Right to Information Act ,2005 Details

The Right to Information Act 2005 came into force on 21st June 2005. All public sector institutions, constituted by an Act of Parliament or owned and controlled by the Government are Public authorities within the meaning of the above Act and are required to comply with the provisions of the Act. Certain parts of the Act have come into force with immediate effect. All the public authorities are required to take certain steps within 120 days from the date of commencement of the Act. One such requirement is that the Public authority has to publish following particulars about the organisation:

Consumer Protection Act ,1986 Details

Consumer Protection Act:

The Indian Parliament passed the Consumer Protection Act in, 1986; as the name suggests, to protect the interest of the consumers and to provide them a mechanism for easy, quick and cheap redressal of grievances against the mighty and unscrupulous producers/ traders and service providers.

Procedure for filing complaint with Banking Ombudsman

1.    Any person who has a grievance against a bank may make a complaint in writing to the banking Ombudsman. He may himself give complaint or through an authorized representative

2.     The name and address of the complainant, the name and address of the bank against which the complaint is made with supported documents and extent of the loss caused to the complainant with relief sought to be provided.

          3.       The prerequisites required for making a complaint:

        a. The complainant should have filed a complaint with the bank in writing and either the bank had rejected the same or the complainant had not received any satisfactory reply within 2 months.

b. The complaint should be made not later than one (1) year after the bank had rejected the representation.

 The Ombudsman must try to promote a settlement of the complaint by agreement between the complainant and the bank through conciliation or mediation. He will pass an award after affording the parties reasonable opportunities to present their case. He will be guided by the evidences placed before him by the parties with principles of banking law and practice and guidelines issued by the RBI. A copy of the award should be sent to the complainant and the bank named in the complaint.

Some of the complaints related to deficiencies in banking service are as given below:

1.           Non-payment or delay in payment or collection of cheques, drafts, bills, etc.

2.           Non-acceptance without sufficient cause of small denominations notes tendered by the customers

3.           Non-issue of drafts to customers

4.           Non-adherence to prescribed working hours by banks

5.           Complaint in respect of unauthorized or fraudulent withdrawals and cases pertaining to the operations in savings, current or any other accounts.

6.   Complaints related to loans and advances viz., non-observance of RBI directives on interest rates, delays in sanction of loans, etc.

Banking Ombudsman Scheme Details

BANKING OMBUDSMAN

Ombudsman means 'Grievance man' — an official appointed to investigate complaints against administration. Ombudsman is an independent Arbitrator for fair settlement of dispute arising between the Banker and the Customer. Consumer Protection Act, 1986 deal with goods and services. Since banking is one of the many service industries, it was felt necessary to form separate redressal machinery for complaints against banks. Thus the Banking Ombudsman Scheme was started on 14th June 1995 u/s 35A of the BR Act. The Banking Ombudsman Scheme is an effective alternative for quick impartial method for settling dispute. This scheme extends to the whole of India.

Appointment of Ombudsman

The Ombudsman appointed by the Reserve Bank of India is a person of high standing in the legal, banking, financial services and administration. The period of appointment is for three years and is eligible for another two years. The overall age limit is 65 years.

Role of Ombudsman

The ombudsman tries to arrive at a settlement of the compliant by an agreement through conciliation or mediation. He has to send his recommendations to the complaint within one month.

RBI widens scope of Banking Ombudsman The RBI has decided to introduce the Banking Ombudsman Scheme (2002), with wider coverage and enlarged authority/ functions to the Ombudsman after a review of the Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 1995. The new Scheme came into effect from June 14, 2002.

The Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2002 additionally provides for the institution of a "Review Authority" to review the Ombudsman's award. A bank against whom an award has been passed, may with the approval of the Chief Executives, file an application to the Deputy Governor-in-charge of Rural Planning and Credit Department (RPCD) of the RBI to seek a review of the award. The bank can request for such a review only when the award appears to be patently in conflict with the banks' interest and/or the law and practice relating to banking. The new Banking Ombudsman Scheme (2002) will cover all the Regional Rural Banks in addition to all Commercial Banks and Scheduled Primary Cooperative Banks. The value of the subject matters of individual disputes under Arbitration does not exceed Rs. 10 lakhs. The scheme has been revised to enable banking Ombudsman to function as an Arbitrator on reference of a dispute either between banks and their customers or between two Banks.