Credit Cards Woes Form Largest Chunk of Complaints for Private Banks, Mobile Banking for Public Sector Banks

The largest share of public sector banks' complaints is for mobile banking while for private banks, it is for credit cards, brokerage firm Elara Securities said.

Customer complaints rose 68 per cent YoY in FY23, with 6.69 complaints per 100,000 accounts.

Most complaints are from Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Gujarat, which are 3.0x the national average.

Complaints from rural and semi-urban centers are on the rise - they form more than 30 per cent of overall, Elara Securities said.

More than 85 per cent of complaints are aimed at banks and public sector banks (PSB) form a larger proportion at 43 per cent in FY23 but down from 51 per cent in FY22. Private banks (32 per cent of overall) and small finance banks (SFB [4 per cent]) have seen a rise in complaints.

Among lenders, NBFC saw the sharpest rise, from 7 per cent in FY22 to 14 per cent in FY23, primarily from non-adherence to the Fair Practice Code, and credit cards form the largest chunk of complaints for private banks, loans and advances for SFB and mobile banking for public sector banks (PSB).

Customer complaints and grievances are behind a slew of regulatory actions undertaken by the RBI in recent times, Elara Securities said.

The Central Bank has formed a medium-term Strategy Framework for 2023-25, Utkarsh 2.0, wherein it aims to review, consolidate, and update the extant regulatory guidelines on customer service. A Committee was set up to probe them and submitted a report, recommendations of which are being examined for implementation.

"While it is difficult to ascertain actions with certainty, these datapoints does indicate directions and highlight key monitorables especially when seen in backdrop of recent RBI regulatory actions," Elara Securities said.