RBI to issue Master Direction to strengthen Internal Ombudsman mechanism in banks

Mumbai : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to issue a consolidated Master Direction to strengthen the Internal Ombudsman (IO) mechanism in banks and regulated entities to enhance customer protection.

“Based on the learnings from the implementation of the extant IO guidelines, it has been decided to harmonise the same and issue a consolidated Master Direction,” the RBI said on Friday.

"The Master Direction shall bring uniformity in matters like timeline for escalation of complaints to IOs, exclusions, temporary absence of the Internal Ombudsman, minimum qualifications for appointing an Internal Ombudsman and updation of reporting formats, in addition to introduction of the post of Deputy Internal Ombudsman.

"These instructions are expected to further strengthen the IO mechanism and in turn, the grievance redress system in REs," the central bank added. The guidelines on the Internal Ombudsman framework currently in operation for various categories of REs have similar design features but carry certain variations on operational matters, the RBI has now decided to bring a uniform set of norms.

The RBI had introduced an Internal Ombudsman mechanism in 2015 in select scheduled commercial banks with the objective to strengthen their Internal Grievance Redress (IGR) system and to ensure efficient and fair resolution of customer complaints by enabling an apex level review within the banks before their rejection.

Gradually, the framework has been extended to other regulated entities (REs), viz. select Non-Bank System Participants (non-bank issuers of PPIs), select Non-Banking Financial Companies and all Credit Information Companies.