Did you receive quality service at the bank today? But what if they didn’t serve you well? Sure, there’s a Banking Ombudsman you can approach to resolve grievances but who decides the guidelines and ensures adherence to high standards when it comes to customer satisfaction? The Banking Codes and Standards Board of India (BCSBI), of course!
Right from the way the staff interacts with you to having protocols of service and guidelines, each interaction between the bank and the customer is governed by the Banking Codes and Standards Board of India (BCSBI).
Here is a primer on the BCSBI code and how it can help you as a banking customer.
An overview of the BCSBI code
The BCSBI was set up by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 2006. It is registered as a Society and is a Self-Regulatory Organization. Its primary role is to lay down guidelines for all affiliated banks to help the common man avail of quality services.
The services you get in a bank, right from the display of information in the branch to the way the customer executive interacts with you or how the bank follows a customer grievances program, are all governed by the BCSBI.
BCSBI has formulated these benchmarks so that all Indian banks—public sector or private—offer complete transparency and information to their customers.
Currently, the BCSBI has 136 affiliated banks as full-fledged members bound by their code for customer service. These include 71 Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs), 47 Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), and 18 Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs).
How BCSBI helps you as a banking customer
This is how the BCSBI sets banking standards to help the common man.
- Setting benchmarks:The BCSBI sets benchmarks that affiliated banks must follow. These benchmarks include rights and duties of the customers as well as do’s and don’ts for banks. Under these BCSBI guidelines, customers can get transparent banking services without discrimination or bias. The BCSBI keeps updating its minimum benchmarks or codes from time to time. For example, there’s been a rise in popularity of mobile wallets and payments leading to customer grievances of a fresh kind. Hence the BCSBI will be updating its code for customers to make provisions for mobile wallets.
- Issue of banking code compliance ratings: The BCSBI norms allow for compensation to customers if banks fail to comply with the basic guidelines. Based on the complaints received, the BCSBI ranks banks from a ‘below average’ rating to a ‘high’ rating, with the latter being the top rank and the former being the lowest.
- Overturning wrong practices:Remember the blank cheque you were made to sign at the time of taking a loan? Normally, banks are reluctant to return it at the end of the loan tenure and suggest that customers issue a stop payment against the cheque. The BCSBI has overturned this practice and many other similar, risky banking practices to help the common man. With adequate banking norms and guidelines in place, banking becomes easy and streamlined for you as a customer.
BCSBI versus the Banking Ombudsman
The BCSBI is unique and different from the Banking Ombudsman, which helps you resolve banking services related problems. The BCSBI only issues guidelines for the banks for retail and corporate banking customers, and reviews the banks from time to time on compliance. The Ombudsman, on the other hand, is someone you approach when you need resolution of grievances with a bank.
The BCSBI codes help you get good banking service from public and private banks without any bias. All banks follow a stipulated benchmark to allow for clear and transparent banking. Know the BCSBI guidelines to ensure you are getting the best service from your neighborhood bank branch. For more information about this, check out the BCSBI website (http://www.bcsbi.org.in/)