Ombudsman Scheme 2006.
o RBI has started the Ombudsman Scheme for Digital transactions

(OSDT) from 31st January 201 9. OSDT is for All types of digital
transaction complaints. The TAT and norms tor handling is some as
normal BO complaints.
e) Complaint through CPGRAMS (Govt of India Portal):
o Branches will reply/ respond within 3 days to the complaint

forwarded to them by Customer Service Department for the
complaint received through CPGRAMS portal. Appropriate action
on the pending public grievances should be taken by branches/
ROs/CO departments immediately as per the gravity of the
grievance and it should be ensured the complainants are
informed by the concerned authorities by sending a reply and a
copy of the same be uploaded on CPGRAMS portal. The customer
service department will upload the replies/ responses given by the
branches in CPGRAMS portal, after which the complaint will be
closed by their system.
f) Complaint forwarded by Executive Directors/ MD& CEO Secretariat:

 Complaints received by Executive Directors/ MD & CEOs/ Chairman
of the bank Such complaints shall gain highest priority in the Internal
framework and shall be treated as the customer has approached
the top most authorities of the bank for Redressal after the
complainant could not get his/her grievances redressed at Branch/
RO/ CO level. Such complaints shall be mandatorily entered in the
SPGRS for effective Redressal.
In addition to above suggestions/ complaint box should be

available in all branches. All branches are having a complaint book/
register with perforated copies in each set. The customer can write or
give oral complaint which will be recorded in the complaint register
by the officials and acknowledgement will be given to the customer.
One copy of such complaint will be forwarded to controlling office.
The complaint received through this mode (through suggestion box)
or through register will also be lodged in SPGRS
INTERNAL OMBUDSMAN
The Bank has appointed Internal Ombudsman as per RBI guidelines (IO
Scheme) as an additional authority, independent in nature and is
placed at the Apex Position of the Internal Grievance Redressal
machinery. The IO shall not entertain First Resort complaints. The Bank
Shall mandatorily refer all the Partially accepted and Fully rejected
complaints to the Internal Ombudsman for examination that will
emanate from PNO who is the GM of CS. Branches/ RO/ CO s shall
forward all such rejected complaints to CSD to facilitate further
inspection and decision for referral to IO. IO may concur with the views
of the bank or give a decision against the bank. The Decision of IO will
be binding on the bank.
APPEALING TO HIGHER FORA
Where the policy issues are not involved, Bank should carefully
weigh the cost aspects before appealing against the decision
of lower legal court like Consumer Court/ Lower level Civil Court
REDRESSAL AND CLOSURE OF COMPLAINTS
 The stake of Internal Grievance Redressal machinery lies with PNO
who is the General manager of Customer Service and his
Department i.e. CSD at Central Office.
 The Stake of closure of complaints lie with Customer Service
Department for Non-Digital Complaints”
 The stake of closure of complaints lie with Digital Banking
Department for Digital Complaints*.
 All Fully accepted Complaints shall be closed Once the
grievance is redressed.
 All Partially accepted (Partially rejected) and Fully Rejected
complaints shall be referred to Internal ombudsman for
examination and opinion and appropriate closure shall be done
after it.
 Any complaint with regards to loan, on non-observation of time
norms for sanction/ disbursal alone will be treated as complaint.
Any representation other than the above shall be dealt with
concerned vertical
ESCALATION MATRIX
Branches /ROs/ department of Central Office should endeavor to
ensure that the complaint / grievances is resolved at the earliest and
no room is given for escalation of complaints/ grievances.
Branches have to resolve the complaints within 10 days of receipts of

the complaints in any form oral, e mail, letter, social media etc.
Regional offices have to resolve the complaints within 10 days of
receipt of the complaint in any form either at the branches under
their control or directly by them
Central Office departments have to resolve the complaints within 10

days of receipt of the complaint in any form either at Branches or
Regional Offices or directly received by them
INTERACTION WITH CUSTOMERS
The bank recognizes that customer's

expectation/requirement/grievances can be better appreciated
through personal interaction with customers by Bank's staff.
Structured customer meets, will give a message to the customers
that the bank cares for them and values their feedback/
suggestions for improvement in customer service. All branches
therefore, will hold Customer Service Meeting (Customer’s
Grievance Day) on 15th of every month. Many of the complaints
arise on account of lack of awareness among customers about
bank services and such interactions will help the customers
appreciate banking services better. The feedback from customers
would be valuable input for revising its product and services to meet
customer requirements.
INCENTIVE FOR COMPLAINTS - FREE BRANCHES
 Branches against which no complaint has been made from any

channel, viz directly, email, SPGRS, RBI, Banking Ombudsman, C
PGRAMS (Govt of India) etc. for one whole year will be considered
as Complaint Free branches. For this cases where complaints
received and resolved / closed within next working day will not be
considered as complaints.
 Regional manager will recommend such branch’s name. Staff
member of those branches will be awarded onetime payment of
Rs.500/- (Rupees Five Hundred only per staff as incentive for the
branch being complaint —free for the previous financial year.
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (MIS)
Regional Offices who are the Nodal offices for Banking ombudsman
have to send a report on BO complaints to Customer Service
Department, Central office within 5th of every month.
Every month Regional Office shall send a progress report on all

complaints received to the customer service Department Central
office.
STRENGTHENING OF GRM
RBI has decided to put in place a comprehensive framework

comprising of, inter-alia, enhanced disclosures by banks on
customer complaints, recovery of cost of redressal from banks
for the maintainable complaints received against them in
Offices of Banking Ombudsman (OBOs) in excess of the peer
group average, and undertaking intensive review of the
grievance redressal mechanism and supervisory action against
banks that fail to improve their Grievance redressal mechanism
in a time bound manner.
Banks will be grouped into peer groups based asset size of the
Banks as on March 31, of previous year: Peer group average of
maintainable complaints would be complied on following
parameters:
 Average number of complaints per Branch
 Average number of complaints per 1000 accounts (Total of

Deposit and Credit accounts) held by the Bank; and
 Average number of Digital complaints per 1000 digital

transactions executed through the bank by its customers.
The cost of redressing complaints in excess of peer group average will
be recovered from the banks as follows:
 Excess in any one parameter: 30% of the cost of redressing a

compliant (in the OBO) for the number of complaints in excess of the
peer group average.
 Excess in any two parameter: 60% of the cost of redressing a

compliant for the number of complaints in excess of the peer group
average in the parameter with higher excess.
 Excess in all the three parameter: 100% of the cost of redressing a

compliant for the number of complaints in excess of the peer group
average in the parameter with highest excess.
STANDARDISED PUBLIC GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL SYSTEM
SPGRS
SPGRS
o Standardised Public Grievance Redressal System called

