Policy on Grievances Redressal Mechanism

In the present scenario of competitive banking excellence in customer service and customer satisfaction is most important tool for sustained business growth.  Bank being service organization, customer complaints are part of business life of corporate entity.  The customer complaint arises due to –

• Inadequacy of the functions or arrangements made available to the customers or gaps in standards of services expected and actual services rendered.
• The attitudinal aspect in dealing with customers.

 

The customer is having full right to register his complaint if he is not satisfied with the services provided by the Bank.  He can give complaint in writing, orally or over telephone.  If customer’s complaint is not resolved within given time or if he is not satisfied with the solution provided by the Bank, he can approach Banking Ombudsman with his complaint or other legal avenues available for grievance redressal.

Objectives

• To minimize the instances of customer complaint and grievances through proper service delivery.
• To resolve the customer complaints amicably in time.
• To take the review of redressal mechanism to identify the shortcoming in product features and service delivery.
• To provide more responsive and customer friendly banking practices by treating customers fairly at all times to existing customers as well as new customers.
• To understand each and every customers complaint as well as his comments and suggestions to explore the opportunity of growth and development of the Bank.
• To educate the customers about their responsibilities and rights.
• To make the bank employee to work in good faith and without prejudice to the interest of the customer.

 

Internal Machinery to handle customer complaints grievances

(1) Customer Service Committee of the Board

This is a sub-committee of the Board chaired by Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, three Directors, one General Manager, one Assistant General Manager as Committee Members.  The said Board would be responsible for formulation of a comprehensive Deposit Policy incorporating the issues such as the treatment of death of a depositor for operations of his account, the product approval process and the annual survey of depositor satisfaction and the trienniel audit of such services.  The committee would also examine any other issues having a bearing on the quality of customer service rendered.  This committee would also review the functioning of Standing Committee on customer service.

(2) Standing Committee on Customer Service

 

The Standing Committee on Customer Service is chaired by the Executive Director of the Bank along with two senior executives of the rank of General Manager of the Bank, the committee would also have two eminent non-executives drawn from the public as members.  The committee would have the following functions.

• The committee would consider unresolved complaints / grievances referred to it by Nodal Officer for redressal and offer their advice.
• The committee would be responsible to ensure that all regulatory instructions regarding customer service are followed by the bank.  Towards this, the committee would obtain necessary feedback from all Branch Managers and functional heads.
• Evaluate feedback on quality of customer service received from various quarters.  The committee would also review comments / feedback on customer service and implementation of commitments in the Code of Bank’s commitments to customers received from BCSBI.
• The committee would submit report on its performance to the customer service committee of the Board at quarterly intervals.

 

(3) Nodal Officer

Bank has appointed ‘Public Relation Officer’ as ‘Nodal Officer’ who will be held responsible for the implementation of customer service and complaint handling for the entire Bank.  He will be available at the following address

            Public Relations Officer,
The Ratnakar Bank Ltd.
Administrative Office:
‘Mahaveer’,
Shri Shahu Market Yard,
Kolhapur – 416 005.
Phone Nos.0231 – 2653720 / 0231-2650981 to 2650984
Fax No. : 0231 - 2659459
Email: ratnakarbank@eth.net

If the Nodal Officer feels that it is not possible at his level to solve the problem he can refer the case to Standing Committee on Customer Service.

(4) Branch Manager is responsible for the resolution of complaint / grievances in respect of customer’s service by the branch.  He would be responsible for ensuring closure of all complaints received at the branches.  It is his foremost duty to see that the complaint should be resolved completely to the customer’s satisfaction and if the customer is not satisfied, then he should be provided with alternate avenues to escalate the issue.  If the Branch Manager feels that it is not possible at his level to solve the problem he can refer the case to Nodal Officer.

Mandatory Display

It is mandatory for the every Branch to provide: -

• Appropriate arrangement for receiving complaints and suggestions (Complaint Book / Complaint or suggestion Box at Branch).
• The name, address & contact number of Nodal Officer.
• Contact details of Banking Ombudsman of the area.
• Code of Bank’s Commitments to customers

 

Interaction with customers

The Bank recognizes that customer’s expectation / requirement / grievances can be better appreciated through personal interaction with customers by Bank’s staff.  Structured customer meets, once in a month will give a message to the customers that the bank cares for them and values their feed-back / suggestions for improvement in customer service.  Many of the complaints arise on account of lack of awareness among customers

about Bank services and such interactions will help the customers appreciate banking services better.  As for the Bank the feedback from customers would be input for revising its product and services to meet customer requirements.

The structure of customer grievances & redressal mechanism at our Bank is as follows:-

Customer Service Committee of the Board

Standing Committee on customer

Nodal Officer / Public Relation Officer

Branch Manager

Time frame to resolve the complaint

• At Branch level within 1 week.
• At Administrative Office level within 3 weeks of the receipt of the complaint.

In case the complainant is not satisfied or unhappy with the solution provided by the Bank, he may approach the Banking Ombudsman located in State Capital for redressal.  The details for approaching to the Banking Ombudsman will be provided by all our branches or log on to http//www.bankingombudsman.rbi.org.in

We are dealing with people and hence difference of opinion and areas of friction can arise.  With an open mind and willing to serve, we should be able to win the customers confidence.  It would be the responsibility of the every officer and staff of the bank to ensure that internal machinery for handling complaints / grievances operate smoothly and efficiently at all levels.