Annexure I GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL POLICY2016-17 INDEX POINT NO SUBJECT PAGE NO 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 THE CUSTOMER COMPLAINT ARISES DUE TO 1 2 INTERNAL MACHINERY TO HANDLE CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS 2 /GRIEVANCES 2.1 CUSTOMER SERVICE COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD 2 2.2 STANDING COMMITTEE ON CUSTOMER SERVICE 2 2.3 NODAL OFFICER & OTHER DESINGNATED OFFICIALS TO 3 HANDLE COMPLAINTS & GRIEVANCES 3 THE BANK SHALL PROVIDE 3 4 RESOLUTION OF GRIEVANCES INTERNAL MACHINERY & 4 TIME FRAME 4.1 TIME FRAME FOR RESOLUTION OF COMPLAINTS 7 4.2 GRIEVANCES ESCALATION SYSTEM 7 4.2.1 INTERNAL OMBUDSMAN 8 4.3 BANKING OMBUDSMAN SCHEME 9 4.4 REDRESSAL OF GRIEVANCES RELATED TO OUTSOURCED 9 SERVICES 5 INTERACTION WITH CUSTOMER 9 6 SENSITIZING OPERATING STAFF ON HANDLING COMPLAINTS 9 7 DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION TO CUSTOMERS 10 8 CUSTOMER DUE DILIGENCE FOR ALLOTMENT OF LOCKERS 10 /MEASURES RELATING TO LOCKERS WHICH HAVE REMAINED UNOPERATED 9 DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION IN FINANCIAL RESULTS 11 10 PERIODICITY OF REVIEW OF THE POLICY 11
1. INTRODUCTION GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL POLICY 2016-17 In the present scenario of competitive banking, excellence in customer service is the most important tool for sustained business growth. Customer complaints are part of the business life of any corporate entity. This is more so for banks because banks are service organizations. As a service organization, customer service and customer satisfaction are the prime concerns of the bank. The bank believes that providing prompt and efficient service is essential not only to attract new customers, but also to retain existing ones. This policy document aims at minimizing instances of customer complaints and grievances through proper service delivery and review mechanism and to ensure prompt redressal of customer complaints and grievances. The review mechanism will help in identifying shortcomings in product features and service delivery. Customer dissatisfaction would spoil bank s name and image. This Policy on Grievance Redressal follows the under noted principles Customers be treated fairly at all times Complaints raised by customers are dealt with courtesy and on time Customers are fully informed of avenues to escalate their complaints/grievances within the organization and their rights to alternative remedy, if they are not fully satisfied with the response of the Bank to their complaints. Bank will treat all complaints efficiently and fairly as they can damage the Bank s reputation and business if handled otherwise. The Bank employees must work in good faith and without prejudice to the interest of the customer. In order to make Bank s redressal mechanism more meaningful and effective, a structured system is built up towards such end. Such system would ensure that the redressal sought is just and fair and is within the given framework of rules and regulation. The Policy document is made available at all branches. 1.1 customer complaint arises due to: The attitudinal aspects in dealing with customers Inadequacy of the functions/arrangements made available to the customers or gaps in standards of services expected and actual services rendered. The customer is having full right to register his/her complaint if he/she is not satisfied with the services provided by the Bank. He / She can lodge his / her complaint in writing, orally or over telephone. If customer s complaint is not resolved within given time or if he/she is not satisfied with the solution provided by the Bank, he can approach to Banking Ombudsman with his/her complaint or other legal avenues available for grievance redressal.
