Complaints against banks tripled in FY06

Blame it on the absence of oversight, but complaints against banks increased more than three times in fiscal 2006 after the new Banking Ombudsman Scheme was put in place in January 2006. Interestingly, the number of complaints against public sector banks has clocked a decline as compared with foreign and private banks. Thescheme fielded 31,732 complaints against banks in fiscal 2006. The increase in the number of complaints is partly because the new scheme includes oversight of areas such as credit card complaints, non-compliance with codes and levy of charges without prior notice. Staff Writer