Is there an Ombudsman for hearing complaints against NBFCs or RBI have grievance redressal mechanism in place for NBFCs?

There is no separate Ombudsman for addressing public complaints against Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) in India. And for all practical purposes, there is no effective regulatory or supervisory authority in India that can properly address public complaints against NBFCs. But on paper at least there are two such public authorities. One - Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and Two - Company Law Board (CLB). I will give the specific information on where complaints against NBFCs in India can be lodged later in this page but before that, something important needs to be mentioned. This is RBI's official advice to the members of public who have a complaint/grievance against an NBFC: ".**..Citizens may lodge their complaints/grievances, including complaints pertaining to non-repayment of deposits with the Department of Non-Banking Supervision, in the nearest Regional Office of the Reserve Bank. Depositors can also approach Company Law Board (CLB), or the State Police under the Protection of Interest of Depositor’s Act, if passed by the concerned State Governments or file a complaint with the Consumer Forum or file a civil suit in a Court of law to recover the deposits..."**

**No**, there is no Ombudsman for hearing complaints against NBFCs. However, in respect of credit card operations of an NBFC, which is a subsidiary of a bank, if a complainant does not get satisfactory response from the NBFC within a maximum period of thirty (30) days from the date of lodging the complaint, the customer will have the option to approach the Office of the concerned Banking Ombudsman for redressal of his grievance/s. If complaints or grievances against the NBFCs are submitted to the nearest office of the Reserve Bank of India, the same are taken up with the NBFC concerned to facilitate resolution of the grievance/complaint. Further, all NBFCs have in place a Grievance Redressal Officer, whose name and contact details have to be mandatorily displayed in the premises of the NBFCs. The grievance can be taken up with the Grievance Redressal Officer. In case the complainant is not satisfied with the settlement of the complaint by the Grievance Redressal Officer of the NBFC, he/she may approach the nearest office of the Reserve Bank of India with the complaint. The details of the Office of the Reserve Bank has also to be mandatorily displayed in the premises of the NBFC.