There are three options available to complain in the Banking Ombudsman, in case you have any grievance or complaint regarding any mischief or deficiency in banking services. In this article, I will guide you on how to lodge a complaint in Banking Ombudsman. But, before I go-ahead, you need to ensure certain things as follows.
First, you need to ensure that have you filed a complaint to your concerned bank as soon as you face any deficiency or mischief/loss.
If your concerned bank is either not responding within 30 days or not resolving or you are unsatisfied with the bank’s decision, you can directly lodge complain to the Banking Ombudsman within one year (12 Months).
Please note that, if you didn’t file a complaint to your bank, the Banking Ombudsman (BO) will not entertain your grievance or complaint.
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How to lodge a complaint in Banking Ombudsman?
As we discussed above anyone can himself or through his authorised representative (other than an advocate) lodge a complaint with the BO through in three ways.
You can file your grievance to the jurisdiction of Banking Ombudsman either by
- In writing (on a piece of plain paper)
- Through email, or
- File an online Complaint
Minimum Requirements for filing a complaint:
Before filing a complaint in BO make sure you have the following details (whichever applicable).
- Your Name and address for communication with Telephone No/ Mobile No, Fax No, Email address.
- Name and Address of the bank/ branch/ entity or its registered office against which you are filing the complaint.
- Facts of the case with supporting documents (if any)
- You Account Number/ Card Number (for card-related complaints)/ other details
- Nature and extent of the loss caused and the relief sought thereof.
- Other supporting documents (if any).
How to file an online complaint in Banking Ombudsman?
Filing an online complaint in Banking Ombudsman is the easiest and convenient way for anybody. Hence, let me explain how to lodge a complaint in Banking Ombudsman?
Step 1: As soon as one become victim of any mischief or deficiency in banking services, make sure that your very first step should be to register a complaint in your bank immediately.
Step 2: If the bank neither reply nor resolve or getting an unsatisfactory solution from the bank, you should find your jurisdiction of Banking Ombudsman (according to the locale of your branch or bank’s office) as you need to register your grievance to the concerned jurisdiction.
To find the jurisdiction of Banking Ombudsman
Step 3: You need to visit the CMS Portal (Complaint Management System) of the Reserve Bank (https://cms.rbi.org.in) to lodge your complaint.
To file a complaint
Step 4: Fill the necessary details carefully such as Bank’s name, bank account details, your name, email, Mobile No, area of operation of BO, District etc. Although CMS portal will automatically fill some details yet you will have to fill some of the details by yourself so be ready with all the documents.
Step 5: Attach the copy of necessary documents which support or verify the ground of your complaints along with the written complaint. Once you submit the complaint form, you will get a unique tracking id through which you can track your complaint status. The BO will respond within 30 days from the date of filing a complaint.
Step 6: The Banking Ombudsman will authenticate and examine your complaint and then forward it to the respective branch/bank. The primary endeavour of BO is to settle the dispute by mediation and conciliation between complainant and banks. The Banking Ombudsman provides 30 days to settle the dispute otherwise, declare an award according to its estimation of compensation.
See also, Awards by Banking Ombudsman
Step 7: The complaint is given a period of 30 days either to accept or deny the award declared. If the complainant is not satisfied with the BO decision, he can further appeal to the Appellate of Reserve Bank as well. An Appellate is the Deputy Governor of RBI and if your appeal is genuine and had sufficient cause for appealing, he can pass an order for reconsideration.
Please note that you have only 30 days from the date of declaration of an award by the BO to appeal.
Conclusion:
Hope this guide added some value on how to lodge a complaint in Banking Ombudsman. An online process is more convenient than the other processes. There are also some tutorials on filing a complaint in BO at the CMS portal of Reserve Bank.
If you have still any doubt, you can watch these tutorials. To watch click here
Related Articles:
What is Banking Ombudsman? Banking Ombudsman Scheme
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