RBI Brings Credit Bureaus Under Ombudsman Scheme
Credit bureaus to be brought under ombudsman scheme, the RBI says.
The Reserve Bank of India said it would include credit information companies under the integrated ombudsman scheme, making it easier for users of credit bureaus to file their grievances.
“This will provide a cost-free alternate redress mechanism to customers of regulated entities for grievances against CICs,” the RBI said in its statement on developmental and regulatory policies.
The integrated ombudsman scheme, created in 2021, allows for a common grievance redressal scheme for multiple regulated entities.
Currently, the integrated ombudsman scheme covers scheduled commercial banks including urban cooperative banks, non-banking financial companies and non-scheduled primary cooperative banks with a deposit size of Rs 50 crore and above.
The regulator will also bring credit bureaus under the internal ombudsman framework, where regulated entities are required to create a formal grievance redressal system to fast-track customer complaints. This is over and above the existing grievance redressal mechanism which these companies may have.
The RBI introduced the internal ombudsman scheme for banks in 2018 and for non-bank finance companies in 2019.