Ombudsmen must take action to eliminate root causes of customers' complaints: RBI Guv

Jodhpur: Ombudsmen and the regulated entities need to identify the root causes of persisting customer complaints and take necessary systemic measures to correct them, Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Friday.

Speaking at the annual conference of RBI ombudsmen, Das said the resolution of customer complaints by the regulated entities (REs) and the RBI ombudsmen have to be fair and quick.

"Even as the financial landscape evolves and transforms, the underlying principles for good customer service and customer protection namely, transparency, fair pricing, honest dealings, responsible business conduct, protection of consumer data and privacy, etc continue to be relevant. Together, we can all make a difference to the customers," he said.

Observing that the ombudsman can bring about far-reaching and meaningful changes in enhancing customer experience, he said, it also demands exceptional vigilance and preparedness on their part to identify speedily the causes of concern, novel modus operandi of frauds and address the issues.

"We also need to strive harder to further reduce turnaround times (TATs) without compromising on the quality of our resolution. There needs to be a proper and deep evaluation of the facts and evidence of a case to ensure a fair settlement. While we encourage our regulated entities to excel, we too must match their efforts and ensure timely and just resolution," he said.

Banking ombudsman is a quasi judicial authority functioning under the Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006. The authority was created to enable resolution of complaints of customers of banks relating to services rendered by the lenders.

Noting that while the pandemic has left behind several scars, there are some silver linings. In particular, he said, the pandemic has accelerated the push towards digitalisation and catalysed the ongoing technology driven transformation of financial services.

There has been a paradigm shift in the manner of interaction between customers and the financial services providers in recent years, he said, adding, financial services are now available 24x7x365 on omni-channel basis.

The spectrum of products and services has speedily expanded to internet and mobile banking, electronic funds transfer, UPI, Aadhaar e-KYC, Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), QR Scan & Pay, digital pre-paid instruments, etc, he said.

"This technology revolution has certainly enhanced the efficiency of financial entities and resulted in significant improvement in doing business, but it has also posed new challenges. It has opened the back door for unregulated technology players into the financial space,"

Das said.