Lok Sabha Question No. 824 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-07
Subject: Ombudsman Scheme
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: Andimuthu Raja, A. Ganeshamurthi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 824

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 07 th  FEBRUARY, 2022 / MAGHA 18, 1943 (SAKA)

## 'Ombudsman Scheme'

## 824.    SHRI A. RAJA:

## SHRI A. GANESHAMURTHI:

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

- (a) the  number  of  complaints  the  Reserve  Bank  of  India  has  received  under  the various Ombudsman schemes in various categories in the country during the last two years;
- (b) whether there is a rise in complaints related to debit and credit card transactions and online banking; and
- (c) if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government to address those complaints and  to ensure that additional safeguards are provided in the transactions through debit card, credit card and online banking?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (DR.  BHAGWAT KARAD)

(a): Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has informed that Three Ombudsman Schemes of RBI, viz.,  Banking  Ombudsman  Scheme  (BOS),  2006,  (as  amended  upto  July  01,  2017), Ombudsman  Scheme  for  Non-Banking  Financial  Companies  (OSNBFCs),  2018  and Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions (OSDT), 2019, were in force until November 11, 2021, for enabling resolution of complaints relating to services rendered by Regulated Entities.  On  November  12,  2021,  the  'Reserve  Bank  -  Integrated  Ombudsman  Scheme (RB-IOS),  2021'  has  been  launched  which  integrates  the  erstwhile  three  Ombudsman Schemes  of  RBI  viz.,  BOS,  OSNBFC  and  OSDT.  Complaints  not  covered  under  the erstwhile Ombudsman Schemes/        RB-IOS, 2021 were/are handled by the Consumer Education  and  Protection  Cells  (CEPCs)  of  RBI  across  the  country.    The  number  of complaints received under various categories in the erstwhile three Ombudsman Schemes for the last two years and under RB-IOS, 2021 since its implementation is at Annexure .

(b) & (c): RBI has informed that on comparing the complaints against ATM/Debit Cards, Credit  Cards  and  Mobile/Electronic  Banking  during  the  period  from  2019-20  to  2020-21, there is a decline of 13.01% complaints in ATM/ Debit Cards and there is an increase of 12.01% and 52.99% complaints in Mobile/Electronic Banking and Credit Card respectively.

| Complaint categories      | April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020   | April 01, 2020 to March 31, 2021   | Percentage increase/decrease   |
|---------------------------|-----------------------------------|------------------------------------|--------------------------------|
| ATM/ Debit Cards          | 69,205                            | 60,203                             | -13.01%                        |
| Mobile/Electronic Banking | 39,627                            | 44,385                             | 12.01%                         |
| Credit Cards              | 26,616                            | 40,721                             | 52.99%                         |
| TOTAL                     | 135,448                           | 145,309                            |                                |

Reserve  Bank  of  India  (RBI)  vide  its  circular  dated  6 th July,  2017  has  issued guidelines  for  safeguarding  the  customers  while  handling  the  cases  of  unauthorized electronic banking transactions,  which inter-alia addresses the following areas:

- I.      Strengthening of systems and procedures
- II.  Reporting of unauthorized transactions by customers to banks.
- III.     Limited liability of a customer.
- IV.  Reversal timeline for zero liability/limited liability of customer.
- V.    Board approved policy for customer protection.
- VI.   Burden of proof on banks.
- VII.  Reporting and monitoring requirements.

RBI  has  also  informed  that  they  have  issued  a  circular  on  Strengthening  of Grievance  Redress  Mechanism  in  Banks  dated  January  27,  2021,  for  strengthening  and improving  the  efficacy  of  the  grievance  redress  mechanism  of  banks  and  for  facilitating better customer service.

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Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 824 for 07.02.2022 tabled by Shri A. Raja and Shri A. Ganeshamurthi, MPs.

