RBI Gets Lots of Complaints About PPBL from Each Branch in 2022-23, More Than Any Other Payment Banks

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recorded 501.86 complaints per branch against Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) in the fiscal year 2022-23, marking the highest number of complaints among payments banks. The complaints, received through RBI Ombudsman offices, totaled 3,513 for PPBL, leading the chart for payments banks. 

NSDL Payments Bank followed with 107.00 complaints per branch, while Airtel Payments Bank reported 41.52 complaints per branch. In contrast, India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) reported the lowest per-branch complaints at 0.56. The RBI imposed business restrictions on PPBL on January 31, citing rule breaches, with a deadline until March 15 to wind down operations.

Furthermore, among small finance banks, AU Small Finance Bank topped the complaint list with 899, followed by Equitas Small Finance Bank (375) and Jana Small Finance Bank (310). 

State Bank of India (SBI) recorded the highest complaints among public sector banks at 40,345, followed by Punjab National Bank and Bank of Baroda. In the private banking sector, ICICI Bank faced the maximum complaints with 16,602, trailed by HDFC Bank (14,979) and Axis Bank (13,713). 

The data underscores the challenges faced by payments banks in addressing customer grievances and the need for robust customer service mechanisms in the digital banking sector.