RBI Deputy Governor Swaminathan J
Internal ombudsmen (IOs) should provide a meaningful, fair and effective resolution of customer complaints and reduce external escalation, said Swaminathan J, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India.
He also requested the IOs to identify recurring issues, undertake root cause analysis and help implement remedial measures.
The Internal Ombudsman serves as the final independent level of review within a regulated entity (bank, non-banking financial company, credit information company, among others) for customer complaints that have not been fully resolved, before the customer approaches the RBI Ombudsman or another external forum.
IO mechanism
In his keynote address at the third annual conference of Internal Ombudsmen, Swaminathan urged Boards and senior management to empower the IO mechanism and use its insights to strengthen customer service and grievance redress.
The conference sessions covered recent grievance redress developments, regulatory expectations, and RBI Ombudsman insights, focusing on faster, higher-quality resolutions and systemic improvements to prevent avoidable escalations, per an RBI statement.
The conference brought together IOs from across a representative spectrum of regulated entities including banks, non-banking financial companies, credit information companies and other regulated entities.
Managing Directors and Chief Executive Officers, Executive Directors in charge of customer service, Principal Nodal Officers of regulated entities as well as RBI Ombudsmen and central bank senior officials, including Sonali Sen Gupta, Executive Director, attended the conference.
Published on July 13, 2026