## (i) Complaints received under the erstwhile BOS, 2006 from April 01, 2019 to November 11, 2021

| Complaint Categories                 | April 01, 2019 to March 31, 2020   | April 01, 2020 to March 31, 2021   | April 01, 2021 to November 11, 2021   |
|--------------------------------------|------------------------------------|------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| ATM/ Debit Cards                     | 69,205                             | 60,203                             | 30,472                                |
| Mobile / Electronic Banking          | 39,627                             | 44,385                             | 28,262                                |
| Credit Cards                         | 26,616                             | 40,721                             | 24,678                                |
| Failure to Meet Commitments          | 22,758                             | 35,999                             | 22,076                                |
| Non-observance of Fair Practice Code | 40,124                             | 33,898                             | 24,478                                |
| Levy of Charges without Prior Notice | 17,268                             | 20,949                             | 12,732                                |
| Loans and Advances                   | 14,731                             | 20,218                             | 11,282                                |
| Non-adherence to BCSBI Codes         | 11,758                             | 14,490                             | 4,646                                 |
| Deposit Accounts                     | 10,188                             | 8,580                              | 6,137                                 |
| Pension Payments                     | 6,884                              | 4,966                              | 4,262                                 |
| Remittances                          | 4,130                              | 3,394                              | 2,149                                 |
| DSAs and Recovery Agents             | 1,474                              | 2,440                              | 1,622                                 |
| Para-Banking                         | 1,134                              | 1,236                              | 761                                   |
| Notes and Coins                      | 551                                | 332                                | 189                                   |
| Others                               | 30,844                             | 39,686                             | 26,448                                |
| Out of Purview of BO Scheme          | 9,412                              | 10,250                             | 6,397                                 |
| Total                                | 3,06,704                           | 3,41,747                           | 2,06,591                              |

- (ii)    Complaints  received  under  the  erstwhile  OSNBFCs,  2018  from  July  01,  2019  to November 11, 2021

| Complaint Categories                                             | July 01, 2019 to March 31, 2020   | April 01, 2020 to March 31, 2021   | April 01, 2021 to November 11, 2021   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| Non-adherence to FPC                                             | 4,516                             | 17,915                             | 12,339                                |
| Non-observance of RBI directions                                 | 841                               | 6,114                              | 1,876                                 |
| Levy of charges without prior notice                             | 1,053                             | 3,189                              | 1,673                                 |
| Non-transparency in contract/ loan                               | 1,285                             | 1,833                              | 509                                   |
| Delay in repayment of deposits                                   | 269                               | 536                                | 317                                   |
| Delay in release of securities/ documents                        | 206                               | 417                                | 282                                   |
| No communication about loan sanctioned                           | 342                               | 375                                | 263                                   |
| Delay in payment of interest                                     | 105                               | 386                                | 181                                   |
| Non-understandable or no adequate notice on terms and conditions | 52                                | 145                                | 89                                    |
| Non-understandable or non-issuance of sanction letter/ terms     | 31                                | 85                                 | 46                                    |
| Not covered under Clause 8 of the Scheme                         | 292                               | 1,169                              | 1,573                                 |
| Others                                                           | 1,939                             | 4,787                              | 855                                   |
| Total                                                            | 10,931                            | 36,951                             | 20,003                                |

## (iii)        Complaints  received  under  the  erstwhile  OSDT,  2019  from  July  01,  2019  to November 11, 2021.

| Complaint Categories                      |   July 01, 2019 to March 31, 2020 | April 01, 2020 to March 31, 2021   | April 01, 2021 to November 11, 2021   |
|-------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| Fund Transfers/ UPI/ BBPS/ Bharat QR Code |                               827 | 1,775                              | 1,020                                 |

| Mobile/Electronic Fund Transfers / Mobile/Electronic Banking                  | 440   | 824   | 522   |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------|-------|-------|
| Non-reversal of Funds due to Wrong Beneficiary Transfer by System Participant | 170   | 291   | 191   |
| Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI)                                             | 148   | 253   | 222   |
| Violation of RBI Directives in relation to Fees/Charges                       | 29    | 100   | 67    |
| Out of Subject                                                                | 52    | 57    | 28    |
| Others                                                                        | 184   | 294   | 223   |
| Total                                                                         | 1,850 | 3,594 | 2,273 |

## (iv) Complaints  received under  the RB-IOS,  2021  from November  12,  2021  to December 31, 2021.

| Complaint Categories                 | November 12, 2021 to December 31, 2021   |
|--------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| Non-Adherence to Fair Practices Code | 902                                      |
| Loans and Advances                   | 806                                      |
| Mobile/Electronic Banking            | 441                                      |
| Non-adherence to BCSBI Code          | 402                                      |
| ATM/CDM/Debit card                   | 362                                      |
| Deposit account related              | 286                                      |
| Failure on commitments               | 228                                      |
| Credit Card                          | 193                                      |
| Pension                              | 116                                      |
| Levy of Charges without prior notice | 92                                       |
| Para-Banking                         | 47                                       |
| Remittance related                   | 31                                       |
| Others                               | 837                                      |
| Total                                | 4,743                                    |

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