SPGRS is uniform in all banks.
o In the new system the public can register the complaint

online through our website www.iob.in/ customer
Corner/SPGRS. The complainants can monitor the status of
their complaint on a day to day basis.
o Such complaints can be viewed by the branch product at

SPGRS (IOB GRAMS )
o SPGRS intranet portal is also accessible to management

executives, secretaries and to internal ombudsman (read
only)
SPGRS
Time limit for Redressal of Complaints:
Internal Customer Complaint:
Deficiency in normal banking service : <=30days

Staff attitude deficiency : <=07 days
ATM transaction complains : <=07 days
Other channels (RBI/INGRAMS/CPGRAMS/BO etc):
Deficiency in normal banking service

and Staff attitude deficiency : <= 10days
SPGRS
o Complaints pending for more than 7 days in branch will be
automatically escalated to the concerned RO/RM. As also
the case of complaints pending with RO escalated to ZO/ZM
after completion of 14th day and in case of complaints
pending with ZO escalated to GM-CSD after completion of
21st day.
o 10 random grievances at the level of CMD/MD and 20

grievances at the level of EDs from different channels and
categories are being examined and reviewed at CO
proactively
o Resolved complaints have to be closed by Regional Offices

on collecting necessary documentary evidence such as
mail/letter from the complainant by Regional Office
SPGRS
o ATM and Net Banking related complaints have to be
attended by Transaction Banking Department (TBD) at
Central Office from day one of complaint and if they notice
any discrepancy due to branch action, corrective action
should be made by TBD.
o The complaints received from RBI, Banking Ombudsman and

Directorate Public Grievances and MOF will be closed by CO
after satisfactory redressal of the complaints.
o Other Complaints should be closed by the concerned

Regional Office after satisfactory redressal of the grievance
o Our bank is having internal ombudsman scheme since 2014

for grievance redressal mechanism.
INTEGRATED OMBUDSMAN SCHEME- 2021
INTEGRATED OMBUDSMAN SCHEME- 2021
 The Scheme integrates the existing three Ombudsman schemes of
RBI namely, (i) the Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006; (ii) the
Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies, 2018;
and (iii) the Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions, 2019.
 The Scheme, framed by the Reserve Bank in exercise of the powers

conferred on it under Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act,
1949 (10 of 1949), Section 45L of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934
(2 of 1934), and Section 18 of the Payment and Settlement Systems
Act, 2007 (51 of 2007), will provide cost free redress of customer
complaints involving deficiency in services rendered by entities
regulated by RBI, if not resolved to the satisfaction of the customers
or not replied within a period of 30 days by Bank.
 In addition to integrating the three existing schemes, the Scheme

also includes under its ambit Non-Scheduled Primary Co-operative
Banks with a deposit size of ₹50 crore and above. The Scheme
adopts ‘One Nation One Ombudsman’ approach by making the RBI
Ombudsman mechanism jurisdiction neutral.
FEATURES OF THE SCHEME
 It will no longer be necessary for a complainant to identify under
which scheme he/she should file complaint with the Ombudsman.
 The Scheme defines ‘deficiency in service’ as the ground for filing a
complaint, with a specified list of exclusions. Therefore, the
complaints would no longer be rejected simply on account of “not
covered under the grounds listed in the scheme”.
 The Scheme has done away with the jurisdiction of each
ombudsman office.
 A 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.
 The responsibility of representing Bank and furnishing information in
respect of complaints filed by customers against Bank would be that
of the Principal Nodal Officer in the rank of a General Manager in a
Public Sector Bank or equivalent.
 Bank will not have the right to appeal in cases where an Award is
issued by the ombudsman against it for not furnishing satisfactory
and timely information/documents.
The Executive Director-in charge of Consumer Education and
Protection Department of RBI would be the Appellate Authority under
the Scheme.
 There will be a single point of reference for the customers to file their
complaints, submit documents, track the status of their complaints
and provide feedback.
 A multi lingual toll free phone number will provide all the relevant
information on grievance redress and assistance for filing
complaints.
 According to this framework, there would be regulations which will
require banks to provide enhanced disclosure of complaints and
pay for the cost of redressal in case the complaints are higher than
the peer group etc.
 The redressal will continue be cost free for customers of banks and
members of the public.
 As per this scheme PNO (Principal Nodal Officer) is the central point
of contact for all complaints referred to Bank. i.e all complaints are
sent to the respective PNOs instead of the nodal officers.
PROCEDURE FOR REDRESSAL OF GRIEVANCE UNDER THE SCHEME
Grounds of Complaint- Any customer aggrieved by an act or omission

of a bank resulting in deficiency in service may file a complaint under
the Scheme personally or through an authorized representative.
A complaint under the Scheme shall not lie unless:
(a) the complainant had, before making a complaint under the

Scheme, made a written complaint to Bank concerned and –
(i) the complaint was rejected wholly or partly by Bank, and the
complainant is not satisfied with the reply; or the complainant had not
received any reply within 30 days after Bank received the complaint;
and
(ii) the complaint is made to the Ombudsman within one year after the
complainant has received the reply from Bank to the complaint or,
where no reply is received, within one year and 30 days from the date
of the complaint.
PROCEDURE FOR REDRESSAL OF GRIEVANCE UNDER THE SCHEME
(b) the complaint is not in respect of the same cause of action which is
already-
(i) pending before an Ombudsman or settled or dealt with on merits,
by an Ombudsman, whether or not received from the same
complainant or along with one or more complainants, or one or more
of the parties concerned;
(ii) pending before any Court, Tribunal or Arbitrator or any other Forum
or Authority; or, settled or dealt with on merits, by any Court, Tribunal or
Arbitrator or any other Forum or Authority, whether or not received
from the same complainant or along with one or more of the
complainants/parties concerned;
(c) the complaint is not abusive or frivolous or vexatious in nature;
(d) the complaint to Bank was made before the expiry of the period of
limitation prescribed under the Limitation Act, 1963, for such claims;
(e) the complainant provides complete information;
(f) the complaint is lodged by the complainant personally or through
an authorized representative other than an advocate unless the
advocate is the aggrieved person
PROCEDURE FOR FILING A COMPLAINT
 The complaint may be lodged online through the portal designed
for the purpose (https://cms.rbi.org.in).
 The complaint may also be submitted through electronic or physical

mode to the Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre as notified
by the Reserve Bank. The complaint, if submitted in physical form,
shall be duly signed by the complainant or by the authorized
representative. The complaint shall be submitted in electronic or
physical mode in such format and containing such information as
may be specified by Reserve Bank.
RESOLUTION OF COMPLAINTS
(1) The Ombudsman/Deputy Ombudsman shall endeavour to promote
settlement of a complaint by agreement between the complainant
and Bank through facilitation or conciliation or mediation.
(2) The proceedings before the Ombudsman shall be summary in

