No deadline for resolving complaints by Banking Ombudsman: RBI

There is no time limit for resolution of complaints under Banking Ombudsman scheme, aimed at seeking redressal of customers' common complaints against banks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said.

Over 9,500 such complaints were pending against various banks, it said. The revised 2006 Banking Ombudsman scheme, applicable to all commercial banks, regional rural banks and scheduled primary cooperative banks, provides a forum to customers to seek redressal of their complaints relating to credit cards, house loans, promises given by the banks' sales agents and delay in delivery of services.

"No time limit is specified for resolution of complaint under Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006," the central bank said in reply to an RTI query filed by Press Trust of India. It said the number of complaints pending for resolution as on December 13, 2015 was 9,508.

"There is serious lacunae in handling of complaints by Banking Ombudsmen. While most of the complaints get rejected on technical grounds, it is the genuine complaints that are kept pending for want of any deadline,” said Ajay Dubey, an anti-corruption activist.