Who introduced the Ombudsman Scheme in India?

The correct answer is Reserve Bank of India.

Key Points

•  The Ombudsman Scheme was launched by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 12^th November 2021 under Banking Regulation Act, 1949; Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 and Payment and Settlement Act, 2007.
• The scheme was introduced to provide a quick and effective resolution to customer complaints about financial services like banking, insurance, pension, and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).
• The Integrated Ombudsman Scheme 2021 follows the "One Nation One Ombudsman" approach.
• It combines three previous Ombudsman schemes by the RBI: the Banking Ombudsman Scheme 2006, the Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) 2018, and the Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions 2019 into one unified system.
• In addition to integrating the three existing schemes, the Scheme also includes under its ambit Non-Scheduled Primary Co-operative Banks with a deposit size of ₹50 crore and above.
• The scheme provide cost-free redress of customer complaints involving deficiency in services rendered by entities regulated by RBI, if not resolved to the satisfaction of the customers or not replied within a period of 30 days by the regulated entity.
• A Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre has been set up at RBI, Chandigarh for receipt and initial processing of physical and email complaints in any language.

Additional Information

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was established on April 1, 1935 under the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.
• The first Governor of RBI was Sir Osborne Smith.
• The first Indian Governor of RBI was CD Deshmukh.
• The current Governor of RBI is Sanjay Malhotra (26^th). The four Deputy Governors of RBI are M. Rajeshwar Rao, Swaminathan Janakiraman, T. Rabi Shankar & M.D Patra.
• The RBI's headquarters is located in Mumbai, Maharashtra.