nature and shall not be bound by any rules of evidence. The
Ombudsman may examine either party to the complaint and record
their statement.
(3) Bank shall, on receipt of the complaint, file its written version in reply
to the averments in the complaint enclosing therewith copies of the
documents relied upon, within 15 days before the Ombudsman for
resolution. Provided that the Ombudsman may, at the request of Bank
in writing to the satisfaction of the Ombudsman, grant such further time
as may be deemed fit to file its written version and documents.
(4) In case Bank omits or fails to file its written version and documents
within the time as provided, the Ombudsman may proceed ex-parte
based on the evidence available on record and pass appropriate
Order or issue an Award. There shall be no right of appeal to Bank in
respect of the Award issued on account of non-response or non-
furnishing of information sought within the stipulated time.
(5) The Ombudsman/Deputy Ombudsman shall ensure that the written

version or reply or documents filed by one party, to the extent relevant
and pertaining to the complaint, are furnished to other party and
follow such procedure and provide additional time as may be
considered appropriate.
(6) In case the complaint is not resolved through facilitation, such

action as may be considered appropriate, including a meeting of the
complainant with the officials of Banks, for resolution of the complaint
by conciliation or mediation may be initiated.
(7) The parties to the complaint shall cooperate in good faith with the
Ombudsman/Deputy Ombudsman, as the case may be, in resolution
of the dispute and comply with the direction for production of any
evidence and other related documents within the stipulated time.
(8) If any amicable settlement of the complaint is arrived at between

the parties, the same shall be recorded and signed by both the parties
and thereafter, the fact of settlement may be recorded, annexing
thereto the terms of settlement, directing the parties to comply with
the terms within the stipulated time.
(9) The complaint would be deemed to be resolved when: (a) it has

been settled by Bank with the complainant upon the intervention of
the Ombudsman; or (b) the complainant has agreed in writing or
otherwise (which may be recorded) that the manner and the extent of
resolution of the grievance is satisfactory; or (c) the complainant has
withdrawn the complaint voluntarily.
AWARD BY THE OMBUDSMAN
The Ombudsman shall not have the power to pass an Award directing
payment by way of compensation, an amount which is more than the
consequential loss suffered by the complainant or Rupees 20 lakh
whichever is lower. The compensation that can be awarded by the
Ombudsman shall be exclusive of the amount involved in the dispute
The Ombudsman may also award a compensation not exceeding

Rupees one lakh to the complainant, taking into account the loss of
the complainant’s time, expenses incurred, harassment and mental
anguish suffered by the complainant
The Award passed shall lapse and be of no effect unless the

complainant furnishes a letter of acceptance of the Award in full and
final settlement of the claim to Bank concerned, within a period of 30
days from the date of receipt of the copy of the Award.
Bank shall comply with the Award and intimate compliance to the
Ombudsman within 30 days from the date of receipt of the letter of
acceptance from the complainant, unless it has preferred an appeal.
APPEAL BEFORE THE APPELLATE AUTHORITY
Bank aggrieved by an Award or closure of a complaint, within

30 days of the date of receipt of communication of Award or
closure of the complaint, prefer an appeal before the
Appellate Authority.
The complainant may, aggrieved by an Award or rejection of a

complaint within 30 days of the date of receipt of the Award or
rejection of the complaint, prefer an appeal before the
Appellate Authority.
INTERNAL OMBUDSMAN SCHEME
INTERNAL OMBUDSMAN SCHEME
In order to strengthen the grievance redressal mechanism available for
Bank customers and to ensure that only minimum number of
complaints get escalated to the Banking Ombudsman (BO) and to
eventually make the BO Scheme on appellate mechanism, the
Committee on Customer Service in Banks (Domodhoron Committee)
had recommended the appointment of on official within the bank in
the form of on internal Ombudsman to be designated as Chief
Customer Service Officer (CCSO).
As a port of this customer-centric approach, RBI has reviewed the

arrangement and issued revised directions under Section 35 A of the
Banking Regulation Act, 1949 in the form of 'Internal Ombudsman
Scheme. 2018'. The Scheme covers, inter-alia, appointment / tenure,
roles and responsibilities, procedural guidelines and oversight
mechanism for the lO.
THE ROLE OF INTERNAL OMBUDSMAN
 IO shall not entertain and examine the first resort complaints.
 He shall examine the grievances which are on ground listed in the
BO scheme (clause 8) and not resolved by the bank’s Internal
Grievance Redressal Mechanism.
 Grievances other than those listed in clause 8 of the BO scheme can
also be dealt with by the IO only after they have been examined by
the bank’s Internal Grievance Redressal Mechanism and left
unresolved/ unredressed to the satisfaction of the complainant.
 In case the bank decides to reject a complaint and/or provide only
partial relief to the complainant, it should invariably forward such
cases to the Internal Ombudsman (IO) for further examination. The
advice to the complainant after examination by the IO in such
cases should necessarily have a clause that the grievance has also
been examined by the IO.
 In all final communications being sent to the complainants by the
IO, where the complaints are unresolved/unredressed to the
satisfaction of the complainant, the clause relating to the availability
of option to approach the BO should invariably be indicated.
TERMS FOR APPOINTMENT AS INTERNAL OMBUDSMAN (IO)
Bank shall appoint lO offer satisfying themselves that the following
prerequisites are fulfilled:
 The lO shall either be a retired or serving officer, not below the Rank
of Deputy General Manager or equivalent of another Bank /
Financial Sector Regulatory Body, having necessary skills and
experience of minimum seven years of working in areas such as
Banking, regulation, Supervision, payment and settlement systems
and / or consumer protection.
 The lO shall not have worked / be working in the Bank in which he /

she is appointed as lO.
 lO shall not be over 70 years of age.

