This incident happened sometime back when one of the banks elevated my account to priority without taking consent from me and started charging hefty penalties for not maintaining the Average Quarterly Balance! As shocked as I was, the response from the bank was totally pathetic. They would say its under review, they would reverse upon verification and finally told me that I indeed might have placed the request!
I had to make a series of calls including talking to the customer service, relationship manager, and even branch manager, write emails, but nothing would help and it dragged on for quite sometime. That is when I found about Banking Ombudsman set up by Reserve Bank of India.
Although skeptical, I decided to give it a try and since most of the complaint could be filed online. I had to write a letter, sign it, scan and send it to them along with complete details of the illegal charges put by the bank and the compensation I sought. I put the same amount debited from my account (probably I should have also added the incidental expenses accounting for time and energy 🙂 ). It must have been couple of weeks since I had placed the complaint through Banking Ombudsman that I saw the debit being reversed from my account, while it ran to two months when talking to the bank!!
So, what is banking ombudsman scheme?
Banking Ombudsman scheme provides a platform or forum to bank customers for resolution of complaints relating to certain services rendered by banks.
Which are the banks covered under the Banking Ombudsman Scheme?
All Scheduled Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks and Scheduled Primary Co-operative Banks are covered under the Scheme.
What are the grounds of complaints for which I can use Banking Ombudsman?
Some of the typical cases include the following. For detailed list, please check the list at Banking Ombudsman FAQ page:
- non-adherence by the bank or its subsidiaries to the instructions of Reserve Bank on ATM/Debit card operations or credit card operations;
- non-disbursement or delay in disbursement of pension (to the extent the grievance can be attributed to the action on the part of the bank concerned, but not with regard to its employees);
- refusal to accept or delay in accepting payment towards taxes, as required by Reserve Bank/Government;
- refusal to issue or delay in issuing, or failure to service or delay in servicing or redemption of Government securities;
- forced closure of deposit accounts without due notice or without sufficient reason;
Next time you run into an issue with your bank be it credit card, debit card or savings and they are not responding properly, make use of Banking Ombudsman!
Here are the steps to file a complaint:
1. Go to site: https://secweb.rbi.org.in/BO/compltindex.htm
2. Fill all the relevant details.
3. Upload the supporting files once the complaint is lodged (.pdf and .txt are the only supported formats)
4. You will receive an acknowledgement in a mail. Keep it for reference.
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