Customer Grievance Redressal Policy

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 Revision History

Sl.
Rev. No. Rev. Date Changes made Remarks
No.

* Creation & display of email ID in the

website for Customer service and PNO
of the bank.

* Definition of time frames for dealing

1 V1.1 Feb 20, 2017 Incorporated
with and resolving customer
grievances has been introduced.

* Introduction of Welcome Calls for

New To Bank (NTB) Customers.

Contents

1. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 3
2. Internal Machinery to handle Customer complaints/ grievances ......................... 4
3. Mandatory display requirements ......................................................................... 4
4. Resolution of Grievances .................................................................................... 5
5. Interaction with customers ................................................................................... 6
6. Sensitizing operating staff on handling complaints .............................................. 7
7. Dealing with Complaints and Improving Customer Relations .............................. 7
8. Grievances Redressal Mechanism ...................................................................... 8
9. Review .............................................................................................................. 10

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1. Introduction
The Equitas Small Finance Bank, herein after referred to as the ‘Bank’, attaches
foremost importance and commitment to customer service and prompt redressal of
customer grievances as a part of the Bank’s policy of being fair and transparent in its
dealings with customers.

In the present scenario of competitive banking, excellence in customer service is the

most important tool for sustained business growth. As a service organization,
customer service and customer satisfaction is the primary focus 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 lays down the broad
framework for handling customer complaints and prompt grievances redressal through
proper service delivery. The grievances redressal mechanism shall help in identifying
shortcomings in product features and service delivery.

The Bank’s policy on grievance redressal follows the under noted principles.

Customers be treated fairly at all times

The Bank employees will work in good faith and without prejudice to the
interests of the customer.

Complaints raised by customers are dealt with courteously and on time

Bank will deal with all complaints efficiently and fairly

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.
In order to make Bank’s redressal mechanism more meaningful and effective, a
structured system will be built up towards such an end. Such a system would ensure
that the redressal is just and fair and is permissible within the given framework of rules
and regulations. This policy document would be made available at all branches. The
concerned employees will be made aware about the complaint handling process.

1.1 Customer complaints arise due to:

• Inadequacy of the functions/ arrangements made available to the customers or
gaps in standards of services expected and actual services rendered.
• Attitudinal aspects in dealing with customers
The customer has full right to register his/her complaint if he/she is not satisfied with
the services provided by the Bank. Customer can give his/her complaint in writing,
orally or over telephone. If customer complaint is not resolved within 30 days of making
a complaint or if he/she is not satisfied with the solution provided by the Bank, he/she
can approach Banking Ombudsman with his/her complaint or pursue other legal
avenues available for grievance redressal.

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2. Internal Machinery to handle Customer complaints/ grievances

2.1 Customer Service Committee of the Board

This sub-committee of the Board would be responsible for formulation of a

Comprehensive Customer Grievance handling system, incorporating the details of
various issues related to providing excellent customer service. The Committee would
also examine any other issues having a bearing on the quality of customer service
rendered. This Committee would also review the functioning of Standing Committee
on Customer Service.

2.2 Standing Committee on Customer Service

The Standing Committee on Customer Service will be chaired by the Managing

Director. Besides two to three senior executives of the Bank, the committee would
also have two eminent non-executives drawn from the public as members. The
committee would have the following functions.

Evaluate feedback on quality of customer service received from various

quarters. The committee would also review comments/feed-back on customer
service and implementation of commitments in the Code of Bank’s
Commitments to Customers as laid down by BCSBI from time to time.

The Committee would seek feedback from the Nodal Officers on compliance
with regulatory guidelines related to customer service and grievance handling
procedures

The Committee also would consider unresolved complaints/grievances referred

to it by functional heads responsible for redressal and offer their advice.

The Committee would submit its report to the Customer Service Committee of
the Board at quarterly intervals.

2.3 Nodal Officer and other designated officials to handle complaints and grievances

The Nodal Officer will be responsible for the implementation of customer service and
complaint handling for the entire Bank. The Nodal officers at Head office and at
Zonal/Regional offices to handle complaint/grievances in respect of branches falling
under their control are given below. The name and contact details of Nodal officer (s)
will be displayed on branch notice boards.