TENURE OF INTERNAL OMBUDSMAN
 Tenure of the lO shall be a fixed term of not less than 3 years. lO shall
not be eligible for reappointment or for extension of term in the
some Bank
 The lO cannot be removed before completion of his / her term

without the explicit approval of RBl. lf there is a change in
incumbency of lO for any reason midway through the tenure, the
Bank shall submit a report to RBI indicating the reasons therefore.
 The Principal Nodal Officer or the Nodal Officer of the Bank, liaising
with the offices of Banking Ombudsman, shall not act as lO or vice
versa, even during the temporary absence of either.
PROCEDURE FOR COMPLAINT REDRESSAL BY INTERNAL OMBUDSMAN:
 Bank shall establish a system of auto-escalation of complaints that are

portly or wholly rejected by the internal CRM to the lO through their
Complaints Management Software (CMS) for a final decision.
 Bank shall internally escalate all such complaints to the lO within two
weeks of receipt of complaint, before conveying the final decision to
the complainant within of period of 30 days, from the receipt of
complaint.
 Bank shall furnish all records / documents sought by the lO to enable him
/ her to redress / resolve customer grievances expeditiously.
 The decision of the lO shall be binding on the Bank.
 In case of disagreement with the decision of the IO, the bank may
obtain approval of the ED in charge of customer service of the bank and
the reply forwarded to the complaint shall mention that the decision of
the bank has the approval of the ED. All such cases shall be
subsequently reviewed by the CSCB
PROCEDURE FOR COMPLAINT REDRESSAL BY INTERNAL OMBUDSMAN:
 The decision of the IO shall be mandatorily included in the

information submitted by Banks to the BO, while furnishing
documents related to the complaints received in the office of the
BO.
 Bank shall use the analysis of complaints handled by IO in their

training programmes / conferences to raise awareness, inter alia.
about the patterns of complaints, among the frontline staff and
facilitate consistency in handling of similar complaints. The IO may
also be associated for such trainings, where necessary.
 Bank shall not provide the contact details of the IO in the public
domain as the lO shall not handle complaints received directly from
the customers.
COPRA
CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT (COPRA)
 COPRA is three tired quasi judicial mechanism implemented and is
applicable throughout India.
 New provisions under COPRA 2019: Inclusion of E-commerce, Direct

Selling
 Latest notification Customer Protection (Jurisdiction of the District,

State and National Commission) Rules 2021
 A complaint relating to violation of consumer rights or unfair trade
practices or false or misleading advertisements which are prejudicial
to the interests of Consumer as a class, may be forwarded either in
writing or in electronic mode, to any one of the Authorities namely :-
 The District Collector or
 The Commissioner of Regional Office or
 The Central Authority
 The new act provides power to Central Govt. to establish central

Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) to rights of Consumers, unfair
trade practices and false misleading advertisements, etc. to
promote, protect and enforce rights of consumer as a class
Who Is a Consumer???
o Buys any product.

o Uses a product with the approval of its buyer.
o Hires any service.
Who Is Not a Consumer???
o Obtain Goods or Services for Free.

o Obtain Goods or Services for the purpose of Resale
(Means of Commercial purpose).
CONSUMER COURTS – PECUNIARY JURISDICTION (COPRA 2019)
DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTE REDRESSAL COMMISSION –

in District Head Quarters
Limit up to 1CR worth of Cases
STATE CONSUMER DISPUTE REDRESSAL COMMISSION
Limit above 1CR up to 10Cr worth of Cases
NATIONAL CONSUMER DISPUTE REDRESSAL COMMISSION
Limit above 10CR worth of Cases

CONSUMER COURTS – PECUNIARY JURISDICTION (REVISED-COPRA 2021)
DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTE REDRESSAL COMMISSION –

in District Head Quarters
Limit up to 50 Lakhs worth of Cases
STATE CONSUMER DISPUTE REDRESSAL COMMISSION
Limit above 50 Lakhs to 2Cr worth of Cases
NATIONAL CONSUMER DISPUTE REDRESSAL COMMISSION
Limit above 2CR worth of Cases

APPEAL
Any consumer who is aggrieved by the order of a commission
can prefer an appeal:
 Against order of District Commission before the State

Commission within 30 days
 Against order of State Commission before the National

Commission within 30 days
 Against order of National Commission before the Supreme

Court within 30 days
o Penalty for non-compliance of direction of Central Authority:
Whoever, fails to comply with any direction of the Central

Authority under Sections 20 and 21, shall be punished with
imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months or with
fine which may extend to twenty lakh rupees, or with both.
o Punishment for false or misleading advertisement:
Any manufacturer or service provider who cause a false or

misleading advertisement to be made which is prejudicial to the
interest of consumers shall be punished with imprisonment for a
term which may be extend to two years and with fine which may
extend to ten lakh rupees; and for every subsequent offence, be
punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five
years and fine which may extend to fifty lakh rupees.
RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT 2005
 The right to information under the Act means, accessibility to the
information held under the control of any public authority and
includes the right to:
 inspection of work, documents, records
 Taking notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records
 Taking certified samples of the material
 Obtaining information in the form of diskettes, floppies, tapes,
video cassettes or in any other electronic mode or through
printouts whether such information is stored in a computer or in
any other device.
 Information Seekers: ALL CITIZENS have the right to information under

the Act. In respect of companies, firms and association of persons,
the directors, partners and office bearers respectively can seek
information under the RTI act in the name of the company, firms and
the association of persons, even though these entities may not be
construed as 'Citizen' in terms of the RTI Act. Further, the person
requesting for information need not give any reasons.
123
 Information Provider: The Act provides that if any officer is assigned
the task of providing information by CPIO then, such officer shall be
treated as CPIO.
 In our Bank, The DGM(Law department), has been designated as

Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) and All Regional Heads as
Central Assistant Public Information Officers (CAPIO).
 Branches / Regional Offices / Other departments at Central Office

will act as facilitators only.
 Section 8 & 9 provide for the exemption from disclosure.
 Procedure: Any request by any person seeking information can be

made orally or in writing, specifying the particulars of information
sought by him / her either in English or Hindi or in Official language of
the local area, in a prescribed form. The oral request shall be
reduced to writing
124
FEE STRUCTURE UNDER RTI
Fee Structure under RTI: In Rupees
Application Fee 10/-
Information furnished in A4 or A3 size paper (per page) 2/-
Information furnished in larger size paper Actual cost
inspection of records, no fee for the first hour, and thereafter 5/- per 15 min
information provided in diskette or floppy (per unit) 50/-
No such fee shall be collected from persons who are of below poverty line
No charges should be levied if the information is not provided within the time limit
125
 Time Limit: As per the Act, CPIO or CAPIO shall either provide the
information or reject the request as expeditiously as possible, and in
any case within thirty days of the receipt of the request.
 Failure to reply to the applicant will attract penalty under the Act.
The Central or State Information Commission can impose a penalty
of Rs. 250/- per day till the information is furnished subject to a max.
Rs.25000/- subject to opportunity of being heard be given to such
PIO (Sec 20).
 Appeal (Section 19)
 First Appeal: Any person who does not receive a decision within time
period or who is aggrieved by the decision of the PIO can within 30
days from the expiry of such period or from the receipt of such
decision prefer an Appellate Authority. In our Bank, GM (Law
department) is designated as Appellate Authority.
126
 Second Appeal: A Second appeal against the decision of the
Appellate Authority, shall lie within 90 days from the date on which
such decision should have been made or was actually received,
with the Central Information Commission or State Information
Commission.
 Any Appeal received at Branches / Regional Offices should be
forwarded to the Appellate Authority immediately, to enable them
to dispose the same within the stipulated period.
127
COMPENSATION POLICY
COMPENSATION POLICY
The Compensation policy of the bank is designed to cover

