The Central Bank expects the Licensed Person to provide services to its customers in an utmost professional manner and to ensure their rights are appropriately protected. This chapter summarizes the minimum standards that a Licensed Person must maintain at all times in order to handle complaints from its customers effectively and efficiently.

1. 17.1.1The Licensed Person must implement appropriate processes and procedures to resolve complaints from its customers in a timely manner.

1. 17.2.1The Licensed Person must assign a dedicated phone number and an email ID for its customers to lodge their complaints;
2. 17.2.2The designated phone number and the email ID must be printed on all receipts given to the customer and also must be displayed at a prominent location in the licensed premises;
3. 17.2.3The Licensed Person must appoint/designate, subject to Paragraph 17.2.4 of this Chapter, an officer for handling customer complaints at its Head Office. The responsibilities of this officer must include the following:
   1. a)Receive complaints from customers either directly or through the branches;
   2. b)Record all complaints irrespective of its nature in a separate register;
   3. c)Resolve customer complaints; and
   4. d)Submit periodical reports to the Manager in Charge.
4. 17.2.4Depending on the nature, size and complexity of the business, the Licensed Person may appoint a dedicated Officer to handle customer complaints or combine this role with another suitable function subject to the conditions under Paragraphs 7.2.4 (a) of Chapter 7, 16.4.7 (a) and 16.5.1 (g) of Chapter 16;
5. 17.2.5Appropriate registers and log sheets must be maintained to record all customer complaints. Adequate entries must be made in such registers to demonstrate when the complaint was received or how and when it was resolved; and
6. 17.2.6All customer complaints must be dealt with fairly and promptly.

1. 17.3.1The Licensed Person must send a confirmation upon the receipt of every complaint to the customer within two (2) business days via SMS or email;
2. 17.3.2All complaints must be resolved within a reasonable period of time which shall not exceed ten (10) business days;
3. 17.3.3A final response must be provided to the customer within ten (10) business days; and
4. 17.3.4In case, a complaint is not resolved within ten (10) business days (i.e. an overdue complaint), the Licensed Person must update the customer, on the very next business day, with reasonable justifications for the possible delay.

1. 17.4.1The details of all overdue complaints for each month must be reported to the Manager in Charge within five (5) business days from the end of every month; and
2. 17.4.2The Manager in Charge must evaluate the effectiveness of the customer complaint procedure based on the report on overdue complaints.

1. 17.5.1The scope of the internal audit must include the overall efficiency of the Licensed Person in addressing customer complaints; and
2. 17.5.2The Internal Auditor must give special attention to the turnaround time for each customer complaint and investigate the reasons for overdue complaints.