Lok Sabha Question No. 1059 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-04-29
Subject: Complaints against Bank Officials
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: GOPALAKRISHNAN CHINNARAJ

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

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO 1059

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 29 th  APRIL, 2016 / Vaisakha 9, 1938 (SAKA)

## COMPLAINTS AGAINST BANK OFFICIALS

## 1059 . DR. C. GOPALAKRISHNAN:

Will the Minister of FINANCEbe pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  received  complaints  against  bank  officials  for  alleged irregularities,  violation  of  prevention  of  money  laundering,  malpractices  deficiencies  in services and harassment of their customers for sanctioning of various loans;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  including  the  number  of  such  complaints  registered/action  taken against the officials during each of the last three years, bank and State/UT-wise;
- (c) the mechanism put in place by the Government/ Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to monitor the functioning of Bank and to check irregularities/malpractices therein; and
- (d) the remedial steps taken/being taken by the Government to redress these complaints in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SHRI JAYANT SINHA)

(a to d):The Central Government and Reserve Bank of India(RBI) have put in place adequate systems  forredressal  of  public  grievances  relating  to  banks.  One  of  the  key  priorities  of  the Government  is  the  protection  of  interest  of  customers  and  provisions  of  improved  quality  of customer services in Banks.   Instructions / guidelines have been issued to PSBs from time to time  to  ensure  prompt  and  effective  redressal  of  public  grievances  and  strengthening  of grievance redressal machinery.

To bring customer centricity in the provision of banking services, the RBI has also issued guidelines  for  customer  protection,  improved  customer  care  and  expeditious  disposal  of grievances.

The  Public  Sector  Banks  (PSBs)  have  their  own  internal  three  tier  public  grievance system  for  speedy  redressal  of  grievances  so  that  escalation  of  complaints  to  ombudsman  / regulatory level is kept to the barest minimum.

In  case  the  complainants  are  not  fully  satisfied  with  the  redressal  /  disposal  of complaints,  they  may  approach  the  concerned  Banking  Ombudsman  for  settlement  of  their grievances through mediation and passing of awards in a time frame.   The contact and other relevant details / information regarding grievance redressal are available in the website links of PSBs and RBI.

The grievances received in the Department of Financial Services (DFS) are processed and  forwarded  through  CPGRAMS  (Centralized  Public  Grievance  Redress  and  Monitoring System) to concerned Banks for resolution / disposal, monitored and periodically reviewed.  The Portal is accessible at www.pgportal.gov.in.

Details of the total no. of complaints received in DFS through CPGAMS during the last three years  and  the  current  year  which  includes  details  of  complaints  against  bank  officials  for deficiencies  in  services  and  harassment  of  customers  for  sanctioning  of  various  loans  is  at Annex-I.

RBI has informed that a complaint on any one of the following grounds alleging deficiency in banking service in respect of loans and advances may be filed with the Banking Ombudsman having jurisdiction:

- a) non-observance of Reserve Bank Directives on interest rates;
- b) delays  in  sanction,  disbursement  or  non-observance  of  prescribed  time  schedule  for disposal of loan applications;
- c) non-acceptance  of  application  for  loans  without  furnishing  valid  reasons  to  the  applicant; and
- d) non-adherence to the  provisions  of  the  fair  practices  code  for  lenders  as  adopted  by  the bank or Code of Bank's Commitment to Customers, as the case may be;
- e) non-observance of Reserve Bank guidelines on engagement of recovery agents by banks; and
- f) non-observance  of  any  other  direction  or  instruction  of  the  Reserve  Bank  as  may  be specified by the Reserve Bank for this purpose from time to time.

Details  of  the  complaints  handled  by  15  offices  of  Banking  Ombudsman  on  these  grounds during the last three years and the current year is  at Annex-II. The complaints were resolved as per the provisions of the Banking Ombudsman Scheme.

The following steps have been taken by RBI to improve the efficiency of the banks:

- I. RBI  supervises  banks  through  Annual  Financial  Inspection  (AFI)  or  undertakes  risk based supervision under its supervisory framework.  The bank's compliance with various guidelines of RBI are examined on a sample basis.
- II. RBI also has a process of penalising banks on violations observed in this regard, as and when required.
- III. Each bank is expected to constantly review the efficacy of its internal control system.

