Crack Grade B 1

RESERVE BANK -
INTEGRATED OMBUDSMAN
SCHEME, 2021

ANNUAL
REPORT

APRIL 1, 2022 – MARCH

31, 2023

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MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS
Annual Report of Ombudsman Scheme 2022-23
• First stand-alone report under Reserve Bank – Integrated Ombudsman Scheme
(RB-IOS), 2021
• Highlights activities of 22 Offices of RBI Ombudsman (ORBIOs), Centralised
Receipt and Processing Centre (CRPC), and Contact Centre.

RB-IOS, 2021 launched in November 2021

• Integrates three previous Ombudsman Schemes:
• Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006
• Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies (OSNBFC),
2018
• Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions (OSDT), 2019
• Initially covered:
• Commercial Banks
• Regional Rural Banks
• Scheduled Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks
• Non-Scheduled Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks with deposits size of
₹50 crore and above
• Non-Banking Financial Companies (excluding Housing Finance Companies)
with assets size of ₹100 crore and above or authorized to accept deposits
• Payment System Participants
• Experience gained led to inclusion of Credit Information Companies (CICs)
from September 1, 2022

Receipt of Complaints under the RB-IOS, 2021 framework

• 7,03,544 complaints received at ORBIOs and CRPC from April 1, 2022, to
March 31, 2023
• 68.24% increase over the previous year
• Out of All complaints received
• 2,34,690 complaints handled by 22 ORBIOs
• CRPC closed 4,68,270 complaints as non-complaints / non-maintainable
complaints
• Around 85.64% complaints received through digital modes including online
CMS portal, email, and CPGRAMS

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• Overall disposal rate at ORBIOs: 97.99%
• Average Turn Around Time (TAT): 33 days
• RB-IOS, 2021 focuses on settlement of complaints through facilitation /
conciliation / mediation
• Majority of maintainable complaints (57.48%) disposed by ORBIOs
resolved through mutual settlement / conciliation / mediation
• 122 Appeals received against RBI Ombudsmen decisions during the year
• 119 Appeals received under RB-IOS, 2021
• 3 Appeals received under previous Ombudsman Schemes

Other developments during the year

The major initiatives undertaken during the year in the consumer education and
protection vertical are listed below:

i) Nationwide Intensive Awareness Programme:

• Launched in November 2022
• Collaboration with Regulated Entities (REs)
• Aimed at reaching excluded/isolated populations, especially in Tier-III and IV
cities, rural areas, etc.
• Reached approximately three crore people through physical mode and 25 crore
people through digital mode.

ii) Ombudsman Speak event:

• Second edition held on March 15, 2023, on World Consumer Rights Day
• All 22 RBI Ombudsmen interacted with local/regional multimedia channels.

iii) Awareness Events by RBIOs:

• 48 town-hall events and 238 awareness programmes conducted during the year
• Focused on grievance redress and consumer protection, targeting specific
audience groups like servicemen, students, consumer groups.

iv) Committee for Review of Customer Service Standards:

• Established on May 23, 2022, under the Chairmanship of Shri B P Kanungo,
former Deputy Governor, RBI
• Aimed at examining and reviewing customer service standards in REs
• Submitted report on April 24, 2023
• Recommendations under consideration for implementation, taking into account
stakeholders' suggestions and feedback.

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v) Extension of Internal Ombudsman Scheme:
• Rolled out by RBI in 2015
• Mandated for all scheduled commercial banks (excluding Regional Rural Banks) in
2018
• Extended to Non-Bank Payment System Participants in 2019 and select NBFCs in
2021
• Extended to all CICs in October 2022.

vi) Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery:

• Project underway to develop State-of-the-Art Contact Centre at Bhubaneshwar
and Kochi
• Upgradation of existing Contact Centre at Chandigarh
• Aimed at enhancing Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery capabilities.

