Having a problem with Paytm, Amazon Pay, PhonePe? The internal ombudsman will resolve your grievances

Here are some of the grievances that PPI’s can address, as per the ombudsman scheme;

Digital payment service providers such as Paytm, PhonePe, Amazon Pay, etc, have been the go-to place for a while now, however, with the pandemic more so than ever. More and more people are moving towards digital payment services. It is not only easy and convenient, but it will also help you stay away from getting COVID-19. Having said so, there are many people who are not tech-savvy and find it hard to use these digital services. Most face problems with these payment apps and do not know how to solve them.

To help people with this, last year the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had directed large non-bank PPI (pre-paid instrument) issuers to have an internal ombudsman scheme to strengthen the grievance redressal process of these payment entities. RBI had announced this through its Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies (issued on October 4). Simply put, it meant that large PPI issuers had to set up an internal ombudsman to address customers’ grievances. Paytm Wallet, PhonePe Wallet, Amazon Pay, PayU, Mobikwik are some examples of pre-paid instruments.

These large PPI issuers have witnessed enormous growth with the digital agenda of the Government, both in their transaction scale and customer base, in recent times. However, with the increase in digital payment services, the rate of online related frauds and misconduct has also increased. This has lead to an increase in customer complaints. Having an internal ombudsman mechanism, helps in resolving customer grievances properly and within a defined timeframe.

RBI had launched the Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions earlier last year, wherein a customer could file a complaint with the digital ombudsman. However, even though there is the RBI Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions, you can only file a complaint with the digital ombudsman if the digital service issuer to whom you have raised the complaint does not reply to you within 30 days, or does not provide you with a proper response or rejects your complaint. Hence, you can escalate the complaint to RBI’s digital ombudsman, if the PPIs internal ombudsman does not respond to you within 30 days of raising the complaint.

Here are some of the grievances that PPI’s can address, as per the ombudsman scheme;

• Not been able to credit the merchant’s account within the estimated time
• Unable to load funds in wallets or cards within a defined time
• Unknown or unauthorized e-fund transfer to the account holder’s wallet
• Failed to transfer within the defined time, or refusal to transfer funds
• Fund not returned within a reasonable time in case of unsuccessful or rejected or canceled transactions
• Refuse to repay by the provider in case of rejected or canceled or unsuccessful transactions
• Not following the terms and conditions of a promotion offered
• In case of a cashback or rewards, if there is a delay in crediting the account of the wallet holder
• Not following the instruction of the RBI on PPI