RBI deputy guv asks financial entities' ombudsmen to provide effective complaint resolution

Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Swaminathan J on Monday asked internal ombudsmen of banks, NBFCs, and other regulated entities to provide a meaningful, fair and effective resolution of customer complaints.

Addressing the third annual conference of Internal Ombudsmen organised by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the deputy governor also asked the internal ombudsmen (IOs) to identify recurring issues, undertake root cause analysis and help implement remedial measures.

An effective IO mechanism should reduce external escalation, he said, and urged boards and senior management to empower the IO mechanism and use its insights to strengthen customer service and grievance redress.


The internal Ombudsman serves as the final independent level of review within a regulated entity for customer complaints that have not been fully resolved, before the customer approaches the RBI Ombudsman or another external forum.

The conference brought together IOs from across a representative spectrum of regulated entities, including banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), credit information companies (CICs) and other regulated entities, along with the managing directors and chief executive officers, executive directors in charge of customer service, Principal Nodal Officers, as well as RBI Ombudsmen and senior officials, the RBI said in a statement.

The sessions covered recent grievance redress developments, regulatory expectations, and RBI Ombudsman insights, focusing on faster, higher-quality resolutions and systemic improvements to prevent avoidable escalations.

RBI Executive Director Sonali Sen Gupta interacted with the participants during an open-house session to exchange views on further enhancing the effectiveness of the IO framework.