HYDERABAD: Banking Ombudsman Deepali Pant Joshi on Thursday said that her office had redressed 1,200 of the 1,500-odd grievances received since January 1, 2006. The remaining are in various stages pending disposal.

She was speaking at a meeting with officials of HDFC Bank, one in a series of such meetings scheduled to motivate bank officers and bring in an attitudinal change to reduce the number of grievances and improve efficiency. Banks should imbibe awareness among customers on Banking Ombudsman Scheme (BOS), while beefing up their internal grievance redressal mechanisms, she said.

Changes in BOS

Responding to questions after her presentation, Dr. Deepali said unsolicited credit cards and related issues, escalation in charges without notice, unauthorised debits were among major grievances that customers sought redressal. She said BOS had undergone changes since the `90s when it was introduced. The office was now under the management of Reserve Bank of India. The latest addition to the scheme this year were credit cards and ATM-related problems. However, frauds do not come under the purview of the Ombudsman, she clarified. Customers have to per se contact the bank with their grievance before approaching the Ombudsman she added.

Customers in Andhra Pradesh may use the telephone number 040-23210013 or fax number 040-23210014, or mail at bohyderabad@rbi.org.in.

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