MUMBAI: RBI deputy governor Swaminathan J has expressed concern that a significant number of customer grievances that are ultimately resolved in favour of the customer by RBI’s integrated ombudsman were never referred to the bank’s internal ombudsman in the first place.Highlighting this as a lapse on the part of bank, Swaminathan said that “This is a matter of serious concern because it undermines the very purpose of the internal ombudsman framework”. He was speaking at the Internal Ombudsman Conference organised by RBI here last week.The deputy governor told banks that every complaint that must be referred to the internal ombudsman should be referred promptly and without exception. “Complaint management systems should be designed to prevent complaints from inadvertently bypassing the internal ombudsman process due to classification issues or process deficiencies,” he said.On the internal ombudsman framework, he said it “presents the institution with an opportunity to correct an error, address an unfair outcome and provide the customer with a meaningful resolution,” and added that “if internal ombudsmen perform their role effectively, escalations outside the institution… should naturally decline.” He said effectiveness should be judged on different parameters.
