Introduction (Open in Hindi)

Shivalik Small Finance Bank has adopted the following policy, in respect of handling customer complaints/grievances, With a view to ensure consistent superior service experience, the Bank shall provide a responsive, fair, expeditious and customer-centric complaint management procedures to all external customers.

In view of above the Bank shall:

• Ensure visibility and accessibility of complaint handling process to all complainants by providing access to Grievance Redressal policy to customers.
• Handle complaints promptly, professionally & in a transparent and fair manner.
• Ensure objectivity in the complaint handling process.
• Ensure confidentiality of Complainants information unless required for addressing the complaint.
• Ensure clear accountability for resolving and reporting of complaints.

Objective

The objective of the policy is to:

• Ensure all customers are provided courteous, timely and fair resolution to problems.
• Customers are given full support on the complaints raised and are made aware about the complete scenario so that the customer is satisfied and retained.
• Ensure that all the Bank employees work in good faith and without prejudice towards the interest of the customers.
• Ensure adherence to all relevant Regulatory & Statutory requirements as mandated by RBI and mentioned in the Shivalik Grievance redressal policy.
• Continually improve its processes & systems by taking inputs from customers, employees, and other interested parties.

Applicability/Coverage

The Policy will be applicable to all customers including customers from rural/SHG background.

• Defining “Complaint”:Complaint” means a representation in writing or through other modes alleging deficiency in service on the part of the bank and seeking relief thereon. The customer is having full right to register their complaint if they are not satisfied with the services provided by the bank. customer can give their complaint in writing, in person or over telephone. If customer’s complaint is not resolved within given time or if they are not satisfied with the solution provided by the bank, they can approach Banking Ombudsman with their complaint or other legal avenues available for grievance redressal

Customer Complaints Resolution Process

Ways of Contacting the Bank

At Shivalik, we are committed for providing the best customer service. Still if any point the customer feels uncomfortable in any situation, he can get in touch with us by different ways.

Three Level Grievance Redressal Mechanism

Level 1: Branch a Manager/Customer Care

• Customer can visit our branch and log their complaint in the complaint register maintained at all our branches (during working hours of the branch) or drop the complaint in the complaint box. Customer may also register their complaints by calling on our customer care number or sending their complaint to customercare@shivalikbank.com
• Customers can also give their views during customer meets where they can give their opinions/feedback on products & services of the Bank.

Level 2: Nodal Officer

• If the resolution is not provided by the Level 1 within the prescribed timeframe (as defined in bank's SOP ) or resolution provided does not meet customer’s expectation/requirement then customer can approach our Nodal Officers.
• Contact details of Nodal officers will be made available at all our branches and Bank’s website.

Level 3: Principal Nodal Officer (PNO)

• If the resolution provided at Level 2 does not meet customer’s expectation or not provided within prescribed TAT as defined in Bank’s SOP , then the customer can write to our Principal Nodal Officer at Head Office at the following email address - pno@shivalikbank.com
• Contact details of Principal Nodal Officer will be made available at all our branches and our website.

Internal Ombudsman of the Bank:

The Internal Ombudsman (IO) is an independent authority and is not a Shivalik Small Finance Bank employee. The Internal Ombudsman of the Bank is a retired or serving officer, not below the rank of General Manager or equivalent of another bank/Financial Sector Regulatory Body, NBSP / NBFC / CIC having necessary experience of minimum seven years of working in areas such as banking, non banking finance , regulation, supervision, payment, and settlement systems, credit information and/or consumer protection. The Internal Ombudsman will deal only with the complaints that have already been examined by the Bank’s internal grievance redressal mechanism and have been partly or wholly rejected by the bank. Complaints related to frauds, misappropriation, etc. except those resulting from of deficiency in service and cases pending at fora such as consumer forum, courts cases, debt recovery, etc. would not be examined by the IO. The decision of Internal Ombudsman shall be binding on the Bank. In case of disagreement with the Internal Ombudsman’s decision, the Bank may obtain approval of the /Managing Direction/CEO in charge of customer service of the Bank. All such cases shall be subsequently reviewed by the Customer Service Committee of the Board.

Escalation to Regulator Reserve Bank of India – Banking Ombudsman Scheme:

If the customer’s complaint is not resolved within the given timeline of one month, or if customer is not satisfied with the resolution provided by the Bank, they can approach Banking Ombudsman with their complaint. Details of Banking Ombudsman are already displayed at branches and on Bank’s website

Shivalik Follows This Golden Rule “First Contact Is the Last Contact for the Customer”

• Once the customer contacts any of the Shivalik Bank staff then he shall become the “First Contact” and instead of passing the complaint to any other officer he shall be responsible for providing the solution to the customer by contacting the concerned authority. Also, the ticket for the said complaint shall be raised immediately and shared with customer.
• Simultaneously customer will be informed about the proceedings happening about the complaint and keep in touch till the problem gets resolved