2. INTERNAL MACHINERY TO HANDLE CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS/ GRIEVANCES We have a Public grievance machinery functioning at three levels: 1. Branch 2. Zonal Office 3. Head Office All complaints received at every level to be immediately acknowledged, redressed and finally replied to the complainant. 2.1 Customer Service Committee of the Board Board is the competent authority for formulation of a Comprehensive Deposit Policy incorporating all the related issues such as the treatment of death of a depositor for operations of his account, the product approval process and the annual survey of depositor satisfaction. The recommendations of this subcommittee of the board will be taken into account for fine tuning the policies and processes. This Committee will review the functioning of Standing Committee of Customer Service including compliance with the recommendations of the Committee on Procedure and Performance Audit of Public Services (CPPAPS). The Committee would examine issues having a bearing on the quality of customer service rendered to customers and also suggest innovative measures of enhancing the quality of customer service and improving the level of customer satisfaction for all categories of customers at all times. 2.2 Standing Committee on Customer Service The Standing Committee on Customer Service will be chaired by the Chairman & Managing Director/ Executive Director of the Bank. Besides two to three senior executives of the Bank, the committee would also have two to three eminent nonexecutives drawn from the public as members / invitees. The committee would have the following functions: The Committee will evaluate feedback on quality of customer service received from various quarters. The Committee will also review comments/feedback on customer service and implementation commitments in the Code of Bank s Commitments received from BCSBI. The Committee would be responsible to ensure that all regulatory instructions regarding customer service are followed by the Bank. It will also receive necessary feedback to determine that the action taken by various departments is in tune with the spirit and intent of such instructions. The Committee will look into the simplification of procedures and practices prevailing in the Bank with a view to safeguarding the interest of common persons, be they current or savings account holders depositors or borrowers, from any unfair procedural practices by banks.
The committee would also consider unresolved complaints/grievances referred to it by functional heads responsible for redressal and offer their advice. The minutes of the meeting of the committee would be placed before the Customer Service Committee of the Board at quarterly intervals. The Committee may review the practice and procedures prevalent in the bank and take necessary corrective action, on an ongoing basis as the intent is translated into action only through procedures and practices. The Committee will review the regulations and procedures prescribed by Reserve Bank of India that impinge on customer service of Banks and make suitable recommendations for elimination / rationalisation of the same, especially keeping in view the need to drastically reduce the complaints and improve the ease of conducting transactions both for banks and customers. The Committee will review all the awards given by the Banking Ombudsman and will address issues of systemic deficiencies existing in bank, if any, brought out by the awards. The Committee will examine the awards remaining unimplemented for more than three months and the reasons for not implementing the awards and will initiate necessary remedial action. 2.3 Nodal Officer and other designated officials to handle complaints and Grievances The Bank has appointed the General Manager in-charge of Customer Service as the Principal Nodal Officer, he is also Principal Code Compliance Officer under BCSBI who will be responsible for the implementation of Customer Service and complaint handling for the entire Bank. The Zonal Managers shall be responsible for the implementation of Customer Service in their respective Zones who in turn shall appoint Customer Relation Officer at Zonal offices to handle complaint grievances in respect of branches falling under their control. The management is fully aware that unless there is a proper infrastructure and mechanism in place, the degree of Customer Service cannot be measured and improved. At the Head Office, a separate Department, to handle Customer Grievances headed by a fairly senior official, supported by suitable officers with operational experience and those with IT / analytical background as also Personnel with Management and Customer Relation background shall be posted to ensure that the system operates effectively. Head of the Department will be Nodal Officer under Banking Ombudsman Scheme. 3. THE BANK SHALL PROVIDE: a. Appropriate arrangement for receiving complaints and suggestions. b. The name, address and contact number of Principal Nodal Officer c. Contact details of Internal Ombudsman (IO)and Banking Ombudsman of the area d. Code of Bank s commitments to customers / Fair Practice code
4. RESOLUTION OF GRIEVANCES- INTERNAL MACHINERY & TIME FRAME Customer grievances to be considered as closed only after receipt of letter of satisfaction from the customer. Format as per Annexure-A At Branch Level : Grievances Redressal Process: Branch Manager will be responsible for the resolution of the complaints / grievances in respect of customer's service by the Branch. The complaint book should be made available to the customer to lodge the complaint. An acknowledgment should be given to the customer immediately on receipt of complaint in writing. The Branch Manager will analyse the complaint and if need be he/she will contact the complainant personally.he would be responsible for ensuring closure of all complaints, immediately on receipt of complaints. It is Branch Manager s foremost duty to see that the complaint should be resolved completely to the customer's satisfaction and if the customer is not satisfied, then he/she shall be provided with alternate avenues to escalate the issue to Zonal Office, if the same is not resolved within the stipulated time frame. If the Branch Manager feels that it is not possible at his/her level to solve the problem, then it may be referred to Zonal Office for guidance. Similarly, if Zonal Office finds that they are not able to solve the problem such cases may be referred to the Nodal Officer of the Bank at Head Office. prominently display at the branches, the names of the officials who can be contacted for redressal of complaints, together with their direct telephone number, fax number, complete address and email address etc. for proper and timely contact by the customers and for enhancing the effectiveness of the redressal machinery. For improvement of Customer Service, Branch Manager to ensure that: Suggestion / complaint Box and Suggestion / Complaint Book are made available to the customer. Any written complaint is instantly and promptly acknowledged. All branches other than small branches have " May I help you counters ". Counter staff is provided with training and additional inputs. If counter staff is unable to resolve a grievance, the Branch Manager should intervene and resolve the issue.