areas relating to unauthorized debiting of account, payment
of interest to customers for delayed collection of
cheques/instruments, payment of cheques after
acknowledgement of stop payment instructions, remittances
within India, foreign exchange services, lending. etc. The
policy is based on principles of transparency and fairness in
the treatment of customers.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this policy is to establish a system whereby the

bank compensates the customer for any financial loss he/she
might incur due to deficiency in service on the part of the bank
or any act of omission or commission directly attributable to the
bank. By ensuring that the customer is compensated without
having to ask for it, the bank expects instances when the
customer has to approach Banking Ombudsman or any
other Forum for redressal to come down significantly.
The policy covers only compensation for financial losses which

customers might incur due to deficiency in the services offered
by the bank which can be measured directly and as such the
commitments under this policy are without prejudice to any
right the bank will have in defending its position before any
forum duly constituted to adjudicate banker-customer disputes
DEFICIENCY AND SERVICE
o Deficiency: Sec. 2(1) (g) of the Consumer Protection Act.

1986, defines the term Deficiency as any fault, imperfection,
shortcoming or inadequacy in the quality, nature and
manner of performance which is required to be maintained
by or under any law for the time being in force or has been
undertaken to be performed by a person in pursuance of a
contract or otherwise in relation to any service.
o Service: Sec.2 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1980 defines

that Service means service of any description which is made
available to potential users and includes facilities in
connection with banking, financing but does not include the
rendering of any service free of charge or under a contact of
personal service.
UNAUTHORIZED AND ERRONEOUS DEBIT
 If the bank has raised on unauthorized/erroneous direct debit to an
account, the entry will be reversed immediately on being informed of
the erroneous debit after verifying the position. In the event the
unauthorized/erroneous debit has resulted in a financial loss for the
customer by way of reduction in the minimum balance applicable
for payment of Interest on savings bank deposit or payment of
additional interest to the bank in loan account, the bank will
compensate the customer for such loss. Further. if the customer has
suffered any financial loss incidental to return of a cheque or failure
of direct debit instructions due to insufficiency of balance on
account of the unauthorized/erroneous debit, the bank will
compensate the customer to such financial loss.
 In case verification of the entry reported to be erroneous by the

customer does not involve a third party, the bank will endeavor to
complete the process of verification within a maximum period of 7
working days from the date of reporting of erroneous debit. In case
the verification involves a third party or where verifications are to be
done at overseas centers, the bank shall complete the verification
process within a maximum period of one month from the date of
reporting of erroneous transaction by the customer
IN CASE OF ERRONEOUS DEBITS ARISING OUT OF
FRAUDULENT OR OTHER TRANSACTIONS:
 The Bank would compensate the customer forthwith without demur,
where the bank is at fault.
 Even when the Bank or the customer is not at fault, and the fault lies
elsewhere in the system, then also Bank would compensate the
customer a s per bank's policy on Customer Protection - Limiting
Liability of Customers in Unauthorized electronic Banking Transactions /
RBI extant guidelines
 As a measure of our Bank's commitment to speedy customer service,

the customer will be compensated to the extent of amount as
mentioned below where erroneous debits have taken place in the
customer's account, either through our fault or where the fault is
elsewhere in the system after getting necessary approval from the
concerned layer of authority as per Discretionary Administrative
powers indicated below.
IN CASE OF ERRONEOUS DEBITS ARISING OUT OF
FRAUDULENT OR OTHER TRANSACTIONS:
 Discretionary Administrative powers
a. Regional Heads: up to Rs. 25,000/- (SRM Rs. 10000/- CRMRs.25000/-)
b. General Manager at CO: above Rs. 10000/- (SRM)/Rs.25000/- (CRM) to Rs.100000/-
c. Executive Director: above Rs. 100000/- to Rs.300000/-
d. MD & CEO : above Rs. 300000/- to Rs.7,50,000/-
e. Board : Above Rs.7.50 lacs
 The genuineness of unauthorized debit/erroneous debit shall be

verified and confirmed by the concerned Regional Office before
making any compensation within the stipulated time
 The compensation means making good of the financial loss by way of

interest or otherwise sustained by the customer on account of
Unauthorized/erroneous debits. Such compensation does not include
the actual amount of unauthorized/erroneous debit which will be
reversed/re-credited on merits of the case.
ECS DIRECT DEBITS/OTHER DEBITS TO ACCOUNTS
 The bank will undertake to carry out direct debit/ ECS debit
instructions of customers in time. In the event the bank fails to
meet such commitments customer will be compensated to the
extent of any financial loss the customer would incur on account
of delay in carrying out the instruction/failure to carry out the
instructions.
 The bank would debit the customer's account with any
applicable service charge as per the schedule of charges
notified by the bank. In the event the bank levies any charge in
violation of the arrangement, the bank will reverse the charges
when pointed out by the customer subject to scrutiny of agreed
terms and conditions. Any consequential financial loss to the
customer will also be compensated.
 Where it is established that the bank had issued and activated a
credit card without consent of the recipient, the bank would not
only reverse the charges immediately but also pay a penalty
without demur to the recipient amounting to twice the value of
charges reversed as per regulatory guidelines in this regard
PAYMENT OF CHEQUES AFTER STOP PAYMENT INSTRUCTIONS:
In case a cheque has been paid after stop payment instruction is

acknowledged by the bank, the bank shall reverse the transaction and
give value-dated credit to protect the interest of the customer. Any
consequential financial loss to the customer will be compensated.
Such debits will be reversed within 2 working days of the customer
intimating the transaction to the bank.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE SERVICES
 Collection of cheques drawn on Foreign countries:
 The time norms for collections of instruments/return of instruments
vary from country to country. However, the bank will compensate
the customer for undue delays in affording credit once proceeds
are credited to the Nostro Account of the bank with its
correspondent bank. Compensation is such cases will be paid in INR
as detailed below:
i. The cooling period will be 21 calendar days from the date of Nostro
credit.
ii. The bank will pay interest at SB rate from the date of credit to
Nostro account till the date of credit to the beneficiary’s account if
the credit is made on the 22nd day.
iii. If the delay is more than 22 days, the interest will be paid at 2%
above SB interest for the delayed period.
iv. The exchange rate prevalent on the date of conversion will apply.
No separate compensation will be paid for the volatility in the
exchange rate.
 Inward Remittances:
 Inward remittance will be credited within 7 days from the date of
credit in our Nostro account, if the beneficiary’s account particulars
are available correctly.
 Customer will be compensated by way of interest for the delayed
credits beyond 7 days at 2% above SB interest rate.
 Export Bills sent for collection:

 On receipt of credit advice/statement of Nostro account and
compliance of guidelines, requirements of the Bank and FEMA, Bank
shall transfer funds for the credit of exporter’s account within two
working days.
 If the above stipulated time limit is not observed, Bank shall pay
compensation for the delayed period at the minimum interest rate
charged on export credit.
 Compensation for adverse movement in exchange rates:
 Payment of foreign inward remittances:

 If the remittance is not converted within 7 days from the date of credit in
our Nostro account even after availability of the beneficiary’s account
particulars.
 In case there is an adverse movement of exchange rate between the
actual date of credit to customer’s account and the date on which the
Forex amount is due for credit to customer’s account and the date on
which the Forex amount is due for credit, then the amount of
compensation would be determined as 50% of the rate difference.
 Payment to Exporter:
 In case there is an adverse movement of exchange rate between the
actual date of credit to customer’s account and the date on which the
Forex amount is due for credit to customer’s account and the date on
which the Forex amount is due for credit, then the amount of
compensation would be determined as 50% of the rate difference.
 If the exporter express his willingness to keep part of the proceeds in
EEFC account, then no compensation is payable for the amount not
converted/kept in EEFC account. For the converted part of the amount,
the compensation would have paid for delay as mentioned above.
PAYMENT OF INTEREST FOR DELAYED COLLECTION OF
OUTSTATION CHEQUES
o As part of the compensation policy of the bank. the bank will pay
interest to its customer on the amount of collection instruments in
case there is delay in giving credit beyond the time period
specified in banks cheque collection policy. Such interest shall
be paid without any demand from customers in all types of
accounts. There shall be no distinction between instruments
drawn on the bank’s own branches or on other banks for the
purpose of payment of interest on delayed collection.
PAYMENT OF INTEREST FOR DELAYED COLLECTION OF
OUTSTATION CHEQUES
o Interest for delayed collection shall be paid at the following rates:
o Savings Bank rate for the period of delay beyond 7/ 10/14
days as the case may be in collection of outstation
cheques.
o Where the delay is beyond 14 days’ interest will be paid at
the rate applicable for term deposit for the corresponding
respective period or Saving Bank rate. whichever is higher.
o In case of extraordinary delay, i.e. delays exceeding 90
days' interest will be paid at the rate of 2% above the
corresponding Term Deposit rate.
o In the event the proceeds of cheque under collection was
to be credited to an overdraft/loan account of the
customer, interest will be paid at the rate applicable to the
loan account. For extraordinary delays, interest will be paid
at the rate of 2% above the rate applicable to the loan
account
 It may be noted that interest payment as given above would be

applicable only for instruments sent for collection within India.
CHEQUE/INSTRUMENT LOST IN TRANSIT/IN CLEARING
PROCESS OR OF PAYING BANK'S BRANCH
 In the event a cheque or an instrument accepted for collection is
lost in transit or in the clearing process or at the paying bank’s
branch, the bank shall immediately on coming to know of the loss,
bring the same to the notice of the accountholder so that the
accountholder can inform the drawer to record stop payment and
also take care that cheques, if any, issued by him / her are not
dishonored due to non-credit of the amount of the lost cheques /
instruments. The bank would provide all assistance to the customer
to obtain a duplicate instrument from the drawer of the cheque.
 In line with the compensation policy of the bank the bank will
compensate the accountholder in respect of instruments lost in
transit in the following way:
i. In case intimation regarding loss of instrument is conveyed to the

customer beyond the time limit stipulated for collection (7/10/14
days as the case may be) interest will be paid for the period
exceeding the stipulated collection period at the rates specified
above
CHEQUE/INSTRUMENT LOST IN TRANSIT/IN CLEARING
PROCESS OR OF PAYING BANK'S BRANCH
ii. In addition bank will pay interest on the amount of the cheque for
a further period of 15 days at Savings Bank rate to provide for likely
further delay in obtaining duplicate cheque/instrument and
collection thereof
iii. The bank would also compensate the customer for any reasonable
charges he/she incurs in getting duplicate cheque/instrument
upon production of receipt, in the event the instrument is to be
obtained from a bank/ institution who would charge a fee for issue
of duplicate instrument.
ISSUE OF DUPLICATE DRAFT AND COMPENSATION FOR DELAYS
Duplicate draft will be issued within a fortnight from the receipt of

such request from the purchaser thereof. For delay beyond the
above stipulated period, interest at the rate applicable for Fixed
Deposit of Corresponding period will be paid as compensation to
the customer for such delay.
VIOLATION OF THE CODE BY BANKS AGENT
In the event of receipt of any complaint from the customer that the
bank's representative / courier or DSA has engaged in any improper
conduct or acted in violation of the Code of Bank’s Commitment to
Customers which the bank has adopted voluntarily, the bank is
committed to investigate the matter and endeavor to communicate
the findings to the customer within 7 working days from the date of
receipt of complaint and wherever justified, compensate the
customer for financial loss, if any, as contemplated under this policy.
“AT PAR INSTRUMENTS” OF CO-OP BANKS BY COMMERCIAL BANKS
 RBI has expressed concern over the lack of transparency in

the arrangement for payment of “at par” instruments of co-
operative banks by commercial banks resulting in dishonour
of such instruments when the remitter has already paid for the
instruments.
 However issuing bank is responsible to compensate the

cheque holder for non-payment/delayed payment of
cheques in the absence of adequate funding arrangement.
UNAUTHORIZED ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS
 To compensate the customers for their claim on unauthorized
electronic transactions, “Policy on customer Protection –
Limited Liability of the customers in Unauthorized Electronic
Banking Transactions” is in place.
 However, any compensation payments related to digital

products which are out of the purview of unauthorized
transactions have to be dealt in this compensation policy.
NATIONAL AUTOMATED CLEARING HOUSE (NACH)
 In the case of delay in crediting beneficiary’s account or
reversal of amount beneficiary bank to reverse the
uncredited transaction within T+1 calendar day. In the case
of account debited despite revocation of debit mandate
with the bank by the customer. Resolution to be completed
within T+1 calendar Daye. The compensation payable in the
above mentioned cases are Rs.100/- per day of delay
beyond T+1 calendar day.
FAILURE TO EXECUTE STANDING INSTRUCTIONS:
 In case of any failure to execute standing instructions, the

