CPGRAMS -- an online platform available to citizens 24x7 to lodge their grievances to public authorities on service delivery -- has existed for close to two decades. But it has never been this active, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Pushpa Devi of Jaipur, Rajasthan, faced a long delay in receiving Rs 48,454 -- her pension arrears.
Despite repeated clarifications, the authorities concerned continued to ask her for the same documents.
She finally turned to the Centralised Public Grievance Redressal and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) for help.
That led to prompt coordination between the pension authorities and her bank (State Bank of India).
The amount was credited to her account on May 19, 2025, bringing long-awaited financial relief.
Many such facts and figures do not find a place in the balance sheets and financial statements of banks and insurance companies.
They have deep meanings and can significantly affect the future earning potential of and public trust in these institutions.
Efficient monitoring can reduce exploitation, poor service, and monopolistic practices.
On the other hand, indifference and a lack of empathy can lead to distrust, causing consumers to ultimately stay away from such institutions.
We need to look at the role of the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) in this context.
It ranks ministries based on their ability to resolve service-related grievances.
DARPG's latest report, released in September (based on August data), finds the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs at rank 1 -- among 42 ministries with 500 or more registered grievances.
The Department of Telecommunications, Department of Posts, Department of Land Resources, and the Ministry of Power follow, in this order.
The insurance division of the Department of Financial Services (DFS), in the finance ministry, is ranked 12th, and its banking division, 14th.
DARPG ranks ministries and departments in two categories: Group A and Group B.
The first refers to ministries and departments with 500 or more grievances, and the second to those with fewer than 500.
The second group in the latest report features 48 ministries.
DFS' pension reforms division tops this list, followed by the ayush ministry, the Parliamentary affairs ministry, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, and Niti Aayog.
DARPG is responsible for administrative reforms and resolving public grievances, particularly those concerning central government agencies.
Operating under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, it oversees the CPGRAMS.
It has developed a Grievance Redressal and Assessment Index (GRAI) to rank the units within the purview of respective ministries.
The index uses CPGRAMS data to calculate scores in areas such as efficiency, feedback, domain knowledge, and organisational commitment.
CPGRAMS -- an online platform available to citizens 24x7 to lodge their grievances to public authorities on service delivery -- has existed for close to two decades. But it has never been this active.
Launched in June 2007 by DARPG, the portal is connected to all central and state government ministries/departments.
It is also accessible to citizens through standalone mobile applications downloadable from the Google Play Store and mobile apps integrated with the Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance (UMANG).
Developed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the National e-Governance Division to drive mobile governance in India, UMANG offers a single platform to all citizens to access pan-India e-gov services -- ranging from central to local government bodies.
The status of the grievance can be tracked with a unique registration ID given when the complainant is registered.
If a complainant is not satisfied with the resolution, she can file an appeal.
The nature of complaints may vary -- from a delay in getting pension to high interest rates charged by banks for loans, or even difficulty in buying a train ticket.
The ministries are ranked on how they solve the problems.
The good news for financial sector customers is that DFS has been showing a steady improvement in handling grievances.
Its banking division has continuously been improving its rank -- from 24th in April to 14th in August.
During this period, the insurance division's rank has improved from 30th to 12th.
The performance of its pension reforms division has been outstanding - from 14th in April to the top of the list in August.
In August 2025, the DFS addressed 74.38 per cent of grievances and 60.22 per cent of appeals in all.
There were 22,013 banking-related grievances, of which 16,985 have been disposed of.
We must remember that, theoretically, the DFS faces the challenge of fielding the maximum number of complaints.
According to the World Bank's Global Findex 2025, 89 per cent of Indian adults now own a financial account.
As of September 2025, there are at least 566 million bank accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana scheme.
Handling grievances in the space of finance is not easy since complaints range from the late opening of a bank branch to complex disputes on corporate loans, processing fees, and property mortgages, among others.
A point to note is that except for 155 complaints, DFS has resolved all complaints within 21 days -- its self-imposed turnaround time (TAT) for grievance redressal.
TAT is an important part of GRAI as it tests how long the consumers are willing to wait for resolution.
For public sector banks (PSBs), only 24 grievances exceeded the 21-day limit in August.
Non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and private banks have seen 89 grievances going beyond the limit.
DARPG has set a time limit of 30 days for resolving appeals.
PSBs have no pending appeals beyond 30 days, while NBFC and private banks have 20.
The GRAI Index has different parameters for different ministries.
For DFS, this is based on four metrics: Efficiency carries 45 per cent weight and is measured by resolution within 21 days, average resolution time, and pending cases; feedback (30 per cent), based on satisfactory comments, number of appeals filed; domain knowledge (15 per cent), on the ratio of urgent complaints, and adequacy of categorisation; and organisational commitment (10 per cent), determined by staff allocation versus grievances received.
DFS recently adjusted this for its banking and insurance units by removing domain knowledge from the metrics and giving 55 per cent weightage to efficiency, 35 per cent to feedback, and 10 per cent to organisational commitment.
Among PSBs, Indian Overseas Bank has held the top rank since June.
Bank of India has advanced from 10th position in June to 2nd in July, and has maintained this rank in August.
Among private banks, Yes Bank Ltd has moved up to 1st position in August from 2nd in July, while IndusInd Bank Ltd is ranked the lowest due to poor turnaround time.
Karur Vysya Bank was the best performer among smaller private banks in August (less than 50 complaints at any point in time).
Among insurance companies, New India Assurance has risen from the 7th position in July to 1st in August, and Life Insurance Corporation of India has held on to its 2nd position for two successive months -- July and August.
The monthly rankings have stirred healthy competition among banks and insurance companies for customer care.
Of course, the TAT can be reduced further by integrating the CPGRAM portal with the customer service platforms of individual banks and insurance firms.
This would allow complaints lodged on CPGRAM to flow directly to the systems of individual entities in real time.
At the same time, the system should be equipped to identify and separate habitual complainants from genuine ones.
This would help the Indian financial system to focus more efficiently on real issues, resolve them fast, and reassure customers -- for whom they exist.
Tamal Bandyopadhyay is an author and senior advisor to the Jana Small Finance Bank Ltd. His latest book is Roller Coaster: An Affair with Banking.
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff
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