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AN EVALUATIVE STUDY ON THE EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY OF THE

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 Research Papers/Articles/Chapters
1. STUDIES ON AM FUNGI ON THREE DIFFERENT ECO-HABITATS
FROM LATERITIC SOUTHWEST BENGAL 1

2. INTERVENTIONS FOR ENHANCING PERCEPTION AND MENTAL

HEALTH AMONG STUDENTS WITH SPECIFIC LEARNING
DISABILITIES 14

3. DIFFERENT TRIGONOMETRIC SPLINE CURVES AND THEIR

APPLICATIONS 22

4. IMPACT OF OBESITY ON CORE AND BACK MUSCLE STRENGTH 30

5. IMPLICATIONS OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION

TECHNOLOGY ON EDUCATION SYSTEM 37

6. FINANCIAL STATUS OF KONOKLATA MAHILA URBAN CO-

OPERATIVE BANK LTD. IN ASSAM, INDIA 42

7. STUDY OF PERCEPTION OF UNORGANIZED RETAILERS TOWARDS

ACCEPTING PAYMENTS THROUGH DIGITAL MODES WITH
REFERENCE TO AIROLI 49

8. EMERGENCE AND IMPLICATIONS OF E-HRM: A PARADIGM SHIFT

IN THE HR PRACTICES 54

9. RETHINKING DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY AND THE COVID – 19

PANDEMIC 62

10. A REVIEW ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT IN WOMEN

THROUGH SELF HELP GROUPS 69

11. A STUDY ON PERCEPTION OF CUSTOMERS ON EFFECTIVENESS OF

DIGITAL BANKING DURING COVID -19 PERIOD 78

12. A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF GENDER AND STREAM OF STUDY OF

HIGHER SECONDARY STUDENTS IN AIZAWL CITY WITH
REFERENCE TO ACADEMIC ANXIETY 85

13. INCLUSION MAKES CREATIVE MIND AND QUALITY INSTITUTION 92

14. STUDY SKILLS FOR STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT 98

15. A STUDY ON THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION OF
SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS OF AIZAWL CITY 103

