Internal Ombudsperson

**Job Summary**
- Responsible for examining customer grievance including Complaints of deficiency of service and that are partially or wholly rejected by the Bank / SCCL. To assist in strengthening the internal grievance redressal system and to ensure that Complaints from customers are handled efficiently and in a timely manner and are provided an independent resolution Coverage includes Consumer Banking, Commercial & Private Banking and Corporate and Institutional Banking in India.

**Key Responsibilities**
- Internal Ombudsman (IO ) shall review complaints as per the Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) of the Bank / SCCL. He shall be accessing the Complaint Management system to review the cases/complaints that have already been examined by the Bank (Regulated Entity : Bank/SCB India/SCCL) which has been partly or wholly rejected.
- The following types of complaints shall be outside the purview of review by the Internal Ombudsman:

- Complaints related to corporate frauds, misappropriation etc., except those resulting from deficiency in service, if any, on the part of the regulated entity;
- References in the nature of suggestions and commercial decisions of regulated entity. However, service deficiencies in cases falling under ‘commercial decisions’ will be considered as ‘valid’ complaints by he Internal Ombudsman;
- Complaints / references relating to (i) internal administration, (ii) human resources, or (iii) pay and emoluments of staff in the regulated entity;
- Complaints which have been decided by or are already pending in other fora such as the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, courts, etc.;
- Disputes for which remedy has been provided under Section 18 of the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005
- The Internal Ombudsman will review all complaints rejected / partially rejected complaints under the categories (a) and (b) above and review them for inherent deficiency in service and in such cases take a view whether any of these complaints can be exempted under (a) and / or (b) above as decided by the Bank.
- The Internal Ombudsman is required to analyse the pattern of complaints such as product / category wise, consumer group wise, geographical location wise, etc., and suggest means for taking actions to address the root cause of complaints of similar / repeat nature and those that require policy level changes in the Bank / SCCL.
- IO will access bank records/system and shall examine the complaints based on records available, including any documents submitted by the complainant and comments or clarifications furnished by the Bank / SCCL to the specific queries of the Internal Ombudsman.
- The IO (where required) will seek additional information and documents from the complainant, through the regulated entity. In the case of CICs, the Internal Ombudsman may seek additional information from the concerned Credit Institution/s (CI) through CIC. The Internal Ombudsman must record a “reasoned decision” in each case.
- Access the Bank’s / SCCL’s records regarding the Complaints received, seek detailed comments from the Bank / SCCL with regards to the Complaint, seek records/ documents to discharge his/ her duty to address grievances
- Hold meetings with the functionaries and departments concerned and, if need be, seek feedback/ clarifications from complainants
- The Internal Ombudsman shall, on a quarterly basis, analyse the pattern of all complaints received -entity-wise (for CICs), product-wise, category-wise, consumer group-wise, geographical location-wise, etc., and provide inputs to the Bank / SCCL for policy intervention, if so warranted.
- In cases of conciliation, where the decision of the Internal Ombudsman is accepted by the complainant, keep on record a statement showing the terms of the agreement duly signed by the complainant
- The Internal Ombudsman shall be designated as an ex-officio member or a permanent invitee to the meetings of the Committee of the Board of regulated entity handling customer service and protection. Hes/she shall furnish periodical reports to the Customer Service Committee of the board (preferably quarterly but not less than half yearly intervals) on his / her activities to the Committee of the Board handling customer service and protection. Identify trends and or systemic problems and report these to the relevant committee.
- Recommend improvements to services and processes to strengthen the Banks / SCCL Customer Grievance Redressal System
- Resolves cases at the earliest opportunity, using the most appropriate means, including MI and formal reports.
- Actively manage the caseload to ensure all work is completed to a high-quality standard. Maintain high quality customer service, using appropriate communication methods dealing with internal and external customers within required timelines
- Promote the culture and practice of compliance with regulations and treating customers fairly
- Maintain and continuously develop a thorough knowledge of grievance r