Head Office: Head Customer Service

Zonal Office: Zonal Head

3. Mandatory display requirements

In each branch of the Bank, there shall be displayed the following:

Procedure for receiving complaints and suggestions from customers

The name, address and contact number of Nodal Officer(s)

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Contact details of Banking Ombudsman of the area

Code of Bank’s Commitments to Customers/Fair Practice code

Bank’s Toll Free Number(s)

4. Resolution of Grievances

Branch Manager is responsible for the resolution of complaints/grievances in respect

of customer service by the branch. He / She would be responsible for ensuring closure
of all complaints received at the branches. It is his/her foremost duty to see that the
complaints are 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. If the branch manager feels that it is not possible at his/her level to solve the
problem, he/she shall refer the case to Zonal Office/Nodal Officer for guidance.
Similarly, if Zonal office/Nodal Officer finds that they are not able to solve the problem
such cases shall be referred to the Nodal Officer at Head office.

All complaints will be entered in the centralised system and it will be accessible to all
line officials including the top management for initiation of immediate remedial action
for redressal. The comments of the top management would be available to all the
relevant staff.

An enquiry/query will not be treated as a complaint. However, if a query is not

responded properly it may become a complaint.

4.1 Time frame

Complaints have to be seen in the right perspective because they indirectly reveal a
weak spot in the working of the Bank. Complaint received shall be analysed from all
possible angles. The complainant can lodge complaints through multiple channels,
viz. phone banking, Bank’s Website, generic e-mails, letters and complaint form at
branch level.
Communication of Bank’s stand on any issue to the customer is a vital requirement.
Complaints received which would require some time for examination of issues
involved shall invariably be acknowledged promptly and the customer will be informed
of the approximate time it would take for the Bank to respond.
All efforts will be made to resolve each complaint received by the Bank within the
timeframe fixed internally. All pending complaints beyond Turn Around Time (TAT)
shall be reported to the Head Office at monthly intervals.
However, where the Bank is required to get information from sources outside the
Bank, such as other banks, agencies which are not under contractual obligation to the
Bank etc, the time frame as mentioned above would commence from the time that
such other Banks or agencies have given their feedback to the Bank on the queries
raised.
Please refer to the table below for detailed timelines.

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 Grievance Redressal Timelines

Category of Grievances Turn Around Time

Acknowledgement to be sent within 24 hours
Issues that can be directly resolved by 3 working days
ESFB maximum
Issues requiring investigations related to 7 working days
Field/Sales/Mis selling maximum
Issues related to external Agencies/Other upto 15 working
banks/ Third party products/ Services days
If the customer’s complaint is not resolved within the given time or the customer is not
satisfied by the resolution provided by the Bank, he / she can appeal to the Banking
Ombudsman, RBI.

5. Interaction with customers

The Bank recognizes that customer’s expectation/requirement/grievances can be

better appreciated through personal interaction by Bank’s staff with customers.
Structured customer meets, say once in a month 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 a valuable input for revising its product and services to meet customer
requirements.

To this effect, the concept of Welcome Calls for New To Bank (NTB) customers has
been introduced. As part of this initiative, NTB customers are called to welcome them
and express our gratitude to him/her, for having chosen us as his/her banking partner.
The call helps ascertain their experience in starting a new relationship with the bank.
It also serves as an opportunity for ESFB to ascertain it’s current service levels.
6. Sensitizing operating staff on handling complaints

Staff will 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. Imparting soft
skills required for handling irate customers will be an integral part of the staff training
programs. It would be the responsibility of the Nodal Officer to ensure that the internal
machinery for handling complaints / grievances smoothly and efficiently is established
at all levels. The Nodal Officer shall give feedback on training needs of staff at the
appropriate level to the HR department.

7. Dealing with Complaints and Improving Customer Relations

7.1 Complaints/suggestions box

Complaints/suggestions box will be provided at each branch of the Bank. Further, at
every branch of the Bank a notice requesting the customers to meet the branch

