The number of banking complaints received by Banking Ombudsman in Chennai has increased 18.2% to 10,642, accounting for 6.5% of the total complaints received across the country.
According to the annual report on the Banking Ombudsman Scheme from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018, released by the Reserve Bank of India, out of the 10,642 complaints only 7,165 plaints were maintainable.
Tamil Nadu, the Union Territories of Puducherry (except Mahe Region) and Andaman and Nicobar Islands come under the purview of Banking Ombudsman in Chennai.
The Chennai zone saw a 100% disposal of complaints. During the start of the year, it had 90 complaints pending but by the end of the year all the 10,732 complaints were disposed of.
According to sources, the nature of complaints reported in Chennai was similar to the ones lodged nationally.
In the Chennai zone, complaints were not maintainable for reasons such as jurisdiction, incomplete details provided by customers and because the Ombudsman could not interfere with a commercial decision of a bank rejecting a loan, according to sources.
Another issue is when there is a grievance the customer has to take it up first with the respective bank and only after 30 days can he or she approach the Ombudsman, they added.
Complaints received pertained to non-observance of fair practices code (22.1%), ATM and debit card issues (15.1%) and credit card complaints (7.7%), according to the annual report.
Complaints relating to digital transactions (mobile, internet, ATM and credit cards) accounted for 28% of the grievances, registering a rise of 9% over the previous year, it said.
Complaints relating to ATM /debit cards comprised 15.1% of total complaints, marking an increase of 50% over last year.
Sixty per cent of ATM-related complaints pertained to ‘account debited but cash not dispensed’.
The Chennai zone received 15 complaints through the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) in 2017-18, similar to last year.
The Ombudsman in Chennai issued 13 orders during the year, of which 10 were implemented.
