Bankers have suggested a great deal of changes in the Damodaran panel report on improving the retail customer services before necessary regulatory changes are put in place by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to implement the recommendations.

RBI had constituted a high powered panel under M Damodarn, former chairman, Sebi, to suggest measures to effect sweeping changes in the existing customer services provided by the banks

The report has been made public by RBI to seek opinion from the different stake holders.

The bankers feels that making it mandatory to send SMS alert to the bank customers for each and every transaction will encourage the telco providers to charge more fee for these kind of services.

Secondly, they suggest that the services should be need-based and customer education is must before banks are asked to to implement the committee report.

The internal retail committee of the Indian Banks? Association (IBA), headed by Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank, has already discussed the committee report at length. Also the report was tabled before the managing committee (MC) of IBA, which met in Mumbai on August 24. Now the report has been referred to a sub-committee of the retail committee of IBA for preparing the IBA?s viewpoint on the issue.

The sub committee met on Friday to finalise the IBA?s view on the topic, a source, who is familiar with the development, told FE The IBA?s view will be sent to the RBI shortly, added the source.

KR Kamath, CMD, PNB, who had attended the managing committee meeting of the IBA told FE, ?The report says that there should be no differentials in providing the range of services including the home loan rate between the old and new borrowers. We are waiting and watching. The issue is important while pricing of the retail loans, added Kamath.

As per the existing system, banks send the SMS alert for transactions of R1,000 and above. Though the service is free for customers, banks have to pay for it to the telcos for the same.

Bhaskar Sen, CMD, United Bank of India, said, “We will have to see if the technology back-up helps banks so that they could disburse the info like SMS alert for every big or small transaction being done.??

Mohan Tanksale, CMD, Central Bank of India, said, “Cost benefit analysis has to be looked into for providing any kind of customer service. Certain prescriptions may not be even need of the customer. At a time when SMS alert has already been made available, even good customers are not going for subscribing that facility. I have seen our customers enquiring about the the balance in his account and whether his cheque has been cleared at the branches.Let me tell you that provision of service is not as much important as it is the awareness on the side of the customers. ??

The Damodaran Committee had recommended active involvement of the boards of banks to guarantee customer satisfaction. ?Customer centricity should be the purpose of the existence of the bank,? the committee had said.