bank shall compensate the customer to the extent of
financial loss but not exceeding Rs.100/- per occasion subject
to providing proper supporting documents for having
incurred the loss. In addition, service charges, if any,
recovered for execution of the Standing instruction shall also
be refunded.
LENDERS LIABILITY: COMMITMENTS TO BORROWERS
In terms of the Code of Bank's Commitment to customers

adopted by the bank, the bank would return to the borrowers all
the securities/documents/title deeds to mortgaged property
within 15 days of repayment of all dues agreed to or
contracted. The bank will compensate the borrower for monitory
loss suffered, if any, due to delay in return of the same. In the
event of death of owner of the properly, the title deed would be
delivered as per bank’s policy for settlement of deceased
customer asset. In the event of loss of title deeds to the
mortgage property at the hands of the banks the compensation
will cover out of pocket expenses for obtaining duplicate
documents plus a lump sum amount of Rs. 5.000/- (Rs. Five
Thousand only.)
INSURANCE COVER FOR DIGITAL BANKING / INTERNET
BANKING TRANSACTIONS:
Bank has taken Insurance cover with National insurance company to

cover the loss due to Fraudulent in Digital Banking Transaction which
includes Debit Cards transactions done through any debit card such
as Visa, Master, Rupay card, Internet Banking, mobile banking.
E-wallet, Payment gateway, UPI. AEPS, BHIM Aadhaar. BHIM UPI.
Bharat QR, IMPS, PTGS/ NEFT. Prepaid Cord, and Multi currency Travel
Card.
WEALTH MANAGEMENT PRODUCTS
 Bank is a corporate agent and distributor of Insurance and
Mutual Fund Products respectively. For any deficiencies in
services bank will assist customers to raise their grievance with
the tie-up partners.
 For any deficiencies in services at bank level raised by
customer, the issue will be examined by the bank and if the
lapse on the part of the bank is confirmed(mis-selling)
customer will be compensated as per the provision of this
policy.
DELAY IN CREDITING PENSION/ARREARS
 For complaints from pensioners alleging inordinate delay in
disbursing revised pension and arrears, RBI has advised the
pension paying banks to compensate the pensioner for delay
in crediting pension/arrears thereof at a fixed interest rate of
8% p.a for the delay after the due date of payment and the
compensation shall be credited to the pensioner’s account
automatically without any claim from the pensioner on the
same day when the bank affords credit for revised
pension/pension arrear, in respect of all delayed pension
payments manse since October 1,2008
RETAIL INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS(RIIS) IN AN IPO:
 Being Self Certified Syndicate Bank, our Bank adopted the
policy for payment of compensation to Retail Individual
Investors as per SEBI guidelines.
 For the same, the following factors have been taken into
account:
1. The opportunity loss suffered by the investor due to non-
allotment of shares
2. The number of times the issue was oversubscribed in the
relevant category
3. The probability of allotment
4. The listing gains if any on the day of listing.
 The formula for calculation of minimum fair compensation is :

Compensation = Listing issue price (X) No. of shares that would
have been allotted if bid was successful (X) Probability of
allotment of shares determined on the basis of allotment
FORCE MAJEURE
The bank shall not be liable to compensate customers for delayed

credit if some unforeseen event (including but not limited to civil
commotion, sabotage, lockout, strike or other labor disturbances,
accident. fires, natural disasters or other “Acts of God". war. damage
to the bank’s facilities or of its correspondent bank(s). absence of the
usual means of communication or all types of transportation. Etc..
beyond the control of the bank prevents it from performing its
obligations within the specified service delivery parameters.
DISCLAIMER CLAUSE
Notwithstanding anything contained here above, the Bank shall
not pay any compensation in the following cases:
 Any deficiency with regard to delay in sanction/rejection of

loans and advances of the Bank.
 Dishonour of at par payment agreement with other banks,

due to non-funding and security compliance.
 Delays on account of non-functioning of Bank's business due

to factors beyond the control of the bank the period covered
by such events shall be omitted for calculation of delay etc.
 Where the issues ore sub-judice and pending before Courts,

Ombudsman, Arbitrator, Government and matter put on hold
due to stay.
POLICY ON CUSTOMER PROTECTION -
LIMITING LIABILITY OF CUSTOMERS IN UNAUTHORIZED ELECTRONIC
BANKING TRANSACTION
REPORTING OF UNAUTHORISED TRANSACTIONS BY CUSTOMERS TO BANK
 The Bank is committed to ensure safety and security of

electronic banking transactions carried out by its customers; and
shall act upon the unauthorised electronic banking transactions
reported by the customers to the bank, based on the time of
reporting, evidences and supporting documents submitted along
with the complaints.
 As per the RBI guidelines any transaction claimed as

unauthorized debit, customer has to report to bank within 30 days
to be eligible for compensation. The transactions, which are not
intimated to bank within this period, will be deemed as
undisputed.
 Genuine and fraudulent transactions are differentiated on the basis

of analysis of the pattern of transactions on the basis of amount,
velocity/frequency, geographical feasibility of the transaction
REGISTRATION OF CUSTOMER MOBILE NUMBER AND
SENDING SMS ALERT BY BANK
 The Bank will ask the customers to mandatorily register for

SMS alerts, while the email alerts will be sent wherever
registered by the customers.
 The bank will not provide fresh digital facility of ATM debit
card to customers who do not provide mobile numbers to the
bank.
NOTIFICATION OF UNAUTHORISED ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS BY
CUSTOMER TO BANK
The Bank requires customers to notify the Bank about any

unauthorised electronic banking transaction, immediately after
the occurrence of such transaction, as longer the time taken
to notify the bank, the higher will be the risk of loss to the
bank/customer.
LIABILITY OF A CUSTOMER OF BANK IN UNAUTHORIZED ELECTRONIC
BANKING TRANSACTION
i) Zero Liability of a Customer
A customer's entitlement to zero liability shall arise where the
unauthorized transaction occurs in the following events:
 Contributory fraud/ negligence/ deficiency on the part of the

bank (irrespective of whether or not the transaction is reported by
the customer).
 Third party breach where the deficiency lies neither with the bank
nor with the customer but lies elsewhere in the system, and the
customer notifies the bank within three working days of receiving
the communication from the bank regarding the unauthorized
transaction.
BANKING TRANSACTION
ii) Limited Liability of a Customer
A customer shall be liable for the loss occurring due to unauthorized
transactions in the following cases:
 In cases where the loss is due to negligence by a customer, such as

