RBI launches Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021 by integrating its old Ombudsman Schemes

Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on November 12, 2021 launched the Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021 of the Reserve Bank of India. Ombudsman Scheme of RBI, is a grievance redressal mechanism framed by RBI for customers of banking sectors.
The new scheme integrates the existing three Ombudsman schemes of RBI namely,
1. the Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006;
2. the Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies, 2018; and
3. the Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions, 2019.
The integration of the earlier three Ombudsman Scheme is a step towards ‘One Nation One Ombudsman’ approach by making the RBI Ombudsman mechanism jurisdiction neutral.
Apart from this, Non-Scheduled Primary Co-operative Banks with a deposit size of Rs. 50 crore and above, have been brought into the ambit of Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021.
Some important features of this scheme is mentioned below:

New Scheme	In Earlier Scheme
It will no longer be necessary for a complainant to identify under which scheme he/she should file complaint with the Ombudsman.	Earlier the complainant had to figure out under which scheme (of the three scheme mentioned above) his/her complaint will fall and then register the complaint with RBI
The Scheme defines ‘deficiency in service’ as the ground for filing a complaint, with a specified list of exclusions. Therefore, the complaints would no longer be rejected simply on account of “not covered under the grounds listed in the scheme”.	Earlier complaints with ‘deficiency in service’ by banks were rejected by RBI.
The Scheme has done away with the jurisdiction of each ombudsman office. A person haveing bank account in Kanpur, can register a complaint with RBI Mumbai also.	Earlier all the Regional offices of RBI had been alloted some cities for which they would deal the complaint.
A Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre (CRPC) has been set up at RBI, Chandigarh for receipt and initial processing of physical and email complaints in any language.	No such CRPC was existing

The Executive Director-in charge of Consumer Education and Protection Department of RBI would be the Appellate Authority under the Scheme.

Points to remember:

Name of the scheme?
Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021 has subsumed how many schemes?- 3
Where has the Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre (CRPC) been setup by RBI?- Chandigarh
Non-Scheduled Primary Co-operative Banks of deposit size of ___. and above have been brought into the ambit of Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021- Rs 50 crore
Who is the Appellate Authority under the Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021?- The Executive Director

Source: RBI