MUMBAI: RBI’s integrated ombudsman has recorded a decline in the volume of grievances from regulated entities in FY23. Grievances dropped to 2.35 lakh in FY23 – a nearly 39% reduction from the 3.8 lakh recorded in FY21. This marks the second year in a row with a significant decrease in complaints, following last year’s drop to 3 lakh.
Between 2020-21 and 2022-23, the public sector banks category experienced the most substantial fall in grievances, declining from 1.75 lakh to 1 lakh. This signifies a 41% decrease or 72,830 fewer complaints.
Conversely, within the same period, the non-banking financial companies category saw an increase in grievances, climbing from 31,158 to 33,072 – an rise of 1,914 complaints. Despite a sharp decline in grievances from the public sector, private, and foreign banks compared to the pandemic years, complaints against payment banks rose from 2,168 in FY21 to 3,456 in FY23.
Regarding categories, most grievances are related to mobile and electronic banking. From 2020-21 to 2021-22, this category saw a modest reduction in complaints from 44,385 to 39,388, yet the proportion of overall complaints increased from 13% to 14.7%. However, from 2021-22 to 2022-23, there was a significant rise in complaints (from 39,388 to 39,855) and their share of the total (from 14.7% to 20.3%). The decline in complaints was due to the drop in grievances under the ‘others’ category, which dropped from 3.4 lakh in FY21 to 2.7 lakh in FY22 and further to 1.9 lakh in FY23.
