Got a complaint against bank or NBFC? Let RBI know

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has launched a single window for customer complaints relating to banks and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) through an online portal.

Customers can file a complaint and track its status with the help of the website. The complaints will be directed to the appropriate office of the Ombudsman or regional office of the RBI. Customers can also file an appeal against the decision of the Ombudsmen if need be.

Once a customer files the complaint, they will receive acknowledgement through SMS or email notifications. Customers can track their status using a unique registration number. They can also give voluntary feedback on the experience to RBI.

The Complaint Management System (CMS) application that facilitates this feature was unveiled by the RBI on June 24, with an aim to speed up the process of customer grievance redressal. The portal is accessible on desktop as well as mobile devices.

RBI said that CMS can generate various reports to monitor and manage complaints that pertain to each entity and such data will be used by the central bank for regulatory and supervisory interventions.

"I expect banks and financial service providers to use the data on CMS not only to reduce their Turn Around Time in resolution of complaints and strengthening their grievance redressal mechanism, but also to undertake root cause analyses with an objective to understand their customer's pain areas, behaviour and expectations so as to improve their services for maintaining customer loyalty," RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said.

Das added that the RBI also plans to introduce a dedicated Interactive Voice Response (IVR) System for tracking the status of complaints.  "I am sure, with time, the customer-friendly nature of the CMS will be further enhanced," he said.