Customer Services and Relationship Management
Service standards and rights
This domain tests how banks serve customers, handle complaints, and protect depositors. Good service includes transparent charges, timely statements, clear loan terms, and accessible grievance redressal. The RBI's Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021 covers banks, NBFCs, and payment system participants for defined deficiencies. DICGC insures deposits up to ₹5 lakh per depositor per bank, covering principal and interest. Customers have rights to fair treatment, privacy, and information, but also duties such as safe custody of cheques and prompt reporting of fraud.
Relationship management
Relationship managers must balance sales targets with suitability. Mis-selling a product, hiding charges, or forcing insurance with a loan is a service failure. Banks use service quality metrics, complaint logs, and root-cause analysis. For unauthorised electronic transactions, prompt reporting matters: RBI rules limit customer liability when the fraud is not due to customer negligence and the bank is informed quickly.
Worked example
A customer finds an unauthorised debit of ₹8,000 on a card and reports it within two working days. Reasoning: prompt reporting, before the bank's cutoff, generally gives zero liability where the customer has not shared credentials. The bank must investigate, reverse eligible amounts, and issue a written response. If the customer had shared the OTP, liability analysis changes because negligence is involved.
Traps
Do not say the Ombudsman is a court. Do not state DICGC covers unlimited deposits. Do not advise customers to share OTPs. Do not ignore the difference between a complaint and a fraud report.