Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA) has issued new guidelines on complaints management by cooperatives.
According to the new guidelines, Saccos have only 21 days to investigate and solve members’ complaints.
The days will be split into two; 14 working days for carrying out investigations into complaints and an additional seven days to communicate to members the outcome of their complaints.
Failure to comply to the regulations could lead to Sacco licenses being revoked.
The new guidelines also give SASRA the powers to exert monetary penalties and fines, restrict certain Sacco activities/services as well as require Saccos to engage an independent third –party consultant to review and assess its complaints.
“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,” the guidelines read in part.
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 issuance and 4.61 per cent cited challenges with Sacco guarantor and guarantees.
Data from SASRA reveal that Saccos hold about Ksh473.3 billion in deposits from their members and assets of Ksh700 billion.
By Vostine Ratemo
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