GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 224
TO BE ANSWERED ON 05
TH
DECEMBER, 2023 / AGRAHAYANA 14, 1945 (SAKA)
‘FUNCTIONING AND COMPLAINTS RECEIVED BY RBI OMBUDSMAN’
224. SHRI BINOY VISWAM:
Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:
(a) the number of Ombudsman appointed by RBI, Ombudsman across the country
sanctioned, and vacancies if any, State-wise;
(b) the number of complaints received by such an Ombudsman and pending cases, year-
wise, State-wise and bank-wise;
(c) the action taken against such complaints, including suspensions, show-cause notices,
and licenses suspended or revoked; and
(d) whether there was any mechanism for measuring satisfaction of cases disposed?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(DR. BHAGWAT KARAD)
(a): Currently 24 RBI Ombudsmen (RBIOs) are functioning across the country under the
‘Reserve Bank – Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS), 2021’. The details of office-wise
number of RBIOs appointed is provided in Annexure-I.
Currently, there is no vacant post of Ombudsman.
(b): The entity and region/office-wise number of complaints received by the Offices of RBI
Ombudsman, during last three years is provided in Annexure-II.
All the complaints received during financial years 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23
have been disposed off and there is no pendency. However, during current financial year
2023-24, 1,44,400 complaints were received, of which, 8,604 complaints are pending for
disposal. The Status is provided in Annexure-III.
(c): Complaints received at the Office of Reserve Bank Ombudsman are categorised as
maintainable or non-maintainable complaint, as per the provisions of RB-IOS, 2021.
Maintainable complaints are disposed through mutual settlement / agreement, by passing
award or rejection of the complaint. As regards, the non-maintainable complaints, including
those not under the ambit of RB-IOS, 2021, are closed with a suitable communication to the
complainant.
The RB-IOS, 2021 is a Scheme for resolving customer grievances pertaining to
“deficiency in services” provided by entities regulated by RBI in an expeditious and cost-free
manner.
(d): Consumer Education & Protection Department (CEPD), RBI conducted a satisfaction
survey in 2022-23 for the customers of regulated entities who had approached the RBIOs for
redressal of their grievances regarding unsatisfactory disposal of their complaints by their
financial service providers, including the level of satisfaction with the Centralized Receipt
and Processing Centre (CRPC) and the Contact Centre at Chandigarh. Nearly 60 per cent of
respondents were satisfied with overall resolution provided by the RBI Ombudsmen and 58.7
per cent of respondents mentioned that the waiting time/attempts to reach a Contact Centre
executive was reasonable. As per the survey findings, 60.1 percent of respondents were
satisfied with the overall process under RB-IOS, including registration, handling of complaint
and resolution time.
*****
Annexure- I
List of Office-wise RBI Ombudsmen
Sl.
No.
Offices of the RBI Ombudsmen
No. of RBI
Ombudsmen
1
Ahmedabad
1
2
Bengaluru
1
3
Bhopal
1
4
Bhubaneswar
1
5
Chandigarh
1
6
Chennai I
1
7
Chennai II
1
8
Dehradun
1
9
Guwahati
1
10
Hyderabad
1
11
Jaipur
1
12
Jammu
1
13
Kanpur
1
14
Kolkata I
1
15
Kolkata II
1
16
Mumbai I
1
17
Mumbai II
1
18
New Delhi I
1
19
New Delhi II
1
20
Patna
1
21
Raipur
1
22
Ranchi
1
23
Shimla
1
24
Thiruvananthapuram
1
Total
24
Annexure-II
Entity-wise number of complaints received during last three years:
Type of Entity
2020-21
(Apr-Mar)
2021-22
(Apr-Mar)
2022-23
(Apr-Mar)
Public Sector Banks
1,74,974
1,54,725
1,02,144
Private Sector Banks
1,26,303
94,275
73,764
Payments and Small Finance
Banks
6,918
8,076
7,888
Foreign Banks
6,157
4,464
5,639
RRBs/ Urban Co-op. Banks
6,382
6,508
7,200
Others *
61,558
36,448
38,055
Total
3,82,292
3,04,496
2,34,690
* NBFCs, Payment System Participants, Credit Information Companies. The Credit Information
Companies (CICs) have been brought under the ambit of RB-IOS w.e.f September 1, 2022.
Region/Office-wise number of complaints
received during last three years
2020-21
(Apr-Mar)
2021-22
(Apr-Mar)
2022-23
(Apr-Mar)
21,078
16,426
11,467
17,407
13,996
10,996
15,787
12,841
10,364
6,920
7,806
10,728
36,619
20,270
11,177
27,446
21,396
11,613
7,970
8,342
10,462
3,543
5,444
8,753
22,161
15,212
10,713
22,094
18,145
10,639
1,767
4,300
10,068
26,499
24,214
10,259
17,160
14,766
11,455
22,479
18,806
11,847
30,999
20,672
12,313
23,238
15,310
11,234
34,673
24,259
8,921
11,091
8,883
8,474
17,456
13,606
10,675
4,018
5,362
10,660
4,765
6,307
10,495
7,122
8,133
11,377
3,82,292
3,04,496
2,34,690
Note: Three ORBIOs - Shimla, Chennai II and Kolkata II commenced operations from April 1, 2023, April 17,
2023 and June 1, 2023 respectively. ORBIO, New Delhi III was merged with ORBIO, New Delhi I from March 1,
2023.
Annexure-III
The ORBIO-wise break-up of the same is provided in the table below:
Number of complaints
received during
current Financial Year-
2023-2024
Number of complaints
pending during
current Financial Year-
2023-24
(1)
(2)
6,763
69
6,613
115
5,934
356
6,135
1,239
6,280
46
6,363
398
3,689
443
5,789
116
5,871
525
6,577
97
5,919
131
5,879
38
6,140
375
6,551
55
3,209
410
6,908
1,106
6,954
743
6,533
149
6,314
182
6,216
659
6,142
324
5,579
756
5,694
231
6,348
41
1,44,400
8,604
* ORBIOs Shimla, Chennai II and Kolkata II commenced operations from April 1, 2023, April 17, 2023 and June
1, 2023 respectively. ORBIO, New Delhi III was merged with ORBIO, New Delhi I from March 1, 2023.
*****