BANKING CODES AND STANDARDS BOARD OF INDIA (Jan.2018)

RBI constituted committee on Procedures and Performance Audit of Public Services in November 2003, under the chairmanship of Shri S. S. Tarapore (former Dy. Governor) to address the issues relating to availability of adequate banking services to the common man. Therefore, RBI, in its Monetary Policy Statement in April 2005 announced setting up of the Banking Codes and Standards Board of India (BCSBI) in order to ensure that comprehensive code of conduct for fair treatment of customer was evolved and adhered to. The BCSBI has been registered as a separate society under the Society Registration Act, 1860. Commercial banks, RRBs and Urban Banks are its members.

The BCSBI functions as an autonomous body to monitor and assess the compliance with codes. This is a Code of Customer Rights, which sets minimum standards of banking practices we will follow as a member of BCSBI while dealing with individual customers. It provides protection to customers and explains how a member bank is required to deal with customers in its day-to-day operations.

      The Code does not replace or supersede regulatory or supervisory instructions of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and we will comply with such instructions / directions issued by RBI from time to time. The Code may have set higher standards than those prescribed in the regulatory instructions and such higher standards will prevail as the Code represents the best practices voluntarily agreed to by us as our commitment to you.

Objectives of the Code: The Code has been developed to:

1. Promote good and fair banking practices by setting minimum standards in our dealings with you;
2. Increase transparency so that you can have a better understanding of what you can reasonably expect from us;
3. Encourage market forces, through competition, to achieve higher operating standards;
4. Promote a fair and cordial relationship between you and your bank;
5. Foster confidence in the banking system;
6. Promote safe and fair customer dealing in case of banking in a digitized environment;
7. Increase awareness of customers and to enhance customer protection.

Application of the Code: This Code applies to all the products and services listed below, whether they are provided by our branch or agents acting on our behalf, whether across the counter, over the phone, by post, through interactive electronic devices, on the internet or by any other method. However, all products discussed here may or may not be offered by us.

1. Current accounts, savings accounts, term deposits, recurring deposits, PPF accounts and all other deposit accounts;
2. Payment services such as pension, payment orders, remittances by way of demand drafts, wire transfers and all electronic transactions e.g. RTGS, NEFT, IMPS, UPI;
3. Banking services related to Government transactions;
4. Demat accounts, Equity, Government bonds;
5. Indian currency notes / coins exchange facility;
6. Collection of cheques, safe custody services, safe deposit locker facility;
7. Loans, overdrafts and guarantees;
8. Foreign exchange services including money changing;
9. Third party insurance and investment products marketed through our branch and / or our authorised representatives or agents;
10. Card products including credit cards, debits cards, ATM cards, smart cards and POS services (including credit cards offered by our subsidiaries / companies promoted by us);
11. Digital Products such as e-wallet, Mobile Banking, internet banking, UPI, BHIM, Aadhaar Pay.

Right to Fair Treatment: Act fairly and reasonably in all our dealings with you by:

1. Providing minimum banking facilities of receipt and payment of cash / cheques, remittances, exchange of soiled notes, etc. at the bank’s counter and also providing cashless transactions through alternate delivery channels.
2. Meeting the commitments and standards set in this Code, for the products and services we offer, and in the procedures and practices we follow.
3. Making sure our products and services meet relevant laws and regulations in letter and spirit and are appropriate to your needs and in line with the banking scenario, including digital banking.
4. Ensuring that our dealings with you rest on ethical principles of integrity and transparency.
5. Offering digital banking and payment systems in a secure, convenient and robust technological environment.
6. Not discriminating against you on the basis of age, race, gender, marital status, religion, disability or financial status when offering and delivering our products and services.
7. Promoting good and fair banking practices by setting minimum standards in all dealings with you.
8. Promoting a fair and equitable relationship with you.
9. Training our staff attending to you adequately and appropriately and ensuring that our staff attends to you promptly and courteously and to deal quickly and sympathetically with things that may go wrong by correcting mistakes and handling your complaints expeditiously.

Right to Transparency, Fair and Honest Dealing: We will help you to understand how our financial products and services work by:

1. Giving you timely and adequate information about them and the necessary safeguards in any one or more of the following languages – Hindi, English or the appropriate local language.
2. Ensuring that our advertising and promotional literature is clear and not misleading. We will make every effort to ensure that the contracts or agreements we frame are transparent, easily understood by and well communicated to you. The product’s price, the associated risks, the terms and conditions that govern use over the product’s life cycle Code of Bank’s Commitment to Customers – January 2018 and mutual responsibilities will be clearly disclosed. We will ensure that you are not subjected to unfair business or marketing practices, coercive contractual terms, negative confirmations or misleading representations. For achieving this, we will be following the practices and procedures given in Chapter 3 on Information Transparency and Chapter 4 on Advertising, Marketing and Sales.
3. Ensuring that you are given complete information about our products and services, minimum balance requirements, the interest rates and service charges, besides the terms and conditions applicable to them in a transparent manner through the following methods as per your preference.

1. By sending SMS or e-mails
2. Through electronic or print media
3. Display on our website
4. Display on branch notice board

[Display on website and branch notice board will be in addition to the other modes of information dissemination mentioned above.]

4. Giving you information on the facilities provided to you and how you can avail of these and whom and how you may contact for addressing your queries.

5. Displaying in our branch, for your information

1. Services we provide.
2. Minimum balance requirement, if any, for Savings Bank Accounts and Current Accounts and the charges for non-maintenance thereof.
3. Information available in booklet form

6. Displaying on our website our policies on

1. Deposits
2. Cheque collection
3. Grievance Redressal
4. Compensation
5. Collection of Dues and Security Repossession
6. Charter of Customer Rights
7. Customer Protection Policy (including protection from cyber fraud)
8. Limited Liability in respect of unauthorized electronic banking transactions
9. Facilities for senior citizens and differently abled persons.

7. To increase awareness of the Code among customers we will

1. provide you with a copy of the Code when you open an account with us and otherwise on request.
2. make available this Code at our every branch and on our website.
3. ensure that our staff are trained to provide relevant information about the Code and to effectively put the Code into practice.
4. hold customer meetings on provisions of the Code periodically.

Code of Bank’s Commitment to Micro and Small Enterprises: This is a Code, reflecting the bank’s positive commitment to its Micro and Small Enterprise (MSE) customers to provide easy, speedy and transparent access to banking services in their day-do-day operations and in times of financial difficulty. This Code is not only a Charter of Rights of the MSE but also enshrines his obligations vis-a-vis his bank.

Code of Bank’s Commitment to Customers: This is a Code of Customer Rights, which sets minimum standards of banking practices member banks have to follow while they deal with individual customer It provides protection to customers and explains how banks are expected to deal with customers in their day-to-day operations.