FY25 Sees Surge in RBI Ombudsman Grievances Private Banks Lead Complaints

RBI Reports 13% Rise in Ombudsman Complaints in FY25

The Reserve Bank of India has reported a notable rise in consumer grievances under its Integrated Ombudsman Scheme for FY25, signalling heightened awareness among customers as well as persistent service gaps across banks and financial institutions. The total volume of complaints reflects evolving customer expectations in a rapidly digitalising banking ecosystem.

Steady Growth in Grievances Filed

In FY25, the ombudsman framework received 13,34,244 complaints , up from 11,75,075 in FY24—an increase of 13% . Although significant, this growth is lower than the sharp 33% surge witnessed in FY24. The RBI attributes the rising numbers to broader digital adoption, increased transaction volumes, and wider dissemination of grievance redressal channels among bank customers.

Distribution Across Processing Centres

Among the total complaints, 2,96,321 were received directly by the 24 RBI Ombudsman Offices, while the Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre (CRPC) handled 9,11,384 submissions. The CRPC forwarded over one lakh cases to ombudsman offices and more than ten thousand to Consumer Education and Protection Cells. A large share—over 7.7 lakh grievances —were classified as non-maintainable and closed at the preliminary stage. As of March 31, 2025, CRPC had 16,128 pending cases.

Categories and Sector-Wise Trends

Loans and advances continued to dominate grievance categories, reflecting rising credit penetration and customer-interface issues. Credit card complaints became the second-highest category. In contrast, mobile and electronic banking complaints fell by nearly 13% , indicating improvements in digital platforms.
Banks accounted for over 80% of all complaints, while NBFCs contributed almost 15%. Private sector lenders saw their share climb to 37.53% , and small finance banks recorded a sharp 42% rise .

Exam Oriented Facts

• Total FY25 ombudsman complaints: 13,34,244 .

• Private banks’ share increased to 37.53% .

• Small finance bank complaints surged 42% .

• Mobile/e-banking complaints declined 12.74% .