RBI clarifies on collecting fees for grievance redressal from third party

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday clarified that it has not authorised any third party for providing support in grievance redressal of the central bank's regulated entities, as claimed in messages being spread through certain sections of the social media.

"Instances of misinformation being spread through certain sections of the social media about the Reserve Bank - Integrated Ombudsman Scheme 2021 (RB-IOS) have come to the notice of the RBI. These messages are conveying to the public at large to lodge their complaints against entities regulated by RBI through third parties for a charge/fee or otherwise for early redress of grievances," the RBI noted.

"It is clarified that RBI does not have any such arrangement with any entity for redressal of grievances against the Regulated Entities (REs)," the central bank said in a statement. The RBI said it has laid down a cost-free grievance redress mechanism under RB-IOS which does not involve payment of fees or charges in any form or manner.

Customers having grievances against REs for deficiency in services, which is not redressed satisfactorily or in a timely manner by the REs can directly lodge their complaint on the Complaint Management System (CMS) portal of the RBI or through email, phone, or contacting directly to the central bank's office.

One who has complainants can reach the Contact Centre of RBI at toll-free #14448 (currently available from 9:30 am to 5:15 pm on working days) in Hindi, English and nine regional languages (Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Odia, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu). The status of complaints can also be tracked on the CMS portal (https://www.rbi.org.in) or by e-mail at crpc@rbi.org.in, the central bank added.