Complaints to banking ombudsman rose by 20% in FY19’

Complaints to banking ombudsman increased by nearly 20% to over 1.96 lakh during 2018-19, with non-adherence to fair practices accounting for the highest number of cases, RBI data revealed. Non-observance of fair practices code accounted for a maximum number of complaints, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in the Annual Report of Ombudsman Schemes for 2018-19.

The complaints received at Offices of Banking Ombudsman (OBOs) rose by 32,311, taking the total to 1,95,901 complaints in 2018-19 over the previous year (1,63,590), recording a year-on-year increase of 19.75%, the Reserve Bank said. Even as complaints related to unfair practices topped the list, the percentage share came down to 19.17% in 2018-19 from 22.10% a year ago.

Complaints on ATM and debit card issues increased from 15.08% in 2017-18 to 18.65% in 2018-19; while those related to pension, levy of charges without notice, credit card related issues and remittance declined during the year, the RBI said. The number of complaints pertaining to mis-selling has gone up from 579 complaints in 2017-18 to 1,115 in 2018-19, an increase of 92.57%.

“The average cost of handling a complaint came down from Rs 3,504 in 2017-18 to Rs 3,145 in 2018-19,” it said. The disposal rate for 2018-19 was 94.03% as against 96.46% in 2017-18.