Uzbek Central Bank to Introduce Bank Complaint Index

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Uzbekistan’s Central Bank will begin publishing an index for the first time that measures the quality of banks’ handling of customer complaints and public inquiries.

Central Bank Chairman Timur Ishmetov announced the initiative on 13 June during a plenary session of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis, where the regulator’s 2025 performance report was presented.

According to Ishmetov, the index will assess how effectively banks respond to customer complaints and inquiries. He said the Central Bank will start publishing the indicator next week, including data on banks with the weakest performance.

He also said the Central Bank will soon launch dedicated social media channels to receive public complaints about banking services. Banks will be required to respond to such inquiries within one hour and activate mechanisms to resolve the issues.

Ishmetov acknowledged communication challenges within the regulator itself, noting that a recently upgraded call centre has been transformed into a contact centre and is currently operating in a testing phase.

He said the number of public inquiries has already increased sixfold, which he attributed to previous difficulties in accessibility.

The Central Bank is also strengthening consumer protection measures in the financial sector.

Issues related to cash withdrawals from ATMs will now be treated not only as technical malfunctions but also as potential violations of customer rights.

From August, the regulator plans to impose fines on banks for such cases.