Complaints like abusing, threatening or harassing you by calling repeatedly as soon as the loan installment gets late can now be a thing of the past. With the aim of increasing customer complaints and bringing discipline in the recovery process, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued draft of strict rules for debt recovery agents. Under the proposed rules, recording of every recovery call will now be mandatory and agents will have to interact in a civil manner.
The RBI draft clarifies that banks will ensure that all phone calls made by the recovery agent to the borrower are recorded. This means that now digital evidence of everything said by the agent will be available. If an agent uses abusive language or tries to intimidate the customer, it will be easy to hold him accountable. This step is being considered a major change in the direction of protecting the rights of customers and increasing transparency in the banking system.
decent behavior mandatory
According to the draft, the bank employee or recovery agent will have to behave with the borrower while maintaining decency and decorum. Not only on the phone, but even if the agent goes to the borrower’s house for recovery, it will be mandatory for him to maintain a restrained and respectful conduct.
Now activities like pressurizing, harassing family members or publicly humiliating will be stopped. This is expected to provide relief to customers from mental stress.
Training will be mandatory
RBI has also proposed to make loan recovery training conducted by the Indian Institute of Banking and Finance (IIBF) mandatory for recovery agents. That means now no person will be able to become a recovery agent without proper training and certification. This will provide agents with clear information about legal provisions, customer rights and professional conduct, thereby reducing the possibility of disputes.
Accountability will increase on banks
Experts believe that after the implementation of this draft, the loan recovery process will become more balanced and transparent. Customers will no longer need to fear without any reason, while banks will also have to keep a close watch on the activities of their agents.
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