RBI to conduct customer satisfaction survey on impact of bank mergers

 This survey is welcome with the very limited objective of assessing how the Customers feel and satisfied with the changed bank and its services after the merger of banks.   But the better approach for RBI would be to have a full fledged customer service Survey  from all banks including the so called well run private sector banks. The survey should inter- alia  include collection of various types of service Charges , Credit card charges,, internet banking  and other services fees like Locker facility, issue of travel cards  provided by banks. The fact remains that the Customers cannot get in touch with the bank by any means unlike in the past where the Customers can lodge complaints to RBI and banks branches. Phone contacts are completely ruled out. In case by any chance he gets some official to discuss the problem, the ignorance of the staff gets exposed and the customer gets all the more frustrated / confused.Some techno savvy customers can perhaps with great difficulty register some complaints and they get standardised and recorded message /replies without having any reference to the complaints and attending to them.  The call centres set up by the banks are criminal waste of man power , energy and money.  Even if they answer after making  one to go through a series of hassles , the reply one gets only takes you back to square one. Of course it makes one to be patient and finally give up the complaint benefiting the bank. The sorry state of affair is that even the rudimentary knowledge of banking is unfortunately missing in the replies even if the replies come from a fairly higher level. If at all RBI can do something, better it should find ways and means to educate and enhances the banking literacy among bankers and financial literacy among Customers. Hope something concrete would be done by RBI by understanding the big disconnection seen between bankers and customers these days. While analysing the banks' profitability if any by the RBI, it should ensure that the miscellaneous charges and various other charges levied from customers of all kinds are as per RBI guidelines if any and banks do not exploit the customers ignorance of bank charges, technology and take advantage of regulation and supervision lapses and technology dominance .Fair trade practices seem to be absent  is what the Customers generally feel and there is no one to hear leave alone to address the Customers' grievances.

Dr TVG