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CHAPTER
IV :PROCEDURE FOR REDRESSAL
OF GRIEVANCE
8.
GROUNDS OF COMPLAINT
(1)
A complaint on any one of the following grounds alleging deficiency in banking
or other services may be filed with the Banking Ombudsman having jurisdiction:
(a)
non-payment or inordinate delay in the payment or collection of cheques, drafts,
bills etc.;
(b)
non-acceptance, without sufficient cause, of small denomination notes tendered
for any purpose, and for charging of commission in respect thereof;
(c)
non-acceptance, without sufficient cause, of coins tendered and for charging of
commission in respect thereof;
(d)
non-payment or delay in payment of inward remittances ;
(e)
failure to issue or delay in issue of drafts, pay orders or bankers’ cheques;
(f)
non-adherence to prescribed working hours ;
(g)
failure to honour guarantee or letter of credit commitments ;
(h)
failure to provide or delay in providing a banking facility (other than loans
and advances) promised in writing by a bank or its direct selling agents;
(i)
delays, non-credit of proceeds to parties' accounts, non-payment of deposit or
non-observance of the Reserve Bank directives, if any, applicable to rate of
interest on deposits in any savings, current or other account maintained with a
bank ;
(j)
delays in receipt of export proceeds, handling of export bills, collection of
bills etc., for exporters provided the said complaints pertain to the bank's
operations in India;
(k)
complaints from Non-Resident Indians having accounts in India in relation to
their remittances from abroad, deposits and other bank-related matters;
(l)
refusal to open deposit accounts without any valid reason for refusal;
(m)
levying of charges without adequate prior notice to the customer;
(n)
non-adherence by the bank or its subsidiaries to the instructions of Reserve
Bank on ATM/Debit card operations or credit card operations;
(o) non-disbursement or delay in disbursement of pension (to the
extent the grievance can be attributed to the action on the part of the bank
concerned, but not with regard to its employees)
(p)
refusal to accept or delay in accepting payment towards taxes, as required by
Reserve Bank/Government;
(q)
refusal to issue or delay in issuing, or failure to service or delay in
servicing or redemption of Government securities;
(r)
forced closure of deposit accounts without due notice or without sufficient
reason;
(s)
refusal to close or delay in closing the accounts;
(t)
non-adherence to the fair practices code as adopted by the bank; and
(u)
any other matter relating to the violation of the directives issued by the
Reserve Bank in relation to banking or other services.
(2)
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-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.
(3)
The Banking Ombudsman may also deal with such other matter as may be specified
by the Reserve Bank from time to time in this behalf.
9.
PROCEDURE FOR FILING COMPLAINT
(1)
Any person who has a grievance against a bank on any one or more of the grounds
mentioned in Clause 8 of the Scheme may, himself or through his authorised
representative (other than an advocate), make a complaint to the Banking
Ombudsman within whose jurisdiction the branch or office of the bank complained
against is located.
Provided
that a complaint arising out of the operations of credit cards, shall be filed
before the Banking Ombudsman within whose territorial jurisdiction the billing
address of the card holder is located and not the place where the bank concerned
or the credit card processing unit is located.
(2)
(a) The complaint in writing shall be duly signed by the complainant or his
authorized representative and shall be, as far as possible, in the form
specified in Annexure ‘A’ or as near as thereto as circumstances admit, stating
clearly:
(i)
the name and the address of the complainant,
(ii)
the name and address of the branch or office of the bank against which the
complaint is made,
(iii)
the facts giving rise to the complaint,
(iv)
the nature and extent of the loss caused to the complainant, and
(v)
the relief sought for .
(b)
The complainant shall file along with the complaint, copies of the documents, if
any, which he proposes to rely upon and a declaration that the complaint is
maintainable under sub-clause (3) of this clause.
(c)
A complaint made through electronic means shall also be accepted by the Banking
Ombudsman and a print out of such complaint shall be taken on the record of the
Banking Ombudsman.
(d)
The Banking Ombudsman shall also entertain complaints covered by this Scheme
received by Central Government or Reserve Bank and forwarded to him for
disposal.
