Ombudsman's terms of reference updated

5 March 2004 - Mail & Guardian

The extent to which the Ombudsman for Banking Services is able to help South Africans who have complaints against their banks has received a much needed boost, after the announcement this week that its terms of reference have been updated.

Banking Ombudsman advocate Neville Melville said on Thursday that he had received his boards' approval to revamp the rules that underpin his function, in keeping with the commitment to assist as many consumers as possible.

As a result, key financial limits have increased to reflect present-day market realities. Until recently, the Banking Ombudsman could only assist small businesses with an annual turnover of R3-million. This has now been upped to R5-million. Likewise, the monetary value of the claim that could be adjudicated has been increased to R800 000 from R500. 000