liday or half day), Customers' Day is to be observed and Customer Service Committee Meeting will be conducted at Branch level. Customer Service Committee meetings are held every month at all Branches and minutes are sent to Zonal Office. The sole task of the Customer Service Committee is to find out ways and means to render efficient and highly satisfactory services to the Customers. For this purpose Committee will meet regularly at monthly basis to discuss in detail the strengths and deficiencies of the services presently rendered and take steps to improve it. Special Customers' Meet is conducted on special occasions. Time norms for specialised business transactions are displayed prominently in the banking hall. All details as prescribed by various regulatory authorities / BCSBI are displayed at the branch. At Zonal Office Level : Grievances Redressal Process: Zonal Manager / Dy. Zonal Manager to hold exclusive charge of Customer Service Cell / Department at Zonal Office. All complaints will be acknowledged immediately on receipt. By and large, complaints are redressed within shortest possible time. whenever the guidance is sought for by the branches for resolution of complaints, the Zonal Manager / Dy. Zonal Manager should provide the same expeditiously. Whenever, it is not possible to resolve the complaints immediately for want of cross checking / further investigation, steps should be taken to settle the matter within a reasonable time. Zonal Manager / Dy. Zonal Manager in-charge of Customer Service Cell at Zonal office shall contact the aggrieved customers as and when necessary, meet them personally with the Branch Manager, for ensuring timely redressal of the complaint. Zonal Manager / Dy. Zonal Manager to visit branches periodically and submit a report on Customer Service, as per Branch Visit Report. Monthly consolidated report on customer service to be sent to H.O. Wherever deficiencies are noticed, accountability is to be fixed and action should be taken against erring Officials. Day is to be observed and Customer Service Committee Meeting will be conducted at Zonal Office.
Special Customers' Meets are to be organised for different segments of the market, viz., Exporters, SMEs, NRIs, Agriculturists, etc. If the Zonal Manager feels that it is not possible at his/her level to solve the problem, then it may be referred to Principal Nodal Officer of the Bank at Head Office. At Head Office Level : Grievances Redressal Process: -fledged Customer Service Cell is functioning at Head Office, under the Nodal Officer. All complaints will be acknowledged immediately on receipt. anager / Zonal Manager for resolution of grievances, then the reply should be sent immediately. Zonal Offices, will be analysed by Customer Service Cell at Head Office and based on the explanation received from the Branch / Zonal Office, Head Office will send a suitable reply to complainant. have to be given to Zonal Offices / Branches for speedy redressal to the same shall and followed up till final redressal letter is sent to the complainant duly explaining the decision taken on the complaint. on Customer Service should be held at quarterly basis to appraise the committees, the development of the customer service and to review the policies in relation to Customer Service. market, viz., Exporters, SMEs, NRIs, Agriculturists, etc.. -house as well as by External agencies may be conducted to assess the level of customer satisfaction. r complaint is received over phone at our designated telephone Help Desk or Customer Service Cell, the Bank shall provide a complaint reference number and keep the customer informed of the progress within a reasonable period of time. Bank need more time to respond and shall endeavor to do so within 30 days of receipt of complaint and will tell customers to take their complaint further if they are still not satisfied.