(3)
No complaint to the Banking Ombudsman shall lie unless:-
(a)
the complainant had, before making a complaint to the Banking Ombudsman, made a
written representation to the bank and the bank had rejected the complaint or
the complainant had not received any reply within a period of one month after
the bank received his representation or the complainant is not satisfied with
the reply given to him by the bank;
(b)
the complaint is made not later than one year after the complainant has received
the reply of the bank to his representation or, where no reply is received, not
later than one year and one month after the date of the representation to the
bank;
(c)
the complaint is not in respect of the same subject matter which was settled or
dealt with on merits by the Banking Ombudsman in any previous proceedings
whether or not received from the same complainant or along with one or more
complainants or one or more of the parties concerned with the subject matter;
(d)
the complaint does not pertain to the same subject matter, for which any
proceedings before any court, tribunal or arbitrator or any other forum is
pending or a decree or Award or order has been passed by any such court,
tribunal, arbitrator or forum;
(e)
the complaint is not frivolous or vexatious in nature; and
(f)
the complaint is made before the expiry of the period of limitation prescribed
under the Indian Limitation Act, 1963 for such claims.
10.
POWER TO CALL FOR INFORMATION
(1)
For the purpose of carrying out his duties under this Scheme, a Banking
Ombudsman may require the bank against whom the complaint is made or any other
bank concerned with the complaint to provide any information or furnish
certified copies of any document relating to the complaint which is or is
alleged to be in its possession.
Provided
that in the event of the failure of a bank to comply with the requisition
without sufficient cause, the Banking Ombudsman may, if he deems fit, draw the
inference that the information if provided or copies if furnished would be
unfavourable to the bank.
(2)
The Banking Ombudsman shall maintain confidentiality of any information or
document that may come into his knowledge or possession in the course of
discharging his duties and shall not disclose such information or document to
any person except with the consent of the person furnishing such information or
document.
Provided
that nothing in this clause shall prevent the Banking Ombudsman from disclosing
information or document furnished by a party in a complaint to the other party
or parties to the extent considered by him to be reasonably required to comply
with any legal requirement or the principles of natural justice and fair play in
the proceedings.
11.
SETTLEMENT OF COMPLAINT BY AGREEMENT
(1)
As soon as it may be practicable to do, the Banking Ombudsman shall send a copy
of the complaint to the branch or office of the bank named in the complaint,
under advice to the nodal officer referred to in sub-clause (3) of clause 15,
and endeavour to promote a settlement of the complaint by agreement between the
complainant and the bank through conciliation or mediation.
(2)
For the purpose of promoting a settlement of the complaint, the Banking
Ombudsman may follow such procedure as he may consider just and proper and he
shall not be bound by any rules of evidence.
(3)
The proceedings before the Banking Ombudsman shall be summary in nature.
12.
AWARD BY THE BANKING OMBUDSMAN
(1)
If a complaint is not settled by agreement within a period of one month from the
date of receipt of the complaint or such further period as the Banking Ombudsman
may allow the parties, he may, after affording the parties a reasonable
opportunity to present their case, pass an Award or reject the complaint.
(2)
The Banking Ombudsman shall take into account the evidence placed before him by
the parties, the principles of banking law and practice, directions,
instructions and guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank from time to time and
such other factors which in his opinion are relevant to the complaint.
(3)
The award shall state briefly the reasons for passing the award.
(4)
The Award passed under sub-clause (1) shall specify the amount, if any, to be
paid by the bank to the complainant by way of compensation for the loss suffered
by him and may contain any direction to the bank.
(5)
Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-clause (4), the Banking Ombudsman
shall not have the power to pass an award directing payment of an amount which
is more than the actual loss suffered by the complainant as a direct consequence
of the act of omission or commission of the bank, or ten lakh rupees whichever
is lower.
(6)
In the case of complaints arising out of credit card operations, the Banking
Ombudsman shall, while determining the amount of compensation payable, take into
account the loss of the complainant’s time, expenses incurred by the
complainant, financial loss, harassment and mental anguish suffered by the
complainant.