where he has shared the payment credentials, the customer will
bear the entire loss until he reports the unauthorized transaction
to the bank. Any loss occurring after the reporting of the
unauthorized transaction shall be borne by the bank.
 In cases where the responsibility for the unauthorised electronic

banking transaction lies neither with the bank nor with the
customer, but lies elsewhere in the system and when there is a
delay (of four to seven working days after receiving the
communication from the bank) on the part of the customer in
notifying the bank of such a transaction, the per transaction
liability of the customer shall be limited to the transaction value
or the amount mentioned in Table 1, whichever is lower.
BANKING TRANSACTION
BANKING TRANSACTION
Further, if the delay in reporting is beyond seventh working day, the
customer liability shall be determined as under:
 The customer will bear the entire loss until he reports the
unauthorized transaction to the bank. Any loss occurring after the
reporting of the unauthorized transaction shall be borne by the
bank. However, depending on case to case basis, Bank may
compensate customer an amount of maximum Rs 10000/-
(Rupees Ten Thousand only) (if reported within 30 days) irrespective
of the fact whether there is single or multiple number of
transactions or transaction amount whichever is lower and the
customer shall be entitled for such compensation only once in the
customer's life time.
 Overall liability of the customer in third party breaches, as detailed_

above, where the deficiency lies neither with the bank nor with the
customer but lies elsewhere in the system, is summarized below:
BANKING TRANSACTION
 The number of working days mentioned in Table 2 shall be

counted as per the working schedule of the home branch of the
customer excluding the date of receiving the communication.
REVERSAL TIMELINE FOR ZERO LIABILITY/LIMITED LIABILITY OF CUSTOMER
 On being notified by the customer, the bank shall credit

(shadow reversal) the amount involved in the unauthorised
electronic transaction to the customer's account within 10
working days from the date of such notification by the
customer (without waiting for settlement of insurance claim,
if any).
 Bank may also at its discretion decide to waive off any

customer liability in case of unauthorised electronic banking
transactions even in cases of customer negligence. The
credit shall be value dated to be as of the date of the
unauthorised transaction.
BANK SHALL ENSURE THAT:
 Complaint is resolved and liability of the customer, if any,

established within a period of 90 days from the date of receipt of
the complaint, and the customer is compensated as per provisions
of the table 1 and 2 above.
 Where it is unable to resolve the complaint or determine the

customer liability, if any, within 90 days, the compensation as
prescribed in table 1 and 2 is paid to the customer; and
 in case of debit card/bank account, the customer does not suffer

loss of interest, and in case of credit card, the customer does
not bear any additional burden of interest.
 a customer shall be eligible for compensation from the bank only

once during the period of his/her banking relationship with the
Bank.
BANK SHALL ENSURE THAT:
 For all disputed cases, customer shall be required to lodge a written

complaint in his/her home branch along with supporting
documents namely dispute form, copy of the police complaint
duly acknowledged by the Police Department or copy of the FIR
as the case may be and other available evidence, within three
working days, from the date of giving first intimation of the fraud
by him/her to the Bank.
 In case the customer is unable to provide the documents or there is
a delay on part of the customer in submitting the documents
within the aforesaid three days, the Bank shall term such disputes as
unable to conclude and the liability of the unauthorized transactions
in such cases will remain with the customer only.
DISCRETIONARY POWERS
The customer will be compensated to the extent of amount as

mentioned below where unauthorized electronic banking debits:
a. Regional Heads: up to Rs. 25,000/- (SRM Rs. 10000/- CRMRs.25000/-)
b. General Manager at CO: above Rs. 10000/- (SRM)/Rs.25000/- (CRM) to Rs.100000/-
c. Executive Director: above Rs. 100000/- to Rs.300000/-
d. MD & CEO : above Rs. 300000/- to Rs.7,50,000/-
e. Board : Above Rs.7.50 lacs
The decision to write off the entries outstanding in the bank's books
identified as not recoverable may be taken, based on the amount
required to be written off, in each individual case, by one of the
following committees, as per the discretionary powers mentioned
there against:
a) HLCC (GM) – Upto Rs.3.00 lakhs
b) HLCC (ED) – Above Rs.3.00 lakhs to Rs.7.50 lakhs
c) Credit Approval Committee – Above Rs.7.50 lakhs to Rs.50 lakhs
d) Management Committee of the Board – Above Rs.50.00 lakhs
Indian Overseas Bank
इण्डियन ओवरसीज़ बैंक
THANK YOU

On Customer Service - Officers

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On Customer Service - Officers

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Indian Overseas Bank

इण्डियन ओवरसीज़ बैंक

Customers are people who need your assistance.

 Offering amazing customer service is important if you want to

 Today’s customer service goes far beyond the traditional

 Customer support is more than just providing answers; it’s an

 Increased customer loyalty

 Positive word-of-mouth promotion

 More productive and happier employees

 Smoother working operations

Eye contact & visible mouth

Summarizing Checking for understanding

What attitudes assist in providing good service?

 Enjoy helping people ?

 Handle people well ?

 Care for your customers ?

 Give fair and equal treatment to all ?

 Be understanding of people with special needs ?

 Be attentive, acknowledge a person as soon as they appear,

 Establish eye contact

 Ask how you can help

 How can you find out what people want?

 Offer alternatives if possible

 If they have to wait, how would you handle it?

 Verbal expressiveness 40% of the message

What you see or feel

 Gesture 50% of the message

WORDS…….. ONLY 10% of the message!

Other people Put downs

o Attend to immediate needs (if you need to finish

Think about how you might modify your voice in certain

➢ Shake hands if appropriate

➢ Be aware of cultural differences

 Uniforms, badges, etc

 Knowledge - know your organisation and the services you

 Follow up (don’t just say you’ll do something, do it)

 Strengthen the customer’s commitment to your

 Saying ‘I don’t know’ without offering an option

 Saying you don’t know where a colleague is or saying they’re

 Leaving people on hold for a long time

 Ignoring people if you’re busy

 Treating people unequally

 Acceptance of and adherence to policies and procedures

 People for whom English is not their first language

 People with disabilities

 People with limited mobility

 Label the behaviour, not the customer

 Don’t get defensive

 Don’t take it personally

 Find out what the customer wants

 Take responsibility for what you CAN do

 Ask closed questions

 Limit the time available for them

to interrupt (don’t have long pauses)

 Provide minimal response

 Smile and be pleasant, but don’t encourage them

 Listen carefully without interrupting so you understand the

 Acknowledge what they say

 Compliment them on their research

 Be generous with praise

 Don’t put them in their place no matter how tempting

 Don’t try to be smart – you can’t win!

 Ask them questions and use them to improve your knowledge