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manager will be displayed regarding grievances, if the grievances remain
unaddressed.
7.2 Complaint Book /Register
Complaint book with perforated copies will be made available in the branches, so
designed as to instantly provide an acknowledgement to the customers and an
intimation to the Controlling Office.
Branches shall maintain a separate complaints register in the prescribed format given
for entering all the complaints/grievances received by them directly or through other
channels.
The complaint register maintained by branches will be scrutinised by the concerned
Regional Manager during his periodical visit to the branches and his
observations/comments will be recorded in the relative visit reports.
Instead of manual registers as above, the Branches may also maintain such registers
in electronic form
7.3 Complaint Form
Complaint form, along with the name of the Nodal Officer for complaint redressal, will
be made available in the homepage itself to facilitate complaint submission by
customers. The complaint form will also indicate that the first point for redressal of
complaints is the Bank itself and that complainants may approach the Banking
Ombudsman only if the complaint is not resolved at the Bank level within a month.
7.4 Analysis and Disclosure of complaints
The Statement of complaints and its analysis and unimplemented awards of the
Banking Ombudsman shall be disclosed along with the financial results as per the
recommendation of The Committee on Procedures and Performance Audit on Public
Services (CPPAPS).
The complaints involving serious issues will be analysed to remedy the causes and to
avoid recurrence of complaints of similar nature in future.
The Customer Service Committee shall place a statement of complaints before the
Board along with an analysis of the complaints received. The complaints shall be
analysed
(i) To identify customer service areas in which the complaints are frequently
received;
(ii) To identify frequent sources of complaint;
(iii) To identify systemic deficiencies; and
(iv) For initiating appropriate action to make the grievance redressal mechanism
more effective

Bank shall disclose the following brief details along with their financial results:
A. Customer Complaints
(a) No. of complaints pending at the beginning of the year
(b) No. of complaints received during the year

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 (c) No. of complaints redressed during the year
(d) No. of complaints pending at the end of the year

B. Awards passed by the Banking Ombudsman

(a) No. of unimplemented Awards at the beginning of the year
(b) No. of Awards passed by the Banking Ombudsmen during the year
(c) No. of Awards implemented during the year
(d) No. of unimplemented Awards at the end of the year

8. Grievances Redressal Mechanism

In case a customer feels that there is deficiency in the service provided to him/her or
the Bank has not provided any of the services as promised, the customer has the
following options:

Call the Bank’s 24-hour customer care toll free number.

Contact Bank’s Branch: The customers may contact the respective branch or
the Branch Manager for immediate redressal.

Write to the Zonal office/ Head office

Customers also have the option to register their complaints online through the
Bank’s Website. There is also a dedicated e-mail id for sending grievances to
the Bank viz. Customerservice@equitasbank.com Complaints received
through these channels will be forwarded to the respective branches /ZO/HO
for redressal.

If the complainant does not receive a response from the branch within 10 working days
or if the complaint is not redressed to the satisfaction of the customer, the matter may
be taken up with the respective Zonal Office, name and address of the Nodal Officer
will be available with the branch. The Zonal level Nodal Officer shall also register the
complaint in the complaints register maintained at Zonal office and shall try to redress
the complaint. The Nodal officer at the Zonal office shall respond to the complainant
within a maximum period of 7 days of receipt of the complaint.
If the complainant does not receive a response from the Nodal officer at the Zonal
office within 18 days or if the complainant still feels unsatisfied with the response
received, he/she can address the complaint to the Head Office of the Bank with full
details of the case. The Email ID of the Principal Nodal Officer is
pno@equitasbank.com.
In case the issue is still not resolved to the satisfaction of the customer, he/she may
approach the Banking Ombudsman; address of the Ombudsman is available with the
branches.
Below are the stipulations for filing a complaint with Banking Ombudsman.

The complainant, before making a complaint to the Ombudsman, should have
made a written representation to the Bank, and the Bank should have either
rejected the complaint, or the complainant had not received a reply within a
period of one month after the complaint was received by the Bank, or the

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 complainant was not satisfied with the reply given by the Bank.

The complaint is made not later than one year after the complainant received
Bank’s reply to his/her representation or where no reply is received, not later
than one year and one month after the date of the representation to the Bank.

The complaint is not in respect of the subject matter, which was settled or dealt
with on merits by the Banking Ombudsman in any previous proceedings,
whether or not received from the same complainant or along with one or more
complainants or one or more parties concerned with the subject matter.

The complaint does not pertain to the same subject matter for which any
proceedings before any court, tribunal, arbitrator or any other forum is pending
or a decree or award or order have been passed by such court, tribunal,
arbitrator or forum.

The complaint is not frivolous or vexatious in nature.

The complaint is made before the expiry of the period of limitation prescribed
under the Indian Limitation Act, 1963 for such claims

The first point for Redressal of complaints is the Bank itself. The complainants may
approach Banking Ombudsman only if the complaint is not resolved at the Bank level
within a month.
The customers can directly take up the complaints, if he/she is not satisfied with the
product/services, with the Managing Director and CEO of the Bank. The customer can
also write to the Managing Director if he/she is unhappy with the service rendered by
the Bank. The contact details of the MD is as follows; md@equitas.in

9. Review

The Policy will be reviewed at annual intervals.

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