The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reiterated that banks must communicate with customers in their preferred language to ensure clarity and ease of understanding. As per the RBI’s Master Circular on Customer Service in Banks, all customer-facing materials at Scheduled Commercial Bank branches must be available in Hindi, English, and the relevant regional language. In a letter dated September 30, 2024, the RBI further directed that all customer communications must be issued in a trilingual format—Hindi, English, and the regional language.
Banks are required to maintain robust, board-approved grievance redressal mechanisms. In addition, the Reserve Bank – Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS), 2021 offers a cost-free platform for customers to lodge complaints against RBI-regulated entities when grievances remain unresolved or unanswered within the prescribed timeline.
The Government, through the Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS), has operated a feedback call centre since June 2022 to assess citizen satisfaction post-grievance resolution. Feedback is shared with the concerned banks for necessary action.
RBI also runs a toll-free Contact Centre (14448), operational since November 2021, providing details on grievance redressal procedures, help in lodging complaints, and status updates. The service operates 24x7 via Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS), with live operator assistance available Monday to Saturday (excluding national holidays) from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm in Hindi, English, and 10 regional languages.
This information was provided by Minister of State for Finance Shri Pankaj Chaudhary in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.