Banks advised to escalate unresolved complaints from call centers

Being a credit card holder you must have received calls from your banks call centre executive to remind you about your due payments. But if you have any grievances and register your complaint with call centre there is no one to solve your problem. You even don’t know whether you complaint is being forwarded to the bank. As a result you have to go through frustration as you don’t know whom to approach for getting your dispute resolved.

On receiving numerous complaints from cardholders, the Reserve Bank of India has conducted a study of the credit card operations in the country based on the nature of grievances received. Through survey RBI received set of recommendations, based on which the central bank has issued fresh directives to banks on their credit card operations.

RBI has made it mandatory for banks to set up a mechanism so that unresolved complaints are transferred from a call centre to a higher authority.

One of the recommendations made is that banks should have a mechanism to automatically transfer unresolved complaints from a call centre to higher authorities, if intervention of higher authorities is required. RBI has accepted this recommendation and has instructed banks to set up such mechanism and inform the public about this through their websites.

Other suggestions include installation of closed circuit television cameras at all ATMs to establish the identity of the person withdrawing cash. Banks have also been suggested to include security features such as photo credit cards and laminated signatures on them.

RBI has instructed banks to take clear instructions from their customers before sharing their information with other agencies. Banks have to explain the intention for sharing their information sharing. Customers should also be informed that their decision will have any bearing on their credit card application

For providing the protection to the customers from liability in respect of lost cards, the central bank has suggested that banks should introduce group insurance covers that will provide protection against liabilities arising out of lost cards. But, the insurance cover cannot be forced onto cardholders and only those customers who agree to bear the cost of the premium should be provided an appropriate insurance cover in respect of lost cards.

Banks charge higher interest rates from cardholders on account of his payment/default history should be made known to the cardholder. For this purpose, banks have been asked to ensure transparency in levying such differential interest rates and banks should publicize through their website interest rates charged to various categories of customers.