The following document serves to provide the details of grievance redressal mechanisms for customers and the procedure the employees at ASIRVAD need to follow when such a complaint arises.
Mode of Complaints
Considering customer profile, their literacy level and vulnerability, ASIRVAD has identified various channels of sourcing customer complaints proactively.
Customer
Enquiries / Complaints received at field
Customers can submit their written or verbal enquiries / complaints to any ASIRVAD staff who meets them at any forum such as center meetings, CGTs, GRTs and exit interviews, dedicated Toll Free Number etc. These enquiries / complaints shall be forwarded to Grievance Redressal Manager – HO for further follow up and resolution. If any complaints are received during center meeting visit then staff should update the same in Center Meeting Checklist and should inform to GRM (Grievance Redressal Manager – HO) which will investigate the issue with the assistance from DM’s and provide resolution to customer
2. Customer walk-ins at branches/DOs:
Verbal Complaints – Complaints received from customers at Branch, BM should inform the same through phone to GRM – HO for further process. GRM – HO will assign a reference number to the complaint and will inform the BM once it got resolved. It is the responsibility of the BM to communicate the resolution of the complaint to Customer and GRM – HO will mark as “Closed” in GRM Master once he/she gets the confirmation from BM.
Written Complaints – Customer can obtain Complaint Form and fill her complaint details (branch staff will assist if customer is not literate). All written complaint forms shall be sent to GRM – HO through post/courier, every week. Branches should keep copies of customer complaint forms for assisting the customer.
3. Customer call-ins
Customer calls to Toll Free Number – who will record the complaint, does follow ups and provides the resolution
Customer calls to Complaint Resolution Manager (at Customer care) dedicated for collating the customer grievances– Customers can call or write to GRM – HO to escalate their unresolved grievances
4.Whistle Blower
A Whistle blower is an ASIRVAD employee who gives complaint
against a colleague who allegedly involved in prohibited activities and
breaches code of conduct such as fraud, misappropriation of funds, unethical
behavior, mistreatment of customers etc. A whistle blower would also be a customer
who gives complaint against an employee or/and customer of ASIRVAD who
allegedly involved in prohibited activities, mentioned above. In this regard,
internal staff or customer of ASIRVAD can call Divisional office or Dedicated
Whistle blower in charge and submit their complaint. Investigations will occur
and appropriate actions will be taken. (Caller name will be kept confidential
if requested)
However, the caller should have enough evidence on
correctness of the customer grievance and should avoid raising unrealistic
complaints. A whistle blower reporting unrealistic complaints shall not be
punished if the complaint was raised with good intention and if there enough
grounds to suspect a colleague. A staff reporting unrealistic complaints with a
bad intention/motivation is liable to receive a disciplinary action i.e. oral
warning on first instance and a written warning in case of repetition.
5.External Complaints :
Complaints received from (on behalf of customer or on the
basis of public interest) general public & other stake holders such as Govt
agencies, RBI, police, lawyers, industry ombudsman (MFIN, Sa-dhan etc) &
social activists will also be recorded at either branch level or divisional
helpdesk level and provided with appropriate solutions. Hence, any staffs who
receive complaints from such agencies should escalate them to Complaint
Resolution Officer immediately.
Complaint
Resolution Process & Documentation
CRM will use the Helpdesk software solution for documenting and tracking customer grievances. In case branch does not have access to the software, branch should use a simple excel tracker to document and report customer complaints. The process to be followed by CRM and Divisional Helpdesk is given below
Steps
CRM
Step
1
Fill Excel Complaint Tracker and send to GRM – HO on a daily basis
Step
2
CRM will tracker all the calls received into different category as New or Follow up calls
Step
3
CRM will send all call logs to GRM – HO on a daily basis.
Step
4
GRM – HO will segregate the calls into enquiry, request and complaint along with the Severity levels. The status is shared with the CRM on daily basis and as and when the resolution received for the open cases.
Step
5
CRM will convey resolution details to customer
Turn-around Time: –
All complaints will be resolved within
5 days unless and otherwise there is a reason for verification and enquiry.
If the complaint / dispute is not
redressed by ASIRVAD within a period of one month, the customer may appeal to
the Officer-in-Charge of the Divisional Office of DNBS of RBI – Chennai.
Branch display on grievance redressal mechanism should also contain contact
details of both ASIRVAD Grievance Resolution Officer and the Officer-in-Charge
of Divisional Office of the RBI.
