During 2007-08, 47,887 complaints were received by 15 Banking Ombudsman offices as against 38,638 complaints received during 2006-07. All the complaints were collated and categorised into ten broad heads, through deposit accounts, remittances, credit cards, loans and advances namely general and housing loan, charges without prior notice, pension, failure on commitments made, direct selling agents, notes and coins and others, said the RBI in its report.
Maximum complaints were received in respect of credit cards across all bank groups, barring nationalised and old private sector banks.
This was followed by complaints relating to failure on commitments made, deposit accounts, remittances and loans and advances (general). A significant number of complaints also related to pension, especially for public sector banks and direct selling agents, especially for new private sector banks. The number of complaints per office was low for all bank groups barring foreign banks group.
An analysis of the survey showed courtesy and friendliness extended by bank staffs in rural centres were rated better compared to semi-urban, urban and metro centres. ?It was observed that bank staff knowledge on various banking services and willingness to help customers was comparatively low in semi-urban centres. Most of the respondents, 87.5%, were satisfied with the way bank?s staff treat them and agreed that there was no discrimination based on caste, gender, status,? said the RBI.
Complaint handling and redressal mechanism were rated better for private banks compared to other bank groups. Around 40% respondents were dissatisfied with services charges levied. This factor showed the least average satisfaction score. Respondents were, in general, satisfied with bank?s responses to telephonic queries and confidentiality and privacy of their bank accounts maintained by the banks.
The analysis indicated compared to public sector and foreign banks, private banks provide quick and fast services to savings account holders. With regard to cheque collection, most of the banks have introduced the drop box facility for depositing cheques to avoid any time delay to their customers. Analysis showed that more than 75% of urban and metropolitan respondents were satisfied with the drop box facility. However, satisfaction was comparatively low in rural and semi-urban centres. Few respondents were dissatisfied with commission or charges and processing time taken for issuing a demand draft.
