Annexure - I
INTERNAL OBMUDSMAN SCHEME ( REVISED)
1.
Objective of the Scheme
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2.
To enhance the customer confidence and hasten the process of complaint
redressal making it more transparent.
To enable the customer to approach an independent body, instead of Banking
Ombudsman ,for redressal of his/her complaint, if not satisfied by the bank’s
redressal mechanism.
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 and to eventually make the Banking Ombudsman as an
appellate mechanism.
Powers and Jurisdiction of Internal Ombudsman
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The CCSO (Internal Ombudsman) shall examine the grievances which are on
the grounds mentioned in Annexure – II and which were not resolved by the
Bank’s internal grievance redressal mechanism i.e the CCSO shall not entertain
and examine first resort complaints. The CCSO shall facilitate his/her
satisfaction of settlement by agreement or through reconciliation and mediation
between the bank and aggrieved parties or by passing an Award in accordance
with the scheme.
The other grievances i.e. complaints outside the purview of Annexure - II can
also be dealt with by the CCSO 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 CCSO happens to receive first resort complaints, he/she shall
forward such complaints to the bank’s internal grievance redressal functionary
under advice to the complainants.
The bank shall examine the grievances as per its internal grievance redressal
mechanism and in case the bank decides to reject a complaint and /or decides
to provide only partial relief to the complainant, it should invariably forward such
cases to the CCSO for further examination. The advice to the complainant after
examination by CCSO in such cases should necessarily have a clause that the
grievance has also been examined by the CCSO.
In case the complaints are not resolved to the satisfaction of the complainants,
the CCSO and/or the bank shall advise the complainants that they can
approach the Banking Ombudsman (BO) of the jurisdiction concerned along
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3.
with complete details and address of the BO to which the complaints pertain to.
In other words , in all the final communication being sent to the complainants by
CCSO, 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.
The CCSO shall have the right to access the bank’s records relating the
complaints received, seek detailed comments from the bank with regard to the
complaints, can hold meetings with the functionaries concerned, departments
concerned and also meet the complainants if required while examining the
complaints for redress. The bank will furnish all records/documents sought by
the CCSO to enable him/her to discharge his/her duty effectively and redress
/resolve customer grievances expeditiously.
The CCSO shall not entertain complaints which are already pending in other
forums such as consumer forums, courts etc.
The CCSO shall provide the resolution in writing to the complainants and
endorse a copy to the concerned department of the bank.
In cases where the decision of the CCSO is accepted by the complainant , the
former will obtain and keep on record , a statement showing the terms of the
agreement duly signed by the complainant.
The CCSO’s decision shall be binding on the bank and the bank will accept it.
The Principal Nodal Officer(PNO) or a Nodal Officer (NO) for the Banking
Ombudsman Complaints shall not act as CCSO or vice versa as the PNO/NO
should be a senior officer /executive from the bank as per the provisions of BO
Scheme.
The Internal Ombudsman will deal with complaints involving compensation
demanded by aggrieved parties not exceeding Rs.3.00 lakhs.
Operational procedure in Handling grievances :
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Any person who has a grievance against the Bank on any one or more of the
grounds of complaints mentioned above and the same remains unresolved for
more than 30 days can make a complaint to the Internal Ombudsman by himself
or through his representative (other than advocate)
The internal Ombudsman may send a copy of the complaint to the concerned
branch and/ or Zonal Office seeking details relating to the complaint.
The internal Ombudsman may call for any information relating to the complaint
from the concerned branch/ Zonal Office.
All the complaints will be acknowledged with unique complaint number for future
reference.
4.
Closure of complaints (Settlement/Award/Rejection):
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5.
The Internal Ombudsman may also endeavor to promote a settlement between
the complainant and the Bank through conciliation.
If a complainant is not satisfied by agreement within a period of 30 days from the
date of receipt of the complaint or such further period as the internal
Ombudsman may allow the parties, he may after affording the parties a
reasonable opportunity to present their case, pass an Award or reject the
complaint.
The Internal Ombudsman shall take into account the evidence placed before him
by the parties, the principles of banking law and practice, directions, instructions
and guidelines issued by the Bank/ Reserve Bank of India from time to time and
such other factors which in his opinion are relevant to the complaint.
The Award shall be a reasoned and speaking one.
The Award passed shall contain the direction/s, if any, to the bank for specific
performance of its obligations and in addition to or otherwise, the amount, if any,
to be paid by the bank to the complaint by way of compensation for any loss
suffered by the complaint arising directly out of the Act of omission of the bank.
The Internal Ombudsman shall not have the power to pass an award directing
payment of an amount which is more than the actual loss suffered by the
complainant as a direct consequence of the act or omission of the bank, or Three
lakh rupees, whichever is lower.