Assessing completeness of resolution: –
Repeated
Complaints: – Each time a
customer calls, there must be check to determine whether the call is regarding
a new issue or a “follow up” call. Each personnel who receive the
complaint must ensure that a follow up call can be traced back to the original
call using the call reference number or the customer details. There must be
immediate action and resolution sought in case of repeated complaints
Cross Check:
– CRM Team & GRM – HO are
responsible to call complainants on random sample basis to assess satisfactory
and timely resolution of complaints.
FLOWCHART (General Process of Complaint Resolution)
Internal Process
All
grievances will be segregated based on their severity and criticality. Severity
here is defined as the intensity of loss to the customer and to the company.
Grievances if necessary will be forwarded to concerned departments for further
action.
The grievances of the customers will
be categorized in four levels based on their severity. For example,
Issue
Level
4
Level
3
Level
2
Level
1
Fraud
Cases
Yes
Staff
Misbehavior
Yes
Service
Delays or Service Defects
Yes
Others
Yes
NOTE:
This list will be amended as per need
LEVEL
4: Integrity Issues, Revenue loss, etc.
LEVEL
3: Disciplinary, Misbehavior concerns, Harassment etc.
LEVEL
2: Disbursements delays, loan application delays, center meeting delays, etc.
LEVEL
1: Others, such as Co-ordination concerns in customer’s group, centre, meeting
place, etc.
All
levels of grievances will be treated equally with the same sense of urgency and
speed. However the resolution given and the action taken might vary depending
on the severity.
Roles
& Responsibilities
The following individuals and departments have tonus when a complaint is raised.
Customer Care Representative: The BM present at the branch are available for the customers to place their complaints directly through walk-ins or phone calls.
Branch Staff: If there is no Customer Care Representative, the AM should record the complaint and should forward the same to GRM – HO. It is the responsibility of the branch staffs to provide the customer with the contact information of the Customer Care Number, Grievance Redressal Manager Details, Nodal Officer details & Officer-in-Charge of the Divisional Office of DNBS of RBI – Chennai despite the fact that the same is being displayed in the office Notice Board at all DO’s/Branches..
Managing Director (for Final Escalation): Grievance Redressal Officer shall escalate all complaints which are unresolved after standard TAT to MD. Managing Director shall take up the complaint with concerned supervisor for immediate resolution.
Disciplinary committee and Internal audit Department: If the grievance raised is related to a fraud accusation against a customer or an employee of ASIRVAD, this should be escalated to the Field Internal Audit Team for their respective procedure.
Human Resources: When there is a proven fraud case or customer abuse case against an employee of ASIRVAD, this information has to be forwarded to the HR team so that further action can be taken.
Audit Department: Audit Managers, during their customer meets, shall check customer awareness level on grievance redressal process (whether customers are aware of toll-free number and GRM concept) and advice branch accordingly. If there is any service defects or customer complaints found in the field should be updated in center meeting visit checklist. Audit shall also check whether the branch displayed latest FPC posters properly or not? Are there any pending customer complaints for more than prescribed TAT? Crosschecking with few customers on satisfactory and timely resolution of complaints can also be done by Auditors.
DISSEMINATION OF FPC & GRM GUIDELINES
Human Resource Dept should have
code of conduct for field staff recruitment, training and supervision.
There should be minimum qualification necessary for the field staff and
shall have necessary training tools identified for them to deal with the
customers. Guidelines provided in Industry Code of Conduct by MFIN &
Sa-dhan, which was already approved and adopted by Board, should be
implemented effectively.
Staff Education: All field staff shall be
mandatorily trained on below mentioned concepts as part of their Basic
Level Training (Induction) and refresher trainings at periodical
intervals:
The importance of Fair
Practices Code (FPC)
The importance of Grievance
Redressal Mechanism
Their role in effective
implementation of above policies
Various methods and best
practices of FPC implementation
Basic communication and soft
skills to inculcate appropriate behaviour towards borrowers without
adopting any abusive or coercive debt collection / recovery practices.
Compensation methods and
performance review of staff should have more emphasis on areas of service
and borrower satisfaction.
Penalties shall also be imposed
on cases of non-compliance of field staff with the Code of conduct.
All branches, divisional &
head office of ASIRVAD shall prominently display a simplified Fair
Practices Code & Grievance Redressal Mechanism in English and vernacular
language for client’s information.
A copy of this FPC &
Grievance Redressal Policy should be put up on the website for the
information of various stake holders.
Client Education: Customers
should be educated on the Fair Practices Code, grievance redressal
mechanism and escalation matrix for their unresolved complaints, options,
choices and responsibilities vis-à-vis financial products and services
available. Client education to be made thru both printed education
materials and also effective verbal communication as the literacy level
among clients is generally low.
New clients must be informed
about the organization’s policies and procedures to help them understand
their rights as borrowers.
