Grievance Redressal Policy

Definitions

The following terms are used in this policy with the meaning specified here in:

“Board” shall mean the Board of Directors of SFS from time to time.

“Client”, who may avail financial and other facilities from SFS, as per the extant policies of SFS.

“Grievances” shall mean complaint, resentment, dispute, disagreement etc. arising out of the practices, procedures and codes, followed by SFS in its Client dealings

In order to provide the Clients with a grievance redressal system and to enable them register their complaints and resolve it in a timely & fair manner, the following procedure has to be adopted:

All Loan Card will be provided with the mobile number of the Nodal Officer appointed for redressal of Grievance and Tool Free Number dedicated for clients. Toll Free Number will be dedicated for receiving complains directly from the clients in the dedicated number, which shall be informed to all the clients. The helpline will remain opened during the office hours only in all working days from 9 AM to 6 PM.

Notice Board: All branches shall display its products detail with effective interest rate in their office notice board in vernacular languages or the language understood by clients, name of BRM, AM &Zonal Business Head with their phone numbers.

Any complaints received at the Branch / HO shall be entered in the Complaint Register and resolved within a period of 15 days from the date of receipt of the same.

In case of any unresolved grievances beyond 15 days, the complainant shall be informed to refer/contact the following:

Clients Grievance Cell/Grievance Redressal Officer
Sampark Fin Services Private Limited.
HIG – 174, Dharma Vihar, Khandagiri, Odisha - 751030.
Telephone – 0674-2351156
Toll Free Number: 1800 345 7199

The grievance Cell will monitor the complaints on a regular basis to access types of complaints, time generally taken for resolving the problems and ensure that all the complaints are resolved within stipulated 15 days. A status report on such complaints will be placed before the Board in its quarterly meeting.

The key principles of SFS’s grievance redressal policy are as under:

Clients be treated fairly at all times

Grievances raised by clients are dealt with courtesy, efficiency and swiftly, not exceeding within prescribed time lines

SFS’s employees shall act in good faith and without prejudice to the interests of the client and within the laid down policies and guidelines of SFS

Clients are fully informed of avenues to escalate their complaints / grievances within the organization and their rights to alternative remedy if they are not fully satisfied with the response of SFS to their complaints

Categories of Client’s Communications with SFS:

Query - These may be general inquiries, primarily relating to SFS loans, interest rates, insurance coverage, premium, repayment terms, eligibility norms, categories of loans, eligibility criteria for enrollment, terms of financing etc.

Request –Requests for obtaining any valid services including loan support through JLG/SHG by the clients directly by SFS

Grievance – A communication by prospective/existing Clients of SFS that expresses dissatisfaction because of lack of action, inadequate quality of services by SFS Branch and HO

Grave/urgent Grievance – Related to staff misbehavior, cheating/fraud, false commitments, misconduct with the clients

Suggestion/Feedback – related to functions/roles of SFS with respect to its operations, policies or practices

Mechanism for complaints:

Client can lodge his/her grievance through any of the following channels:

Complaint in Person: A Client can lodge a complaint in person during working hours at Branch of SFS, by submitting a written letter and giving full details, to Branch and obtain an acknowledgement for the same.

Complaints through post/mail/email/box: Client can drop the grievance in the Complaint Box in the branches and Head Office. Clients can also submit their grievances by post at the following address or through email at esampark@samparkfin.in by giving full disclosures and details of the complainant and giving specific instances of the cause of complaint.

Clients Grievance cell
Sampark Fin Services Private Limited.
HIG – 174, Dharma Vihar, Khandagiri, Odisha - 751030.
Telephone – 0674-2351156
Toll Free Number: 1800 345 7199

Complaints/suggestions through Toll Free Number 1800 345 7199 and Telephone – 0674-2351156. The client can lodge the complaint over phone during office hour from 9.30 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. to Client Grievance Cell.

Resolution of grievances / complaints:

Complaints through Toll Free Number will be received by Client Grievance Cell. Any complaint through e-mail / letters / person/ shall be acknowledged promptly after receipt, at the SFS Corporate office or Regional / Branch Offices as and when set up.

The Complaints should be registered in the Client Grievance Register (CGR) maintained electronically and/or physically, and shall include full details of the complainant (name, address and contact details), date of receipt, fact of the complaint, category of complaint etc.

The Grievance Redressal Officer (GRO) of SFS will take steps to redress the grievances with care and diligence, normally within the period of 15 working days from the date of receipt of the complaints.