16. MARKETING P’S AND CHALLENGES FACED BY THE HYBRID RICE

FARMERS OF BARPETA DISTRICT, ASSAM 109

17. DECODING THE NEW DIRECT TAXATION REGIME FOR SALARIED

INDIVIDUALS 118

18. IMPULSE BUYING AN INNOVATIVE TOOL FOR MANAGING THE

MOTIVE OF RISK AVOIDANCE 125

19. IMPACT OF COVID-19 LOCKDOWN ON INDIAN MSME SECTOR 131

20. NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING AND DIGITALIZATION: A

BOON TO DIVERSIFY AND SUSTAIN KNOWLEDGE 138

21. AN EVALUATIVE STUDY ON THE EFFECTIVENESS AND

EFFICIENCY OF THE BANKING OMBUDSMAN SCHEME WITH
SPECIAL REFERENCE TO OBOs 142

22. EXPLORING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AMONG ADOLESCENTS

OF DELHI 151

23. LEARNING IN GREEN SPACES: ANALYSING THE FIELD 160

24. AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON "WORK FROM HOME" - A SUCCESS OR A

FAILURE DURING COVID 19 PANDEMIC 166

25. A STUDY OF CHALLENGES & OUTCOMES OF MAKE IN INDIA

CAMPAIGN 173

26. DURING COVID 19 EFFECT ON CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA

REFERENCE WITH PALGHAR DISTRICT 181

27. STARTUPS IN INDIA – A STUDY 187

28. A STUDY HISTORY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR 194

29. ECONOMIC REFORMS 1991 AND ITS IMPACT ON INDIAN

ECONOMY:- A MACRO STUDY 199

30. A BASIC STUDY OF BLOCKCHAIN AND CRYPTOCURRENCIES 209

31. A STUDY FUTURE OF CRYPTOCURRENCY IN INDIA 215

32. A CONCEPTUAL STUDY ON RISK AND GAIN OF

CRYPTOCURRENCY: AN INDIAN PRESPECTIVE 229
=
33. STOCK MARKET: INVESTMENT WITH SPECULATION 235

34. AN OVERVIEW OF MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS IN BANKING

SECTOR IN INDIA 240

35. FORENSIC ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING: AN OVERVIEW 246

36. REJUVENATING OF MSME SECTOR: A STRATEGY 250

37. jksx çfrjks/kd {kerk dh o`f) esa lgk;d & çk.kk;ke 255

38. “kCn&Loj&y; la;ksx ls d.B lk/kuk 259

39. Hkkjrh; ok| laxhr esa rcys dh mRifRr]fodkl ,oa orZeku oknu&”kSfy;kW 266

40. egkdfo isUukth jfpr y?kqdkO; ujes/ke~ dk v/;;u 277

41. vaxzsthek/;e ifCyd Ldwyks esa ek/;fed Lrj ij v/;;jr Nk=&Nk=kvksa dh

baVjusV iz;ksx ds izfr tkx+:drk ,oa f”k{kk ij mlds izHkko dk rqyukRed
v/;;u 281

42. Òkjr esa iapk;rh jkt O;oLFkk dh Áeq[k LkeL;k,a 287

43. संस्कृ त साहित्यातील संबंधविच्छे द - घटस्फोट ि पोटगी विचार 292

 ISBN: 978-93-5473-562-2

AN EVALUATIVE STUDY ON THE EFFECTIVENESS AND

EFFICIENCY OF THE BANKING OMBUDSMAN SCHEME
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO OBOs

Sayantan Guha Mazumder

M.Phil Research Scholar
Department of Commerce,
Dibrugarh University

Mayuri Bhattacharjee
M.Phil Research Scholar,
Department of Commerce,
Dibrugarh University
Abstract
Today’s world revolves around customer satisfaction. Customers are becoming more
sensitive in every aspect. Customer complaints are part of every organization
specifically service organizations. This applies to the banking system as well. With time,
the banks are getting bombarded by customer complaints despite their best efforts.
Thus, to maintain a good relationship with the customers, solutions for such complaints
have become a need of the hour. This resulted into the introduction of a scheme named
as The Banking Ombudsman Scheme by the RBI in 1995. The prime objective of the
Banking Ombudsman Scheme is to redress the various complaints as filed by the
customers relating to the loopholes in the services provided by the banks. The present
study aims at making an evaluative assessment regarding the performance and
progress of the scheme with respect to its effectiveness and efficiency from the financial
year 2015-16 to 2019-20. Moreover, the various modes of receiving the complaints and
the grounds on which such complaints have been filed have also been analyzed along
with the time and cost incurred in handling those complaints. The study reflected that
the OBOs had performed remarkably well over the years and were able to effectively
cater to their set objectives to a huge extent, but, a good scope of improvement lies in
the cracks to be developed yet. Both cost and time factors have been managed in the
best possible way over the years. Few OBOs performed way better than others, showing
less uniformity throughout the country, which is the area of development as per the
present study. Thus, it can be said that for improving the banking sector in India, fully
effective and efficient performance of BANKING OMBUDSMAN SCHEME is desirable
and also the need of the hour.

Keywords: Ombudsman’s Performance, Grievances, Customers’ Redressal

Introduction
Banks are the backbone of an economy. Banks are known for providing various banking
and Para banking services which are needed not only for the normal operations of an
economy but have also served as a great aid for pursuing normal life activities in this
scenario of pandemic. The advent of digital India, various government schemes like
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana which aims at financial inclusion and the upsurge of
COVID19 has increased banking operations manifold over the last five financial years.
With increased customer base, along with the increase in the banking transactions, there
has been a rise of various deficiencies in the related field as well. In the present era

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where customers are the king, redressing those customers for those deficient services is
the only option which can keep banks up and running. RBI, well known as the bank of
banks, has taken this initiative and launched a scheme well known as Banking
Ombudsman Scheme in 1995 to eliminate the deficiencies in the best possible way.
Presently, the Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006 is in operation. Now, customers of
any bank can complaint about any deficiencies starting from traditional banking
operations to the newly formed e-services. Banking Ombudsman is a quasi-judicial
authority which is determined to resolve the complaints of customers of banks relating
to shortcomings on the part of the banks. Although, the Banking Ombudsman Scheme
came into being with a positive motive, but, at the same time, it is a reflection of the
darker side of the operations of the banks. Hence, it can be said that Banking
Ombudsman is the customer care cell of the banking industry as a whole. For improving
the banking sector in India, fully effective and efficient performance of The Banking
Ombudsman Scheme is desirable and also the need of the hour.

