RBI receives the most complaints against private banks in FY25, the annual ombudsman report shows

A total of 13.34 lakh complaints were received under the RB-IOS in FY25, compared to 11.75 lakh in the previous fiscal. | Photo credit: FRANCIS MASCARENHAS

“Among the banks, the proportion of complaints received against private sector banks was the highest and increased from 34.39 per cent in FY 2023-24 to 37.53 per cent in FY 2024-25. However, the proportion of complaints received against public sector bank, which was highest in FY 2023-24, fell from 38.32 per cent in FY 2023-24 to 34.80 per cent in the financial year 2023-24. Financial year 2024-25,” the annual report said.

A total of 13.34 lakh complaints were received under the RB-IOS in FY25, compared to 11.75 lakh in the previous fiscal. At the end of FY25, 16,128 complaints were pending with the RBI’s Centralized Receipt and Processing Center (CRPC).

Among the different categories of complaints, complaints related to loans were the highest, followed by complaints related to credit cards, which had the second highest contribution to complaints. The number of complaints about mobile/electronic banking fell by 13 percent year-on-year.

For FY26, the RBI’s Consumer Education and Protection Department has identified the following objectives for enhancing consumer protection and improving grievance redressal mechanism: i) Review of ‘Reserve Bank-Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021’; ii) Revision of guidelines on ‘Strengthening the complaints handling system at RE level’; iii) Revision of the ‘Master Direction – Reserve Bank of India (Internal Ombudsman for Regulated Entities) Directions, 2023’; iv) Issuance of master guidelines for a grievance redressal framework in renewable energy sources; and v) Upgrade of the complaints management system.

Published on December 1, 2025