Saccos will have 21 working days to investigate and resolve customer complaints as part of new tough rules that prescribe stiff penalties including revocation of licences as the regulator acts to enhance services.
The Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (Sasra) has issued new guidelines on complaints management by the cooperative movement noting that the financial institutions are yet to put in place adequate systems to resolve complaints by their members.
They give saccos 14 working days to start and complete investigations into complaints and a further seven working days to communicate to members on the outcome of the probe.
“If a complaint cannot be resolved within the established timelines, the complainant should be informed of the reasons for the delay and given an updated timeline for resolution,” say the guidelines.
The Kenya 2021 FinAccess Household Survey showed 46.3 per cent of sacco members experienced a case of unexpected or unclear charges, 45.1 per cent cited delays in disbursements of money and 26.8 per cent experienced a case of under par services.
Further, according to the 2021 Sacco Supervision Report, 55.76 per cent of sacco members who filed complaints with Sasra experienced delays in accessing refunds of their savings deposits, 11.98 per cent experienced delays in loans and loans issuance and 4.61 per cent cited challenges with guarantor and guarantee of loans.
Sasra has stipulated stiff penalties for violation of these guidelines, which includes revoking a sacco’s license in extreme cases. Others are monetary penalties and fines, restriction of certain sacco activities or services and requiring them to engage an independent third-party consultant to review and assess its complaints.
“Given that saccos are member-owned financial institutions, the primary objective should always be to deliver an outstanding customer experience. Any deviation from this standard could results in members opting to leave,” noted Sasra.
The regulator says failure by saccos to address many of the pertinent issues that are constantly raised by their members could be a contributor to the low uptake of sacco services.
“The aforementioned challenges could be among the drivers leading to the low usage of sacco financial services and products from a high of 13.1 per cent to a low of 9.6 per cent in 2021. Hence the need to put in place clear mechanisms/procedures to handle member complaints,” said Sasra.
Saccos hold about Sh473.3 billion in deposits from their members and had assets of Sh700 billion, according to recent data from Sasra.