Research Objectives
1. To study and analyse the performance of Banking Ombudsman Offices throughout
the last 5 financial years.
2. To study other attributes of OBOs, like awareness level, sources, cost structure,
mode of receipt and so on.

Research Methodology
For conducting the study, firstly, Banking Ombudsman Schemes as provided in the
official website of RBI (www.rbi.org.in), the objectives of the scheme etc. have been
studied in details, to understand the backdrop which led to the formation of such a
scheme and the base of its working. Secondly, for analyzing the performance, the
annual reports of Banking Ombudsman Scheme from 2015-16 to 2019-20 has been
studied as provided in the official website of RBI. Various parameters have been
studied to evaluate the performance of OBOs in terms of efficiency and effectiveness.
Data related to the number of complaints received, mode wise receipt of complaints,
population wise categories, number of complaints disposed and pending etc. have been
established and presented in tabular form, for understanding the trend of such
parameters over the period of study. Even the impact of nation-wide Digitalization
(DIGITAL INDIA CAMPAIGN-2015) and COVID-19 pandemic has been
acknowledged in increased banking operations, which redefined the role of Banking
Ombudsman again.

Literature Review
Singh [1] in his research paper evaluated the performance of the Banking Ombudsman
in India. The researcher found that the number of complaints increased consistently
increased over the years, specifically on the grounds of credit card, indicating
increasing faith among the customers in the scheme. The results of the study revealed
that more than ninety-nine percent of the complaints were disposed by mutual
settlement and the duration for pending cases also declined indicating the efficiency of
the performance of the scheme.

Devi and Sound Aravalli [2] investigated the role of Banking Ombudsman to redress the
grievances of the customers. The researchers used the statistical tools of ANOVA and
t-test to analyse their performance. The study showed that the number of complaints
received from the customers are increasing at the same time bankers are taking due

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attempt to resolve their complaints as early as possible. The Ombudsman is able to

resolve the customers’ complaints efficiently. But at the same time banks should take
steps to create awareness among their customers to make their complaints in digital
mode.

Saraswathy [3] in his research paper attempted to ascertain the awareness level of bank
customers regarding complaints, its procedure, awareness about banking ombudsman
scheme and satisfaction level of the customers on complaints. The research was
conducted with the help of both primary data in the form of responses from bank
customers and secondary data collected from various official and non-official sources.
The researcher concluded that regardless of the present efforts of the banks, the
expected level of awareness among the customers of banks regarding complaints and
Banking Ombudsman Scheme is either partial or significant. Moreover, there is no
complete satisfaction among various bank customers regarding handling of complaint
procedure and their source of information is very low.

Trilochan and Joshi [4] in their research paper tried to determine level of awareness of
banking ombudsman scheme in bank customers in small cities such as like Halwani.
The study revealed that out of the selected 100 respondents, only 28 of them were aware
about the scheme. This shows that the awareness level among the customers is too low
and hence, banks should conduct awareness programmes for the customers so that they
can use the benefits of the scheme if required.

Malyaia and Sirisha [5] analysed the success of the Banking Ombudsman Scheme. The
researcher used secondary data to evaluate the performance of the scheme confined to
10 years from 1999-2000 to 2009-2010. The study so conducted produced conclusions
in favour of the scheme. The researcher opined that the Ombudsman scheme is a boon
and a very important channel for redressal of grievances by the general public against
banks and banking services.

Gousia [6] in his research paper analysed the various modes of receipt of complaints by
the Ombudsman, its disposal mechanism and basis for rejection of complaints by the
scheme. The researcher stated that the Ombudsman has developed itself as a primary
forum of customer redressal and has effectively started to outreach their activities in
order to create awareness among customers. The researcher asserted that the scheme
can perform better if the banks follow corporate governance and education of the
customers.

Research gap
The quantity of literature available for Banking Ombudsman Scheme is less. Studies
relating to the Ombudsman Scheme focus mainly on the performance and success of
the Ombudsman Scheme and also the awareness level among the bank customers
regarding the scheme. However, a specific study on the analysis of the performance and
efficiency of the scheme as per the current 22 OBOs has not been made from the time
period 2015-16 to 2019-20.

