The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has clarified on the mode of receipt of complaints under the integrated ombudsman scheme(RB-IOS), saying it has taken note of various instances of misinformation being spread through social media about the scheme.

Instances of misinformation being spread through certain sections of the social media about the Reserve Bank - Integrated Ombudsman Scheme 2021 (RB-IOS) have come to the notice, the Central bank said.

"These messages are conveying to public at large to lodge their complaints against entities regulated by RBI through third parties for a charge/fee or otherwise for early redress of grievances," it added.

RBI clarified that it does not have arrangements with any entity for redress of grievances against the regulated entities (REs). "The RBI has laid down a cost free grievance redress mechanism under RB-IOS which does not involve payment of fees or charges in any form or manner," it said.

RBI said customers having grievances against regulated entities for deficiency in services, which is not redressed satisfactorily or in a timely manner can directly lodge their complaint on the complaint management system (CMS) portal (https://www.rbi.org.in) or by e-mail at crpc@rbi.org.in or in physical mode at the ‘centralised receipt and processing centre’ (CRPC) set up at RBI, 4th Floor, Sector 17, Chandigarh - 160017.

Complainants having queries on RB-IOS or desiring information relating to their complaints lodged through the above methods, can reach the contact centre of RBI at toll-free #14448 (currently available from 9:30 am to 5:15 pm on working days) in Hindi, English and nine regional languages (Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Odia, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu).

The status of complaints can also be tracked on the CMS portal, RBI said