## CPGRAMS Grievance Wise Report For the period 01/01/2012 to 27/04/2016

| Grievnce Category                                                 |   BF as on 01/01/2012 |   Received during the period |   Disposed during the period |   Pending as on the 27/04/2016 |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|--------------------------------|
| Atal Pension Yojana                                               |                     0 |                          106 |                           91 |                             15 |
| Bank Lockers                                                      |                     0 |                           50 |                           41 |                              9 |
| Complaint reg. deficiency in customer service                     |                     0 |                         1371 |                         1360 |                             11 |
| Complaint regarding education loan                                |                     0 |                         3984 |                         3819 |                            165 |
| Complaint regarding Housing loan                                  |                     0 |                         1291 |                         1196 |                             95 |
| Complaint against Non Banking Finance Company                     |                     0 |                          194 |                          182 |                             12 |
| Complaint related to Pradhanmantri Jan DhanYojna                  |                     0 |                         1695 |                         1667 |                             28 |
| Complaint related to Pradhanmantri Mudra Yojna                    |                     0 |                         2644 |                         1535 |                           1109 |
| Complaint relating to agriculture matters                         |                     0 |                         1819 |                         1761 |                             58 |
| Complaints relating to Credit Cards/ATMs/Debit Cards etc.         |                     0 |                         4237 |                         4130 |                            107 |
| Complaints relating to service charges                            |                     0 |                         1244 |                         1211 |                             33 |
| Complaints relating to various govt. sponsored schemes            |                     1 |                         1981 |                         1777 |                            205 |
| Delay in clearance of cheques                                     |                     0 |                          243 |                          231 |                             12 |
| Misappropriation                                                  |                     0 |                           50 |                           44 |                              6 |
| Misbehaviour/ rudebehaviour/ Harassment/ Corruption by bank staff |                     0 |                         2449 |                         2321 |                            128 |
| Miscellaneous Complaints                                          |                     0 |                        35600 |                        34266 |                           1334 |
| MSME Loan                                                         |                     0 |                          247 |                          170 |                             77 |
| Non issue/ delay in issue of duplicate drafts                     |                     0 |                           16 |                           15 |                              1 |

| Non opening /delay in opening of new accounts                           |   0 |   479 |   466 |   13 |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----|-------|-------|------|
| Non settlement/delay in settlement of deceased a/c                      |   0 |   299 |   296 |    3 |
| Non transfer/delay in transfer of a/cs from one office to another       |   0 |   115 |   113 |    2 |
| Non-payment of Fixed/Term Deposit on maturity/bef. Maturity             |   0 |   761 |   736 |   25 |
| Non-payment/non-issue of drafts                                         |   0 |    49 |    45 |    4 |
| Non compliance with standing instructions of the customers              |   0 |    49 |    48 |    1 |
| Not Assigned                                                            |  23 | 30989 | 29261 | 1751 |
| One Time Settlement of Loan                                             |   0 |    87 |    71 |   16 |
| Opening of New Branches                                                 |   0 |   260 |   253 |    7 |
| Recruitment                                                             |   0 |   786 |   723 |   63 |
| Representations received from bank employees on various service matters |   0 |  5313 |  5130 |  183 |
| Retirement benefits/ delay in payment of pensions                       |   1 |  7436 |  7198 |  239 |
| Vaction of premises                                                     |   0 |    24 |    22 |    2 |

Annex -II Complaints Received  by the Offices of Banking Ombudsmen(July-June) on Loans and Advances

