Under the modified scheme the deficiencies arising out of sale of insurance/ mutual fund/ other third party investment products by banks have been brought under the ambit of the Banking ombudsman. RBI has modified and widened the deficiencies related to the Card Operations including non adherence of RBI guidelines related to Debit Card/ATM, Prepaid Card operations, Credit Cards etc under the Banking Ombudsman’s Jurisdiction. Under the modified Scheme the new/modified clauses (8) (l), (m) and (n) has been inserted and the existing clauses (m) and (n) has been renumbered as (o), (p) (r) and likewise. Further expanding the scope of the Banking Ombudsman Scheme, in view of the wide scale digitalisation, the customer would be now able to lodge a complaint against the bank for its non-adherence to RBI instructions with regard to Mobile Banking/ Electronic Banking services in India.
Under the original Ombudsman Scheme the pecuniary jurisdiction related to the Awards of the Banking Ombudsman was limited to Rs.10 Lakhs. Presently under the modified scheme the same has been increased to Rs. 20 Lakhs (Two Million). The existing power of the Ombudsman to award compensation of Rs. 1 Lakh taking into account the loss of the complainant's time, expenses incurred by the complainant, harassment and mental anguish suffered by the complainant which was limited only to the credit card related complaints has been extended to all the type of complaints.
The procedure for complaints settled by agreement under the Scheme has also been revised. Appeal has now been allowed for the complaints closed under Clause 13 (c) of the existing Scheme relating to rejection which was not available earlier.
The amended Scheme shall come into force from July 1, 2017. The modified Scheme is available here.
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Modified Para. 8 Clauses:-
(l). non-adherence to the instructions of Reserve Bank on ATM /Debit Card and Prepaid Card operations in India by the bank or its subsidiaries on any of the following:
i. Account debited but cash not dispensed by ATMs
ii. Account debited more than once for one withdrawal in ATMs or for POS transaction
iii. Less/Excess amount of cash dispensed by ATMs
iv. Debit in account without use of the card or details of the card
v. Use of stolen/cloned cards
vi. Others
(m). non-adherence by the bank or its subsidiaries to the instructions of Reserve Bank on credit card operations on any of the following:
i. Unsolicited calls for Add-on Cards, insurance for cards etc.
ii. Charging of Annual Fees on Cards issued free for life
iii. Wrong Billing/Wrong Debits
iv. Threatening calls/ inappropriate approach of recovery by recovery agents including non-observance of Reserve Bank guidelines on engagement of recovery agents
v. Wrong reporting of credit information to Credit Information Bureau
vi. Delay or failure to review and correct the credit status on account of wrongly reported credit information to Credit Information Bureau.
vii. Others
(n). non-adherence to the instructions of Reserve Bank with regard to Mobile Banking / Electronic Banking service in India by the bank on any of the following:
i. delay or failure to effect online payment / Fund Transfer,
ii. unauthorized electronic payment / Fund Transfer
