Office of the banking ombudsman for Kerala and Lakshadweep may suggest a do’s and don’ts list to banks issuing credit/debit/ATM cards to customers.
But this office has no right to put out a circular in this regard, Joseph F. R., banking ombudsman for Kerala, Lakshadweep and Mahe, told newspersons here.
AWARENESS DRIVE
The list is sought to be conveyed orally to banks at periodical meetings called by the banking ombudsman. Banks can in turn conduct awareness classes and campaigns to educate their customers on the usage of these cards and pitfalls, if any.
Office of the ombudsman received 359 complaints pertaining to plastic cards during 2011-12 (year ending June 30, 2012), Joseph said.
This accounted for 14.1 per cent of the total and was the third most in terms of the number of reported occurrences.
The highest number of complaints (699 or 27.5 per cent) received pertained to loans and advances, including educational and housing loans.
EDUCATIONAL LOANS
Joseph said that educational loans have been attracting the ire of comparably large number bank customers in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
In the case of Kerala, it was 10 per cent during 2011-12, with almost half having to do with sanctions or recoveries straight away.
The category of ‘failure to meet commitments’ accounted for 19.5 per cent (496 cases) of the total complaints received.
In all, the office received 2,541 complaints during the year under reference, which represented a 22 per cent rise over those received during the previous year.
INCREASING TREND
“I would like to see this as more as a result of increasing awareness among people of the recourse to the office of the ombudsman, and not necessarily a deterioration of quality in service,” Joseph said.
An increasing trend in the number of complaints filed was observed across the state except in the least urbanised districts of Palakkad, Malappuram and Wayanad.