| Outline of Important
RBI Guidelines on Banking Services
Customer Service Initiatives
- In order to improve the quality of service
available to customers in branches, the banks
have been advised to ensure that full address
/ telephone number of the branch is invariably
mentioned in the Pass Books / Statement of Accounts
issued to account holders.
- Banks are therefore advised to invariably
offer pass book facility to all its savings
bank account holders (individuals) and in case
the bank offers the facility of sending statement
of account and the customer chooses to get statement
of account, the banks must issue monthly statement
of accounts.
- Banks are required to make the customer aware
of both the options available to him i.e. dropping
cheques in the drop-box or tendering them at
the counters so that he can take an informed
decision in this regard. Banks are therefore
advised to invariably display on the cheque
drop-box itself that 'Customers can also tender
the cheques at the counter and obtain acknowledgment
on the pay-in-slips'.
- Banks are advised to give wide publicity
and provide guidance to deposit account holders
on the benefits of nomination facility and the
survivorship clause.
- Banks with core banking solution are advised
to provide “payable at par"/ "Multi-city”
cheque issuance facility to all the eligible
and requesting customers.
- The banks are required to display and update,
on their websites, the details of certain service
charges. They are also required to place service
charges and fees on the homepage of their websites
at a prominent place under the title of ‘Service
Charges and Fees’ so as to facilitate
easy access to the bank customers.
- The banks are required to place a complaint
form, along with the name of the nodal officer
for complaint redressal, in the homepage itself
to facilitate complaint submission by customers.
The complaint form should also indicate that
the first point for redressal of complaints
is the bank itself and that complainants may
approach the Banking Ombudsman only if the complaint
is not resolved at the bank level within a month.
Similar information is to be displayed in the
boards put up in all the bank branches to indicate
the name and address of the Banking Ombudsman.
In addition, the name, address and telephone
numbers of the controlling authority of the
bank to whom complaints can be addressed is
to be given prominently.
- The banks are therefore, advised to ensure
that none of their branches/staff refuse to
accept lower denomination notes and / or coins
and to issue strict instructions to all branches
that the staff concerned should in no case refuse
to accept small denomination notes and coins
tendered at the counters.
- Detailed guidelines have been issued by RBI
on Safe Deposit Locker facility offered by the
Banks, including prohibition of linking allotment
of lockers to placement of fixed deposits, fixed
deposits as security for lockers, wait list
of lockers, operations, due diligence, monitoring/break-open
of un-operated lockers, access / handing over
the contents upon death of the locker-holder,
etc.
- In order to encourage a formal channel of
communication between the customers and the
bank at the branch level, banks are advised
to take necessary steps for strengthening the
branch level committees with greater involvement
of customers. It is desirable that branch level
committees include their customers too. Further
as senior citizens usually form an important
constituency in banks, a senior citizen may
preferably be included therein.
March 31, 2008
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