RBI panel proposes new norms as customer complaints touching nearly one crore every year

The Committee for Review of Customer Service Standards in RBI Regulated Entities set up by RBI last year found that nearly one crore customers complain to their banks and other REs every year, and the number has not changed much in the last three years.

The six members committee headed by RBI Deputy Governor B.P.Kanungo was established in May 2022 to assess and review the standard of customer service, evaluate the evolving needs, discover the best practices, and recommend measures to bring improvements in the quality of customer service and grievance redress mechanism in the regulated entities.

The panel found that there was a lack of uniformity among Regulated Entities (Res) in classifying the complaints. Several complaints were being treated as suggestions/queries by some REs, which probably makes the RE’s job easier since a complaint must be resolved while a suggestion or a query has no such requirement. Also, that helps keep the number of complaints down. With fewer complaints, a bank is considered more efficient. In this regard, the panel suggested that the RBI should lay down a definition of what constitutes a complaint against an RE under the Internal Grievance Redress (IGR) mechanism so that the real picture of the volume, types, and nature of complaints and the state of customer service in the REs emerges. An indicative definition could be: “Any reference received formally through electronic or paper mode flagging a “deficiency in service”, as defined in RB-IOS, pertaining to all the activities which the RE undertakes and services it offers.”, it added.

According to the committee, fraud at banks could be a complex process and many customers could not be fully aware of the process and the norms. To make it easier for customers, it suggests an online facility be made available on the Indian Cybercrime Reporting Portal for registering complaints by members of the public in respect of fraudulent transactions.

The committee suggests that RBI may establish a RE-agnostic common complaint port for lodging complaints on a single platform. There shall be an online facility for reporting fraudulent transactions, which would trigger an automatic alert from the victim’s bank to relevant counterparts for blocking the flow of funds. It is further suggested that Regulated Entities (Res) should provide a dedicated Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) flow and offer automated call-back features to avoid callers’ repeatedly pressing buttons in an effort to speak to executives. There shall be an automated call-back feature in a call centre, when a call is dropped mid-way, it said.  It further added that the option to speak to the customer care executive should be part of all menu options so that you don’t keep pressing buttons trying to find out which one to press to speak to the executive. Regulated entities may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) /Machine learning (ML) algorithms to offer auto and instant resolutions for complaints regarding financial disputes of low amounts, it said.