Lok Sabha Question No. 298 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-02-05
Subject: One Nation-One Ombudsman
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: Raja Amareshwara Naik, Sukanta Majumdar, Vinod Kumar Sonkar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE

## DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 298

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 05 TH  FEBRUARY, 2024 (MONDAY) / MAGHA 16, 1945 (SAKA)

## 'ONE NATION - ONE OMBUDSMAN'

## 298.    SHRI RAJA AMARESHWARA NAIK : DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR : SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR:

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  proposes  'One  Nation-One  Ombudsman'  with  one  portal, one email and one address for the customers to lodge their complaints;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  launched  the  Reserve  Bank  -  Integrated  Ombudsman Scheme to further improve the grievance redress mechanism for resolving customer complaints against entities regulated by RBI;
- (d) if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the other remedial steps being taken by the Government for safety and security of retail investors?

## ANSWER

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

(a)  to  (c): The  Reserve  Bank  -  Integrated  Ombudsman  Scheme,  2021  was  launched  on November 12, 2021. The Scheme integrates the erstwhile three Ombudsman schemes of RBI into one scheme. The Scheme adopts 'One Nation One Ombudsman' approach by making the RBI  Ombudsman  mechanism  jurisdiction  neutral.  It  will  no  longer  be  necessary  for complainant to identify scheme, under which she/he would file complaint with Ombudsman. Scheme will provide cost-free redress of customer complaints involving deficiency in service rendered by regulated entities.

(d): The salient benefits of the Scheme are:-

- i. Simplification  in  the  process  of  filing  the  complaint  on  Complaint  Management System (CMS) portal;
- ii. A complaint can be filed on CMS portal/ Centralised Receipt Processing Centre from anywhere  in  the  country  irrespective  of  the  address  of  the  complainant,  regulated entity or branch involved;
- iii. One address and one email for lodging of physical/ email complaints from anywhere in the country;
- iv. Automatic acknowledgement to the complainant on registration of online complaint;
- v. Facility for real-time tracking of the status of complaint;
- vi. Facility for online submission of additional documents on the CMS itself;
- vii. Detailed letter intimating decision/ closure of complaint;
- viii. Facility for online and voluntary feedback submission by the complainant regarding redress provided by RBI.
9. (e): To protect the interests of retail investors, SEBI has taken following recent steps which inter-alia include:-
10. (i)  SEBI  has  put  in  place  a  system  of  Online  Dispute  Resolution  to  streamline  process  of resolution of investor grievance;
11. (ii)  SEBI has instituted a mechanism for the Stock Brokers/Clearing Members to upstream and  lien  all  the  clients'  clear  credit  balances  to  the  clearing  corporations  of  the  stock exchanges daily after market closes, on End of Day basis. Such up-streaming provides for a robust safe-guard against any mis-utilisation of client funds by market intermediaries.
12. (iii) SEBI introduced a centralized mechanism for reporting and verification in case of the demise of an investor for ease of transfer of securities to the nominees.

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