informed to the customer through an interim reply. at their end to Head Office at the end of every month. Online Registration of Complaints The bank has put in place web enabled registration of complaints / grievances, where the customers having grievance can visit our web site and register their complaints online under Online Customer Complaints. On registration of the complaints, an automatic complaint number is generated by the system for acknowledgment and future reference by the complainant. These complaints are tracked at Head Office for immediate redressal. Further, registration of complaints through e-mail at csc@denabank.co.in is also enabled, the receipt of which is acknowledged by the HO and redressal is taken up immediately. 4.1 Time frame for resolution of complaints. a) All complaints received should be acknowledged immediately. b) Within seven working days of receiving the complaints / grievances at the Branch level. b) If it remains unresolved for seven working days at Branch level, the same should be escalated to Zonal Office, wherein, the time limit is extended by further seven working days. c) If the complainant / grievances remain unresolved for seven working days at Zonal Office, the same shall be escalated to General Manager s Office /Head Office and the time limit shall be extended by further seven working days. d) Complaints received from Banking Ombudsman and CPGRAMS should be dealt with sternly and must be disposed of within a period of seven days. e) In case a complaint requires additional time for resolution, the Bank will proactively inform the customer about the reason for the delay and specify the additional time required for resolution. 4.2 Grievances Escalation System: Customers can lodge their complaints directly to Branch Manager and it will be the responsibility of the Branch Manager to resolve the complaint within seven working days from the date of receipt. The Branch Manager will analysis the complaint and if need be he/she will contact the complainant personally and resolve the complaint. A complaint redressal letter will be sent to complainant, if the complaint is resolved at Branch level. The Branch will also send the details of the grievance resolved by the branch at periodical intervals to Zonal Office.
If the Branch Manager is not able to resolve the complaint within seven working days, the complaint will be referred by the Branches to the concerned Zonal Office along with their comments / replies for further action. The complaints referred to Zonal Office will be analysed by Customer Service Dept. and based on the explanation received from the Branch, Zonal Office will send a suitable reply to complainant. If the reply received from the Branch is not satisfactory and if Zonal Office cannot resolve the complaint within seven working days from the date of receipt of complaints by Zonal Office, the same will be referred to Customer Service Cell, Head Office. The Zonal Office will also send the details of the complaints received directly by them and not settled within seven working days to Customer Service Cell, Head Office along with their comments/replies. Customer Service Cell, Head Office will analysis the complaint and the replies received from Branch and Zonal Office. On placing the matter before appropriate authorities a decision is taken on the complaint. A complaint redressal letter is sent to the complainant from Bank and suitable instructions are passed by Head Office on to Branch, Zonal Office for taking action in the deficient areas. 4.2.1 Internal Ombudsman The complaints received by Bank shall be examined as per its internal grievance redressal mechanism. In case the bank decides to reject a complaint and/or decides to provide only partial relief to the complainant, it should forward such cases to IO for further examination. Replies to complaints on receipt of IO comments shall be addressed by bank mentioning explicitly that the complaint has also been examined by the IO and complainant can approach the Banking Ombudsman with his case. IOs are independent authority placed at apex position in the internal grievance redressal machinery of the banks. The references made by banks to IOs (ie. the rejected and partially accepted complaints) for examination should, therefore, emanate primarily from the highest level of bank's internal grievance redressal machinery only, which has operational role in grievance redressal, i.e. Principal Nodal officer (PNO)/ Nodal Officer, as the case may be. Cases to be examined by IO are those listed in clause 8 of Banking Ombudsman Scheme. The other grievances can also be dealt with by him after they have been examined by Bank's internal grievance redressal mechanism. While awarding compensation, IOs would be guided by the compensation policy of respective bank and extant regulatory guidelines.
4.3 Banking Ombudsman Scheme Bank has displayed on the web site and in all our Branches a notice explaining that Bank is covered by the Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006 of the Reserve Bank of India. If customer s complaint is not resolved within given time or if he/she is not satisfied with the solution provided by the Bank, he can approach to Banking Ombudsman appointed by Reserve Bank of India under Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006. Salient features of the Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006 are displayed in the branch notice boards and the scheme itself is displayed on our Website www.denabank.com If customers face any difficulty, our Staff will explain the procedure in this regard. 4.4 Redressal of Grievances related to Outsourced services complaints / grievances. If a complainant does not get satisfactory response from Bank within 30 days, he may approach Banking Ombudsman. Zonal offices shall have the responsibility to ensure that genuine grievances of customers are redressed promptly without delay. The Bank will clearly indicate to customers, through web-site and / or any other medium that the Banks' Grievance Redressal Machinery will also deal with the issue relating to services provided by the outsourced agency. 5. INTERACTION WITH CUSTOMERS The Bank recognizes that customer s expectation / requirement / grievances can be better appreciated through personal interaction with customers by Bank s staff. Structured customer meets, will give a message to the customers that the Bank cares for them and values their feedback/suggestions for improvement in customer service. Many of the complaints arise on account of lack of awareness among customers about Bank services and such interactions will help the customers appreciate Banking services better. As for the Bank the feedback from customers would be valuable input for revisiting its product and services to meet customer requirements. 6. SENSITIZING OPERATING STAFF ON HANDLING COMPLAINTS Staff should be properly trained for handling complaints. We are dealing with people and hence difference of opinion and areas of friction can arise. With an open mind and a smile on the face we should be able to win the customer s confidence. It would be the responsibility of the Nodal Officer to ensure that internal machinery for handling complaints/grievances operates smoothly and efficiently at all levels. The HR Dept. would focus on training needs of staff at various levels on the above aspects.
7. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION TO CUSTOMERS As per BCSBI Code, the Bank will provide information on various service/products, charges offered by the Bank. The Bank will display at prominent place in the Branches, the Customer Information Folder containing following aspects with latest updates. Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006 and Name & Address of Ombudsman Schedule of charges Services offered free of cost Instant credit of outstation cheques and time frame for collection of cheques Time Norms for various services Interest payment for delayed collection of cheques Interest rates on domestic, NRE & FCNR Citizens charter Facility for soiled and mutilated notes Exchange rates Retail loan schemes Rate of interest for retail loan schemes Details of various products offered by Dena Bank Name and address of Zonal Code Compliance Officer & Principal Code Compliance Officer Name and contact details of Nodal Officer (Customer Grievance Cell) Toll Free number of Customer Grievance Cell Bank has provided Customer Information Folder in all its Branches. 8. CUSTOMER DUE DILIGENCE FOR ALLOTMENT OF LOCKERS / MEASURES RELATING TO LOCKERS WHICH HAVE REMAINED UNOPERATED This emphasizes that bank should be aware of the risks involved in renting safe deposit lockers. In this connection, bank shall take following measures: Branches shall assess the risk profile of the customers, who have been rented out lockers. Based on this, branches would classify customers in three risk categories i.e. low risk, medium risk and high risk. The classification of the risk would be based on the total value of the account, the duration of account with the Bank, track record of the customer such as locker rent payment in time, operations of the locker, compliance of Bank s norms in operation of his other accounts with the Bank, etc., action/s initiated by enforcement authorities/court, etc. Branches shall carry out customer due diligence for both new and existing customers at least to the levels prescribed for customers classified as medium risk. If the customer is classified in a higher risk category, customer due diligence as per KYC norms applicable to such higher risk category be carried out.
where the lockers have remained unoperated for more than one year for medium risk category or three years for a higher risk category, Branches shall immediately contact the locker-hirer and advise him to either operate the locker or surrender it. This exercise shall be carried out even if the locker hirer is paying the rent regularly. Further, Branches shall ask the locker hirer to give in writing, the reasons why he / she did not operate the locker. In case the locker-hirer has some genuine reasons as in the case of NRIs or persons who are out of town or due to a transferable job etc., Branches may allow the locker hirer to continue with the locker. In case the locker-hirer does not respond nor operate the locker, bank shall consider break opening the lockers after giving due notice to him. In this context, bank shall incorporate a clause in the locker agreement that in case the locker remains unoperated for more than one year, the bank would have the right to cancel the allotment of the locker and break open the locker, even if the rent is paid regularly. Breaking open a locker should be undertaken after three rent reminder notices and a Final Notice of breaking open a locker are sent by Registered Post to the hirer and permission of the Zonal Office is obtained for getting the locker broken open. The locker should be broken in the presence of a panch consisting of two respectable outsiders, one officer from Zonal Office, the Branch Manager and the Custodian. 9. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION IN FINANCIAL RESULTS Bank is required to disclose the brief details regarding the number of complaints along with their financial results. This statement should include all the complaints received at the Head Office / Controlling Office level as also the complaints received at the branch level. However, where the complaints are redressed within the next working day, Bank need not include the same in the statement of complaints. This is expected to serve as an incentive to the banks and their branches to redress the complaints within the next working day. 10. PERIODICITY OF REVIEW OF THE POLICY The Policy will be effective for one year from the date of approval and it will continue to be in force till the reviewed policy comes into place. ******
Annexure A FORMAT OF SATISFACTION LETTER TO BE OBTAINED FROM COMPLAINANT To The Branch / Zonal Manager Dena. Bank, ---------- branch/ Zone. Dear sir / Madam, I confirm that my complaint no ------------------dated ------------has been resolved to my satisfaction and I have no further grievances pending in this matter. Thank you, (Signature) Name : Account No. Mobile No.