Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das has urged the ombudsmen to be sensitive in their approach while redressing the grievances of customers to deal with digital lending or financial technology-related matters.
Addressing an annual conference of RBI ombudsmen in Jodhpur, Das called upon the central bank’s ombudsmen and the regulated entitles to first identify the root causes of the customer complaints and then take necessary systemic measures to correct them. The resolution of the customer complaints by the ombudsmen should be fair and quick.
The governor said the financial landscape is evolving and transforming, adding that the underlined principles of good customer services and consumer protection are transparency, fair pricing and honest dealings, ANI reported.
Das highlighted his concern related to persistent grievances in areas like mis-selling, lack of transparent pricing, disproportionate service charges, high penal rates etc. He added that the social media stories related to strong arm tactics by recovery agents are overshadowing the good work done for customer protection by the regulated entities and the RBI.
Das pointed out that a large number of complaints were related to traditional banking, which called for a serious review of the customer service and the grievance redressal mechanism in the regulated entities. The root causes of persisting grievances needed to be analysed and necessary corrective measures needed to be undertaken, the governor added.
Mentioning the role of board and top management of the regulated entities, Das urged them to engage to ensure that the product design, supporting processes, delivery mechanism and post-sales services are focused on customer-centricity, ANI report added.
While underlining commercial considerations, the governor added that they should be aligned with customer orientation in every aspect which includes strategy and risk management. He stressed that the root cause analysis and the results should ‘drive necessary changes’ at the organisational level.