SBP tells banks to boost consumers’ protection mechanism

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has directed banks to further improve the consumer grievance handling mechanism deployed at their end.

The SBP is in continuous pursuit of strengthening the consumer protection regime and market conduct of the industry. Amongst other efforts, the SBP is focusing on improvement in grievance handling mechanisms at banks, microfinance banks (MFBs) and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) (hereinafter referred to as banks) with the aim to provide more affordable, accessible, fair, accountable, and efficient grievance redressal.

For this purpose, various measures have been taken by the SBP to enhance responsible complaint handling by the banks as they handle more than 97 percent of complaints related to the banking industry, in a year. Recently, the SBP conducted a detailed review of complaint handling practices at banks, primarily focusing on ‘ease of lodgment’, and ‘quick and fair disposal’ of complaints.

Now, based on the findings of the review and the role of complaints in improvising banking services, the SBP has directed banks to enhance the grievance handling mechanism deployed at their end.

In order to make complaint lodgment at banks easier and accessible, the SBP has prescribed mandatory modes of complaint lodgment to banks with a direction to ensure their availability and accessibility at all times.

These modes include call centers, emails, e-forms, surface mail, fax, and complaint boxes/registers. Additionally, the banks have also been encouraged to invest in innovative modes of complaint lodgment like receiving complaints through SMS/Call Back Service, mobile applications, self service kiosks and other social media platforms. Such investment will not only boost convenience for customers rather it will help banks capture/handle complaints in a better way.

Banks have also been advised to send awareness SMS messages at least on a bi-annual basis to create adequate awareness regarding the complaint lodgment modes deployed.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021