Analysis & Interpretation

The data relating to the performance of the Banking Ombudsman Scheme have been
collected from the Annual reports as published in the website of RBI and have been
analyzed and interpreted as under:

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TABLE 1: TABLE SHOWING NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS RECEIVED

Interpretation: It can be seen from the analytical table that the number of complaints
consistently showed an upward trend since the last 5 years mainly due to the
enlargement of the scheme. This shows that, on a positive side, there has been an
increasing awareness among the people regarding the grievance redressal. However,
the increasing number of complaints defeats the efficiency of the functioning of the
Banking sector. As compared to the other OBOs, the Delhi office of Ombudsman
received the highest number of complaints constituting 13.95% of the total complaints
over the years.

TABLE 2: POPULATION GROUP WISE DISTRIBUTION OF COMPLAINTS

RECEIVED

Interpretation: It is imperative to distribute the number of complaints on the basis of

population groups as this will give an idea regarding the awareness level as well as
regarding which population group is facing more problems. From the table, it is found
that the urban as well as the metropolitan areas are filing more complaints as compared
to the other groups. Moreover, it is noteworthy to mention that the growth rate of the
number of complaints specifically in the rural areas is on a higher note implying that
the rural people too are getting involved in banking transactions and are becoming
aware of the Banking Ombudsman Scheme and using it for their maximum benefits.

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TABLE 3: MODE OF RECEIPT OF COMPLAINTS

Interpretation: The table shows that maximum complaints were received via. E-mail
(378856), followed by post/courier/hand delivery methods (261814) and lastly
complaints were filed online (261332). Although both Email and online complaints
grew over the years but the offline modes are consistent with their contribution. The
use of offline modes are significant to the fact that may be most of the population are
unaware of the other substitute (online) which is more time and cost efficient option. It
can be also assumed that the rural population are still not availing internet facility to its
full.

TABLE 4: AGE-WISE CLASSIFICATION OF PENDING COMPLAINTS

Interpretation: Time commitments by Banking Ombudsman are basically a

performance indicator. The time needed by the ombudsman to feed back the customer
has showed uneven trends over the year, but the total pending cases as reflected by the
table is not a benchmark of effective performance in terms of time as well with regards
to fulfilment of their objective. Total pending cases has increased over the year from
106672 (2015-16) to 320669 (2019-20). This may be the outcome of lack of managerial
skills and proper framework which is needed for its effective operation.

TABLE 5: COST OF HANDLING A COMPLAINT & OBO WISE PER

COMPLAINT COST

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Interpretation: Cost includes both working capital needs as well as fixed capital needs,
which are imperative for the running of the Ombudsman. This cost is borne by RBI as
a facilitator of banking and para banking operations. Although, the total cost has
increased in absolute terms but the average cost of handling the complaint has reduced
over the years, which is a sign of effectiveness. In 2015-16, Kolkata absorbed highest
per complaint cost, followed by Jammu over the years. Whereas, New Delhi’s cost
operations remained minimum over the years with respect to per complaint cost. New
Delhi and other central parts of India showed better cost effectiveness as compared to
the poles of the country.

TABLE 6: COMPLAINTS CATEGORY WISE RECEIVED BY THE OBOs

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Interpretation: Unsatisfied complainants can file complaints to the Banking

Ombudsman under various grounds as enumerated in Clause 8 of the Banking
Ombudsman Scheme, 2006. The table highlights category-wise complaints received by
the various OBOs over the last five years. It has been observed that there has been
consistent growth in almost all the grounds of complaints except the categories relating
to deposit account, pension, notes & coins and out of subject category. It is worth
mentioning that due to introduction of modern banking tools and digitization, the
category of ATM/Debit/Credit Cards has received the highest number of complaints.
The types of card-related complaints consist of items like issuance of unsolicited credit
cards and insurance policies, excessive charges, charging of annual fee in case of free
cards, abusive calls, non-settlement of insurance claims after the demise of the card
holder, wrong debits to account, non-dispensation of money from ATM, etc.