Time Frame and Nature of Feedback

• Complaint has to be seen in the right perspective because they indirectly reveal a weak spot in the working of the bank. Complaint received should be analyzed from all possible angles. The overall TAT for the Bank is compliant with the timelines prescribed by the Reserve Bank of India. Specific turnaround time would be set up for handling complaints and disposing them at all levels. Each complaint has a specific turnaround time. Customer, at the time of login of complaint, would ordinarily be informed of the same. Apart from this, there would be an SMS and/or Email sent to the customer acknowledging the complaint with the turnaround time. Range of TAT depending upon the nature of the complaints shall be defined in the bank’s SOP on complaint management.
• Nature of Complaint and Query can fall in any of the following categories:
• Transaction Related Complaints: Dealing with all customer transaction related matters including delay in collection of instruments/ remittance, NPCI settlement, transaction failures including electronic banking transactions using Net Banking, Mobile Banking, E-Commerce, POS, ATMs, etc.
• Account Related Complaints: Deals with general account complaints such as dispute on charges/interest, disposal of deceased cases, transfer of account, etc.
• Banking Channel Complaints: ATM, CDM, net banking, mATM, mobile banking, etc.
• Complaints received from regulatory bodies.
• Staff behavior.
• Other: Includes credit related decisions, fraud in the Account etc.

Complaint Reference Number

Bank shall record the complaints with a reference number and shall provide the same to customers immediately at the time of reporting the complaint.

Internal Machinery to Handle Complaints/Grievances

(A) Customer Service Committee of the Board

The Committee would examine any other issues having a bearing on the quality of customer service rendered. This Committee would also review the functioning of Standing Committee on Customer Service. This committee of the Board would be responsible for formulation of a Comprehensive Deposit Policy incorporating the issues such as the treatment of death of a depositor for operations of his account, the product approval process and the annual survey of depositor satisfaction and the tri-annual audit of such services. Bank will place all the awards given by the Banking Ombudsman before the Customer Service Committee of the Board, to enable them to address issues of systemic deficiencies existing in the Bank, if any, brought out by the awards.

(B) Standing Committee on customer service

The Standing Committee on customer service will be chaired by the Managing Director/CEO of the bank. Besides two to three senior executives of the bank, the committee would also have two to three eminent non-executives drawn from the public as members. The committee would have the following functions.

• Evaluate feed-back on quality of customer service received from various quarters.
• The Committee would be responsible to ensure that all regulatory instructions regarding customer service are followed by the bank
• The committee also would consider unresolved complaints/grievances referred to the committee for redressal and offer their advice.
• The committee would submit report on its performance to the customer service committee of the board at quarterly intervals

Nodal/Principal Officer for Handling Customer Services and Complaints

Bank has appointed a senior officer of the bank as Nodal/Principal officer who will be responsible for implementation of customer services and complaints resolution in the entire Bank. The details of the Nodal officer will be displayed in every branch and Bank website

Customer Service Committee in Branches

Each Branch would have a Service Committee comprising of senior members of the Branch team, viz. Branch Head, Branch Operations Manager etc. The Committee will sit on monthly basis for review. The functions of the Committee are:

• Meet selected customers on a regular basis to ascertain their feedback & comments on the service levels rendered by the Branch.
• Ensure that all regulatory & internal instructions regarding customer service are followed by the branch.
• Evaluate feed-back on quality of customer service receive from various quarters.
• Identify & work on action steps to enhance the level of customer service offered by the Branch.
• The Complaints, analyses, and action points thereon, would be shared with the Head – Customer Service for further branch wise analyses and presentation to the standing committee on customer service and customer service committee of the Board.

Mandatory Displays

It is mandatory for the bank to provide

• Appropriate arrangement for receiving complaints and suggestions.
• The name, address and contact number of Nodal Officer(s)
• Contact details of Banking Ombudsman of the area
• Code of bank’s commitments to customers/Fair Practice code

Sensitizing operating staff on handling complaints

Staff should be made aware of the complaints handling and properly trained for handling complaints. We are dealing with people and hence difference of opinion and areas of friction can arise. It would be the responsibility of the Principal Nodal Officer/ Nodal Officer to ensure that internal machinery for handling complaints/grievances operates smoothly and efficiently at all levels. The PNO/NO should give feedback on training needs of staff at various levels to the HR Dept. Shivalik bank Staff managing customers to be trained on complaint management and Grievance Redressal aspect right from initial induction phase. Periodic reinforcements should be done for effective resolution of issues.

Interaction with customers

The bank recognizes that customer’s expectation/requirement/grievances can be better appreciated through personal interaction with customers by bank’s staff. Periodic customer meetings will give a message to the customers that the bank cares for them and values their feedback/suggestions for improvement in customer service. Many of the complaints arise on account of lack of awareness among customers about bank services and such interactions will help the customers appreciate banking services better. As for the bank the feedback from customers would be valuable input for revising its product and services to meet customer requirements.

Amendment of the Policy

Any amendments to this policy will be approved by the Board of Directors (BOD) of the Bank.Any changes to the policy will be approved internally through the relevant Board approved committee. The policy as a rule will be reviewed at the Board level once a year. If there is a major change made, it will be ratified by the Board in the next meeting.