Banking ombudsman receives most complaints relating to credit cards

The number of complaints received by the banking ombudsman offices has constantly increased in the last five years, with more than a three-fold increase in 2005-06 from the previous year after the Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006 was notified. The increase was also observed in the year 2006-07 with a 22 per cent increase from the year 2005-06, said the Reserve Bank of India’s annual report on banking ombudsman. In 2005-06, the ombudsman offices received 31,732 complaints and in 2006-07, the number of complaints received was 38,638. The increase in the number of complaints received in 2005-06 and 2006-07 can be attributed to the inclusion of new areas - such as credit card complaints and also allowing complaint submission in any form, such as online and by email - in the Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006. The maximum number of complaints dealt with during the last five-year period included complaints regarding deposit accounts, deficiency in servicing of loans and advances and delay in collection of cheques/bills. However, in 2006-07, the largest share of complaints received were credit cards complaints, which accounted for 20 per cent.