(7)
A copy of the Award shall be sent to the complainant and the bank.
(8)
An Award shall not be binding on a bank against which it is passed unless the
complainant furnishes to it, within a period of 15 days from the date of receipt
of copy of the Award, a letter of acceptance of the Award in full and final
settlement of his claim in the matter. If the complainant does not accept the
Award passed by the Banking Ombudsman or fails to furnish his letter of
acceptance within the said period of 15 days or within such further time not
exceeding a period of fifteen days that may be granted by the Banking Ombudsman,
the Award shall lapse and be of no effect.
(9)
The bank shall within one month from the date of receipt by it of the acceptance
in writing of the Award by the complainant under sub-clause (8), or within such
time not exceeding a period of fifteen days that may be granted by the Banking
Ombudsman, comply with the Award and intimate compliance to the Banking
Ombudsman.
13.
REJECTION OF THE COMPLAINT
(1)
The Banking Ombudsman may reject a complaint at any stage if it appears to him
that the complaint made is;
(a)
frivolous, vexatious, malafide; or
(b)
without any sufficient cause; or
(c)
that it is not pursued by the complainant with reasonable diligence; or
(d)
in the opinion of the Banking Ombudsman there is no loss or damage or
inconvenience caused to the complainant; or
(e)
beyond the pecuniary jurisdiction of Banking Ombudsman prescribed under clause
12(5).
(2)
The Banking Ombudsman may reject a complaint at any stage if after consideration
of the complaint and evidence produced before him the Banking Ombudsman is of
the opinion that the nature of the complaint requires consideration of elaborate
documentary and oral evidence and the proceedings before the Banking Ombudsman
are not appropriate for adjudication of such complaint. The decision of the
Banking Ombudsman in this regard shall be final and binding on the complainant
and the bank.
14.
APPEAL BEFORE THE APPELLATE AUTHORITY:
(1)
Any person aggrieved by the Award may, within 45 days of the date of receipt of
the Award, prefer an appeal against the Award before the Appellate Authority;
Provided
that the Appellate Authority may, if he is satisfied that the applicant had
sufficient cause for not making the appeal within time, allow a further period
not exceeding 30 days;
Provided
further that the appeal may be filed by the bank only with the previous sanction
of the Chairman or, in his absence, the Managing Director or the Executive
Director or the Chief Executive Officer or any other officer of equal rank.
(2)
The Appellate Authority shall, after giving the parties a reasonable opportunity
of being heard
(a)
dismiss the appeal; or
(b)
allow the appeal and set aside the Award; or
(c)
remand the matter to the Banking Ombudsman for fresh disposal in accordance with
such directions as the Appellate Authority may consider necessary or proper; or
(d)
modify the Award and pass such directions as may be necessary to give effect to
the Award so modified; or
(e)
pass any other order as it may deem fit.
(3)
The order of the Appellate Authority shall have the same effect as the Award
passed by Banking Ombudsman under clause 12 or the order rejecting the complaint
under clause 13, as the case may be.
15. BANKS TO DISPLAY
SALIENT FEATURES OF THE SCHEME FOR COMMON KNOWLEDGE OF PUBLIC.
(1)
The banks covered by the Scheme shall ensure that the purpose of the Scheme and
the name and address of the Banking Ombudsman to whom the complaints are to be
made by the aggrieved party are displayed prominently in all the offices and
branches of the bank in such manner that a person visiting the office or branch
has adequate information of the Scheme.
(2)
The banks covered by the Scheme shall ensure that a copy of the Scheme is
available with the designated officer of the bank for perusal in the office
premises of the bank if anyone desires to do so and notice about the
availability of the Scheme with such designated officer shall be displayed along
with the notice under sub-clause (1) of this clause.
(3)
The banks covered by the Scheme shall appoint Nodal Officers at their
Regional/Zonal Offices and inform the respective Office of the Banking Ombudsman
under whose jurisdiction the Regional/Zonal Office falls. The Nodal Officer so
appointed shall be responsible for representing the bank and furnishing
information to the Banking Ombudsman in respect of complaints filed against the
bank.
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