BoZ provides guidelines on how to lodge complaints against banks, other financial institutions

The Bank of Zambia (BoZ) has guided customers on how to report their complaint whenever they are dissatisfied with services provided by financial institutions.

The Central Bank directed that all complains must be put in writing, starting with the Financial Service Provider (FSP) before it reached the BoZ for it to act.

The guidance was provided by, Calvin Habasonda, BoZ Assistant Director, Regulatory Policy, Licensing and Liquidations in the Prudential Supervision Department on Tuesday on the Central Bank’s official Facebook page.

“It is critical for a customer to put it in writing their complaint so that as they come to the BoZ, there is a track record of the communication with the financial service provider.

“The issue is that the BoZ interposes between a customer, who is in a weaker position if you like, and a FSP which has got all the resources and usually the FSP do not take the complaints of the customers seriously and therefore where this is the case, the BoZ kind of mediates between the customer and the FSP,” Habasonda said.

He explained that there was a mechanism provided for the process of making a complaint whenever customers felt aggrieved by a FSP.

Habasonda further explained that the first point of contact was for the customers to go to the FSP to lodge a complaint, whose response was expected within 10 days.

“They are then free to escalate their concerns to the Managing Director or the Chief Executive Officers who would be responding within 15 days and if there is no response, then they can come to the BoZ and we can pick up that complaint.

“But in terms of a legal framework, I think we have a sufficient legal framework that allows us to be able to undertake some of these activities and if anything, compel the FSP to be able to provide clarity on the issues of concern to the customer” he said.

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