As announced in Para 11 of the Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies of the Monetary Policy Statement dated April 04, 2019, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today has extended the coverage of Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), 2018 (the Scheme) to eligible Non Deposit Taking Non Banking Financial Companies (NBFC-NDs) having asset size of ₹ 100 crore or above with customer interface vide Notification dated April 26, 2019.

The Non Banking Financial Company-Infrastructure Finance Company (NBFC-IFC), Core Investment Company (CIC), Infrastructure Debt Fund-Non-banking Financial Company (IDF-NBFC) and an NBFC under liquidation, are excluded from the ambit of the Scheme.

The Scheme was launched on February 23, 2018 for redressal of complaints against NBFCs registered with RBI under Section 45-IA of the RBI Act, 1934 and covered all deposit accepting NBFCs to begin with. It provides a cost-free and expeditious complaint redressal mechanism relating to deficiency in the services by NBFCs covered under the Scheme. The offices of the NBFC Ombudsmen are functioning at four metro centres viz. Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi and handle complaints of customers in the respective zones.

The Scheme also provides for an Appellate mechanism under which the complainant / NBFC has the option to appeal against the decision of the Ombudsman before the Appellate Authority.

The complete Scheme is available on RBI's website.

Yogesh Dayal
Chief General Manager

Ombudsman scheme extended to eligible non-deposit NBFCs with customer interface and asset-based coverage, with complaint and award limits. The Reserve Bank extended the Ombudsman Scheme to eligible Non-Deposit Taking NBFCs with customer interface and assets of Rs.100 crore or above, excluding NBFC-IFC, Core Investment Companies, IDF-NBFCs and NBFCs under liquidation. The Scheme provides a free, summary complaint mechanism via four regional Ombudsman offices, permits conciliation or Awards after hearing, and imposes admissibility conditions including prior representation and limitation periods. Awards direct specific performance or compensation subject to caps (actual loss or one million rupees limit; up to one hundred thousand rupees for distress), with an appellate route and NBFC display and nodal officer obligations.