Right to appeal:
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A copy of the Award shall be sent to the complainant and the branch/ zonal office
directly for compliance. An Award shall lapse and be of no effect unless the
complainant furnishes to the bank within a period of 30 days from the date of
receipt of copy of the Award, a letter of acceptance of the Award in full and final
settlement of his claim. Provided that no such acceptance may be furnished by
the complainant if he has filed an appeal against the order.
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The branch/Zonal office shall, unless it has preferred an appeal, within one
month from the date of receipt by it of the acceptance in writing of the Award by
the complainant, comply with the Award and intimate compliance to the Internal
Ombudsman.
The Internal Ombudsman may reject a complaint at any stage if it appears to him
that the complaint made is ;
i)
not on the grounds of complaint referred to in the scheme or otherwise
not in accordance with scheme or
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v)
vi)
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beyond the pecuniary jurisdiction of Internal Ombudsman prescribed
under scheme or
requiring consideration of elaborate documentary and oral evidence
and the proceedings before Internal Ombudsman are not appropriate
for adjudication of such complaint; or
without any sufficient cause; or
that it is pursued by the complainant with reasonable diligence; or
In the opinion of the Internal Ombudsman there is no loss or damage
or inconvenience caused to the complaint.
Appeal:
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Any person aggrieved by an Award under or rejection of a complaint, may within
30 days of the date of receipt of communication of award or rejection of
complaint, prefer an appeal before the Banking Ombudsman of the jurisdiction
concerned.
Annexure-II
GROUNDS OF COMPLAINT
1. Any person may file a complaint with the Internal Ombudsman on any one of the
following grounds alleging deficiency in banking including internet banking or
other services.
a) non-payment or inordinate delay in the payment or collection of cheques,
drafts, bills etc.;
b) non-acceptance, without sufficient cause, of small denomination notes
tendered for any purpose, and for charging of commission in respect
thereof;
c) non-acceptance, without sufficient cause, of coins tendered and for
charging of commission in respect thereof;
d) non-payment or delay in payment of inward remittances ;
e) failure to issue or delay in issue of drafts, pay orders or bankers’ cheques;
f) non-adherence to prescribed working hours ;
g) failure to provide or delay in providing a banking facility (other than loans
and advances) promised in writing by the Bank or its direct selling agents;
h) delays, non-credit of proceeds to parties' accounts, non-payment of
deposit or non-observance of the Reserve Bank of India’s directives, if
any, applicable to rate of interest on deposits in any savings, current or
other account maintained with the Bank ;
i) complaints from Non-Resident Indians having accounts in India in relation
to their remittances from abroad, deposits and other bank related matters;
j) refusal to open deposit accounts without any valid reason for refusal;
k) levying of charges without adequate prior notice to the customer;
l) non-adherence by the bank or its subsidiaries to the instructions of
Reserve
Bank of India on ATM/Debit card operations or credit card
operations;
m) 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);
n) refusal to accept or delay in accepting payment towards taxes, as required
by Reserve Bank of India/Government;
o) refusal to issue or delay in issuing, or failure to service or delay in
servicing or redemption of Government securities;
p) forced closure of deposit accounts without due notice or without sufficient
reason;
q) refusal to close or delay in closing the accounts;
r) non-adherence to the fair practices code as adopted by the Bank;
s) non-adherence to the provisions of the Code of Bank's Commitments to
Customers issued by Banking Codes and Standards Board of India and as
adopted by the bank;
t) non-observance of Reserve Bank of India’s guidelines on engagement of
recovery agents by banks; and
u) any other matter relating to the violation of the directives issued by the
Reserve Bank of India in relation to banking or other services.
v) Charging of wrong interest rate or mistake in calculation of interest.
w) Charging of additional or wrong service charges.
x) Delay in payment of bills.
y) Non advising of L/C in time.
z) Delay in release of securities on payment of entire loan
aa) Delay in disbursement of loan etc.
2. A complaint on any one of the following grounds alleging deficiency in banking
service in respect of loans and advances may be filed with the Internal
Ombudsman.
(a) non-observance of Reserve Bank of India’s directives on interest rates;
(b) delays in sanction, disbursement or non-observance of prescribed time
schedule for disposal of loan applications;
(c) non-acceptance of application for loans without furnishing valid reasons to
the applicant; and
(d) non-adherence to the provisions of the fair practices code for lenders as
adopted by the bank or Code of Bank’s Commitment to Customers, as the
case may be;
(e) non-observance of any other direction or instruction of the Reserve Bank of
India as may be specified from time to time.
The issues stated above are illustrative in nature and are not exhaustive.
The Internal Ombudsman may also deal with such other matter as may be specified by
the Bank from time to time.