If the complainant is not satisfied with the reply/action/resolution given by Grievance Redressal Officer (GRO), he/she may directly approach the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), SFS for further action on the same.

Anonymous complaints will not be entertained.

Internal Machineries to handle Client complaints / grievances:

Client Grievance Cell (CGC)

The Client Grievance Cell (CGC) will be the first point of contact for the clients in most of the cases. CGC will be responsible to receive the complaint of Clients by whatever means, i.e.through Toll Free Number, mobile, in person, post, mail etc. Similarly, the complaints received by Branch Officers will also be forwarded to CGC with related documents/enclosures (if any) for early resolution on the next working day of receipt of the complaint.

CGC will provide an acknowledgment for the complaint received from the Client within 5 working days of the receipt, and also make necessary entries in the Client Grievance Register (CGR) which shall include but without limitation to, full details of the complainant (name, address, and contact details), date of receipt, fact of the complaint, category of complaint etc. Then the complaints forwarded to the concerned authority to process it and to resolve it to the satisfaction of the client. In the Register will also include the person to whom forwarded on which date and date of resolution and information to the client.

The Grievance Redressal Officer

GRO will have the responsibilities of ensuring early resolution of complaints

GRO will first examine the nature of the Complaint and initiate necessary action to address the complaint to the satisfaction of the complainant. He/She will also ensure to record the action initiated or taken in the CGR along with the status of the complaint - resolved/unresolved or escalated to next level, as the case may be

GRO will circulate the monthly Action Taken Report on all the complaints received, within 7 working days of the next month to the CEO and Risk Head for information/guidance

Time Frame

The Complaints received will be analyzed from all possible angles. All efforts will be made to resolve each complaint received generally within the stipulated time as per the following escalation matrix:

There may be some complaints which require deeper analysis from all possible angles which may cause delayed resolution of the complaint. In such cases,
SFS will try to resolve the grievances at the earliest depending on the nature of the case. Such delay in addressing the complaint beyond the prescribed time limit shall be conveyed to the complainant along with reasons for the same.

If the resolution of the complaint is delayed beyond 30 days of receipt, or the complainant is not satisfied with the reasons of delay conveyed to him/her, he/she may appeal to the Officer-in-Charge of the Regional Office of Department of Non-Banking Supervision (DNBS) of RBI.

Reporting to Board of Directors

Summary of the Client grievance reports along with actions initiated would be reported to the Board at least once in a year.

The report shall contain information like, the total no. of complaints received, disposed of and pending, with reasons thereof, which will be placed before the Board for information/guidance.

Mandatory display at the offices:

At the operational level, SFS shall ensure to display the following information prominently, for the benefit of its Clients, at its places of business:

Contact details (Toll Free Number/Telephone/Mobile nos./email address) of the Grievance Redressal Cell and Grievance Redressal Officer who can be approached by the client for resolution of grievance related to fraud/cheating.

If the complaint/dispute is not redressed within a period of one month, the Client may appeal to the Officer-in-Charge of the Regional Office of Department of Non-Banking Supervision (DNBS) of RBI, under whose jurisdiction the registered office of the SFS falls.

Interaction with Clients :

SFS recognizes that client’s expectations/requirements/grievances can be better appreciated through personal interaction with clients and publicity of grievance redressal machinery by placing them on its website/its offices at the regional level/corporate office.

Sensitizing Operating Staff

Sensitizing operating staff for improvement in service & handling complaints SFS deals with Clients from different segments, which may give rise to difference of opinion and areas of friction. SFS understands the importance of sensitizing staff to handle Client complaints/grievances with courtesy, empathy and promptness. SFS shall also conduct training programmes regularly for staff on client services and minimizing grievances. Imparting soft skills required for handling Clients, would be an integral part of the training programs.

Grievance Redressal Contact Details:

Mr. Ashish Kumar Nayak,
Client Grievance Redressal Officer
Sampark Fin Services Private Limited
Tel:+91-674-2351335, Mobile: 8118062116
Email: ashish@samparkfin.in
Toll-Free Client Grievance Redressal Helpline 18003457199

Officer in Charge, MFIN India
Habib Shaik
Designation- AVP (East & North East)
Contact No: +91 9831088660
Email: habibshaik@mfinindia.org
Toll-Free Client Grievance Redressal Helpline 18002700317