Ombudsman Office wise allocation of complaints

Below are the TOP 5 Offices in terms of Volume/No. of Complaints received
1. Mumbai (II) – 12313 Complaints – 5.25% share in total complaints
2. Mumbai (I) – 5.05%
3. Chennai – 4.95%
4. Ahmedabad – 4.89%
5. Kolkata – 4.88%
Office receiving the least number of complaints

• New Delhi (III) – 8474 Complaints – 3.61%

Geographic Dispersion of complaints across the states

Top 5
States/Union
Territories
contributing the
most to
Ombudsman
complaints
1. Chandigarh
2. NCT of
Delhi
3. Haryana
4. Rajasthan
5. Gujarat

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Lowest Contributors to Ombudsman Complaints
1. Mizoram
2. Nagaland
3. Meghalaya
4. Manipur
5. Arunachal Pradesh

Mode of receipt of complaints at ORBIOs

Contribution by
different modes in
receipt of complaints in
2022-23

• Complaint
Portal/Online –
56.1% [I]
• Email – 29.6% [II]
• Physical Letter –
14.4%
I and II – Digital Modes
for receipt of
complaints

Population group-wise receipt of complaints at ORBIOs

In 2022-23, majority of complaints at the ORBIOs were received from

• Metropolitan Centres (45.77%), followed by

• Urban (24%) and
• Semi Urban Centres (18.46%).

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Complainant type-wise receipt of complaints
• Drop in absolute number of complaints from individuals compared to previous
year. [From 2,43,244 (in 2021-22) to 2,01,646 (in 2022-23)]
• Individuals' complaints constituted 85.92% of total complaints received at
ORBIOs.
• Complaints lodged by senior citizens declined to 2.16% of total complaints
from 3.04% in previous year.

Regulated Entity type-wise receipt of complaints

• Complaints against Public Sector Banks accounts for highest 43.52% of all
complaints lodged, amounting to 1,02,144 complaints.
• Complaints against Private Sector Banks accounts for second-highest 31.43%
of all complaints lodged, amounting to 73,764 complaints.
• Complaints against banks formed the largest portion (1,96,635 complaints),
accounting for 83.78% of complaints received by the ORBIOs.
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Category-wise receipt of complaints at ORBIOs
Complaint Against Banks
• Top 3 Categories of Complaints
1. Mobile Electronic Banking – 39,855 – 20.27%
2. Loans and Advances – 39,579 – 20.13%
3. Deposit Accounts Related – 33,612 – 17.09%

Complaint Against NBFCs

• Top Category of Complaint
1. Loans & Advances related/Non-Adherence to FPC – 18,657 – 56.41%

Complaint Against PSOs/PSPs

• Top Category of Complaint
1. Mobile/Electronic Fund Transfers / Mobile/Electronic Banking – 2,246 –
64.99%

Complaint Against Credit Information Companies

• Top Category of Complaint
1. Loans & Advances – 754 – 72.57%

Disposal of Complaints
• ORBIOs maintained a healthy disposal rate of 97.99% during the year.
• Significant decline in number of complaints pending beyond 30 days:
1. From 0.26% as on March 31, 2022, to 0.04% as on March 31, 2023.
• Number of Complaints brought forward from previous year – 6447

Cost of handling a complaint

• Average cost of handling a complaint at ORBIOs reduced to ₹2,041 per
complaint for 2022-23 from ₹2,895 per complaint for 2021-22.
• Reduction attributed to:
1. Increased receipt of complaints due to simplified procedure for lodging
complaints.

Turn Around Time

(TAT) for disposal
of complaints
The average TAT for
disposal of complaints at
the ORBIOs has improved
continuously from 95
days in 2019-20 to 33
days 2022-23.

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Bank Group Wise Complaint Conversion Ratio

Complaint conversion ratio represents the proportion of complaints received against

the concerned bank group at the ORBIOs vis-à-vis the total number of complaints
received at the respective bank group from their customers

Reasons for closure of complaints under non-maintainable

clauses
• 67,885 complaints closed
as non-maintainable.
• Reasons include:
o Complaints already
dealt with at ORBIOs.
o First Resort
Complaints (FRCs).
o Complaints not
properly represented.

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