TABLE 7: NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS HANDLED AND DISPOSED

Interpretation: The above table reflects that a good proportion of complaints handled
(pending at the beginning of the year + received during the year) have been disposed
off. From the analysis, it can be observed that on an average, over the 5 years, the
success level of disposing the complaints of the Ombudsman Office of Chandigarh was
the highest i.e. 99.72% approximately. This shows that Chandigarh has been an
efficient disposer of grievances over the years as compared to the other OBOs. On the
contrary, the performance of the Ombudsman Office of Mumbai-II in terms of
disposing off the complaints was not up to the mark implying less efficiency of the
office. Moreover, Ahmedabad was able to dispose 100% of its complaints from 2015-
16 to 2017-18; Bengaluru (2017-18) and Chennai (2017-18) and so on. This is
reflecting the fact that it is possible for the OBOs to dispose off 100% of the complaints
within the year which would in fact be a good indicator of their performance in terms
of efficiency and effectiveness.

Conclusion and Suggestions

Banking ombudsman has been a very important pillar in the development of the Indian
banking sector. The role of banking ombudsman has definitely intensified over the

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years with increased awareness of the scheme as well as increasing role of the banking
sector in our economy. It has been witnessed that the numbers of complaints have been
showing a continuous upward trend in the last 5 years. This is an indicator of the fact
that Ombudsman has been successful in reaching its target to a great extent. But, only
22 Ombudsman offices are available in India which is again a huge limitation looking
at the population and banking regions of India.

Most of the complaints are developed from urban and metropolitan areas but even the
rural areas have reported a significant growth in the number of complaints implying
that they are also getting involved in banking transactions and are being aware of this
particular scheme. It may also be a contribution of the present COVID scenario in the
country due to which people are resorting to more of banking transactions and trying to
avoid cash transactions as much as possible. The complaints are being received from
various sources or modes. The most common being the email. But, even today people
are using fax, courier, hand delivery methods etc. which are the traditional methods
extensively showing that even though the online mode is cheaper but the infrastructure
is not so developed which can tap its need. Pending cases has shown an uneven trend
throughout the years. Even a single pending case can be detrimental to the objective of
the Ombudsman looking at the fact that they want to solve the issue. Even the cost
factor has increased over the years but the average or the per complaint cost has
decreased which is a very good indicator of OBOs performance. Central regions of the
country have lower per complaint cost as compared to the poles of the country which
is again an area needing special attention. Mostly, it can be said that banking
ombudsman has definitely improved over the years but there is still a huge scope of
improvement looking at certain areas of inefficiencies which are basically hindering
their core area of operations. Moreover, the data present in the Banking Ombudsman
Annual Reports have shown some discrepancy regarding the calculations which has
served as a major limitation regarding the study. A proper data will not only help
researchers to understand the working of Banking Ombudsman but at the same time
will also help the Ombudsman itself to understand and analyse the performance which
is needed for their better future.

Although the analysis and interpretation reveal that the awareness level of the scheme
and the performance of the Ombudsman Offices is consistently improving indicating
the scheme’s bright future, but, a rise in the number of complaints is defeating the
efficiency of the banking services. It can be considered as two sides of the same coin
being mutually exclusive. The efficiency of the Banking Ombudsman Scheme in terms
of disposal of complaints is putting a scratch on the efficiency of the services provided
by the banking sector in India. Thus, best measures should be adopted to balance both
the sides and convert it into a win-win situation for the Banking Industry as far as
possible.

References
1. Singh, D. T. (2011). Redressal Of Customers’ Grievances In Banks: A Study Of
Bank Ombudsman’s Performance In India. International Journal Of Researchi in
Commerce And Management , pp 84-90.
2. Dr. D. Sasikala Devi, D. P. (2020). A Study On The Performance Of Banking
Ombudsman Scheme In India. Aegaeum Journal , pp 478-485.

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3. Saraswathy, D. A. (2018). Awareness Level Among Bank Customers Regarding

Customer Complaints and Banking Ombudsman Scheme With Their Satisfaction
Level. International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts , pp 736-743.
4. Trilochan, D. C. (2019). A Study of Awareness Level of Banking Ombudsman
Sheme with special reference to Mini Cities like Haldwani. International Journal
for Research in Engineering Application & Management , pp 149-153.
5. P. Malyadri, S. S. (2012). Success of banking ombudsmen scheme: Myth or reality.
International Journal of Research Studies in Management , pp 17-24.
6. S.Gousia, (2013). Banking Ombudsman: Protection to Consumer. SIT Journal of
Management, Vol. 3. No. 2, pp.110-120.

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