Customer Service, Grievance Redressal and Customer Protection
This domain tests customer protection and grievance redressal: fair treatment, transparent charges, and the route a complaint takes when the branch says no.
Core rules
- RBI's Charter of Customer Rights (2014) covers fair treatment, transparency, fair and honest dealing, suitability, privacy and grievance redressal.
- The Fair Practices Code and BCSBI standards require clear disclosure of charges and terms.
- Complaints must be acknowledged, investigated and answered with reasons; the bank gets 30 days before the customer can approach the RBI Ombudsman under the Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021 (RB-IOS).
- Banks with more than 10 branches need an Internal Ombudsman to review rejections.
- RB-IOS is free, covers the whole country and its award is binding on the bank if accepted by the complainant.
Worked example
A customer disputes an unauthorized debit. The branch rejects the complaint without reasons. The customer approaches RB-IOS. The bank must produce the trail and justify the rejection; a bare "not our fault" fails. The branch should have acknowledged, investigated and given a reasoned reply within 30 days.
Traps
No acknowledgement; rejecting without reasons; missing the 30-day timeline; not displaying ombudsman details; confusing RB-IOS with a consumer court.