The Salient features of The Reserve Bank – Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021 are listed below:

i) It will no longer be necessary for a complainant to identify under which scheme he/she should file complaint with the Ombudsman.

ii) The Scheme defines ‘deficiency in service’ as the ground for filing a complaint, with a specified list of exclusions. Therefore, the complaints would no longer be rejected simply on account of “not covered under the grounds listed in the scheme”.

iii) The Scheme has done away with the jurisdiction of each ombudsman office.

iv) A Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre has been set up at RBI, Chandigarh for receipt and initial processing of physical and email complaints in any language.

v) The responsibility of representing the Regulated Entity and furnishing information in respect of complaints filed by customers against the Regulated Entity would be that of the Principal Nodal Officer in the rank of a General Manager in a Public Sector Bank or equivalent.

vi) The Regulated Entity will not have the right to appeal in cases where an Award is issued by the ombudsman against it for not furnishing satisfactory and timely information/documents.

vii) The Executive Director-in charge of Consumer Education and Protection Department of RBI would be the Appellate Authority under the Scheme.

viii) Complaints can continue to be filed online on https://cms.rbi.org.in.

• Complaints can also be filed through the dedicated e-mail or
• sent in physical mode to the ‘Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre’ set up at Reserve Bank of India, 4th Floor, Sector 17, Chandigarh – 160017 in the format.
• Additionally, a Contact Centre with a toll-free number – 14448 (9:30 am to 5:15 pm) – is also being operationalised in Hindi, English and in eight regional languages to begin with and will be expanded to cover other Indian languages in due course.
• The Contact Centre will provide information/clarifications regarding the alternate grievance redress mechanism of RBI and to guide complainants in filing of a complaint.

ix) A copy of the Scheme is available on the RBI website and on the CMS portal (https://cms.rbi.org.in).