| Bank Name                        | 2012-13   | 2013-14   | 2014-15   | 2015- 16(till April 25,2016)   |
|----------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------------------------------|
| Public Sector Banks              |           |           |           |                                |
| STATE BANK OF INDIA              | 1447      | 1582      | 1107      | 915                            |
| STATE BANK OF BIKANER AND JAIPUR | 191       | 132       | 77        | 31                             |
| STATE BANK OF HYDERABAD          | 63        | 42        | 48        | 35                             |
| STATE BANK OF MYSORE             | 23        | 54        | 30        | 25                             |
| STATE BANK OF PATIALA            | 52        | 22        | 25        | 23                             |
| STATE BANK OF TRAVANCORE         | 84        | 109       | 151       | 57                             |
| ALLAHABAD BANK                   | 118       | 62        | 65        | 56                             |
| ANDHRA BANK                      | 42        | 51        | 40        | 57                             |
| BANK OF BARODA                   | 206       | 156       | 156       | 122                            |
| BANK OF INDIA                    | 134       | 118       | 123       | 126                            |
| BANK OF MAHARASHTRA              | 34        | 37        | 37        | 20                             |
| CANARA BANK                      | 214       | 237       | 230       | 212                            |
| CENTRAL BANK OF INDIA            | 155       | 138       | 172       | 125                            |
| CORPORATION BANK                 | 67        | 88        | 67        | 46                             |
| DENA BANK                        | 53        | 52        | 34        | 27                             |
| INDIAN BANK                      | 216       | 364       | 249       | 253                            |
| INDIAN OVERSEAS BANK             | 185       | 250       | 238       | 207                            |
| ORIENTAL BANK OF COMMERCE        | 52        | 44        | 31        | 39                             |
| PUNJAB AND SIND BANK             | 23        | 21        | 16        | 22                             |
| PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK             | 262       | 153       | 143       | 149                            |
| SYNDICATE BANK                   | 75        | 84        | 105       | 77                             |
| UCO BANK                         | 101       | 70        | 60        | 63                             |
| UNION BANK OF INDIA              | 137       | 130       | 130       | 105                            |
| UNITED BANK OF INDIA             | 88        | 42        | 58        | 28                             |
| VIJAYA BANK                      | 43        | 39        | 31        | 37                             |
| BHARTIYA MAHILA BANK             |           |           | 1         | 4                              |
| IDBI BANK LIMITED                | 87        | 55        | 34        | 34                             |
| CATHOLIC SYRIAN BANK LTD         | 21        | 13        | 11        | 9                              |
| CITY UNION BANK LIMITED          | 26        | 33        | 27        | 13                             |
| FEDERAL BANK LTD                 | 33        | 34        | 42        | 27                             |
| ING VYSYA BANK LTD               | 38        | 26        | 27        | 4                              |
| JAMMU AND KASHMIR BANK LTD       | 6         | 2         | 6         | 8                              |
| KARNATAKA BANK LTD               | 7         | 7         | 11        | 11                             |
| KARUR VYSYA BANK LTD             | 19        | 25        | 16        | 15                             |

| LAKSHMI VILAS BANK LTD                   | 24   | 54   | 33   | 21   |
|------------------------------------------|------|------|------|------|
| NAINITAL BANK LTD                        | 3    | 0    | 2    | 1    |
| RATNAKAR BANK LTD                        | 0    | 4    | 6    | 6    |
| SOUTH INDIAN BANK LTD                    | 28   | 24   | 19   | 16   |
| TAMILNAD MERCANTILE BANK LTD             | 19   | 38   | 21   | 14   |
| THE DHANALAKSHMI BANK LTD                | 14   | 7    | 9    | 5    |
| AXIS BANK LIMITED                        | 149  | 119  | 152  | 190  |
| DEVELOPMENT CREDIT BANK LTD.             | 7    | 11   | 9    | 22   |
| HDFC BANK LTD.                           | 286  | 190  | 222  | 281  |
| ICICI BANK LIMITED                       | 419  | 321  | 212  | 323  |
| INDUSIND BANK LTD                        | 23   | 24   | 39   | 63   |
| KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK LTD.                 | 41   | 55   | 49   | 108  |
| YES BANK LTD.                            | 4    | 2    | 1    | 5    |
| FOREIGN BANKS                            |      |      |      |      |
| AMERICAN EXPRESS BANKING CORP.           | 0    | 0    | 0    | 1    |
| BARCLAYS BANK PLC                        | 15   | 5    | 3    | 7    |
| CITIBANK N.A                             | 28   | 19   | 25   | 25   |
| DBS BANK LTD.                            | 0    | 1    | 1    |      |
| DEUTSCHE BANK AG                         | 5    | 2    | 4    | 6    |
| HONGKONG AND SHANGHAI BANKING CORPN.LTD. | 28   | 13   | 7    | 20   |
| ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND                   | 10   | 18   | 11   | 2    |
| STANDARD CHARTERED BANK                  | 81   | 100  | 52   | 48   |
| Other Foreign Banks                      | 0    | 1    | 0    | 0    |
| RRBs/Scheduled Co-op Bank/Others         | 510  | 375  | 371  | 291  |
| Grand Total                              | 5996 | 5655 | 4846 | 4437 |