Now your complaint with a bank could be resolved within 45 days!

Now your complaint with a bank could be resolved within 45 days!

 

Many of us may have encountered horrendous experiences while transacting with our most trusted bank. A feeling of being betrayed often skulks into us, as such a service was least expected. And while many of us seek recourse by launching complaints either with senior officials of the bank or banking Ombudsman, the issue takes either long to be resolved or conveniently the onus is put onto us as bank’s customers. 

But now, soon an end would be put to this rigmarole. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is seeking to turn banking services in favour of customers from being loaded in favour of banks. The central bank intends to weed out one-sided agreements and ensure that customer complaints are resolved within 45 days. 

In a recent meeting with bank chairmen and the central banks executives, RBI deputy governor, Dr K.C. Chakrabarty mentioned that the one-sided agreements and discriminatory lending rates for identical collateral, such as home, should end. 

Hinting at glitches in technology platform for electronic transactions, Dr Chakrabarty said that bank’s technology needs to be robust enough to identify as to how the customer has compromised on password, if at all the case being so. They should not take cover behind one-sided agreements and shrug-off responsibility for unauthorised electronic transactions. It is noteworthy that most banks, for electronic transactions have a clause saying that the bank would not be liable for any unauthorised electronic transaction; this is because they feel that the customer may have comprised on his or her password. 

We are of the view that regulators across the boards are cracking the whip to protect the interest of customers / investors. Recently in the week gone by, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) came out with a model agreement for the real estate sector which was exploiting customer desperation to have a roof over their heads at any cost. 

In the age of internet, smart phones and phablets, which facilitate one to transact the electronic way; we think that the RBI is very heedful by citing about one-sided agreements and right enough in speeding grievance redressal. 

It is worth mentioning that in the developed nations too people prefer to use the electronic medium for banking transactions, but they have robust technological systems to identify where the error has taken place, which therefore helps to decide the onus in the matter.