National Consumer Helpline

Run under the Consumer Protection Act, the National Consumer Helpline (dial 1915, or use its online/app-based portal) accepts complaints across essentially any consumer transaction - not limited to financial services - and can guide a complainant toward the right specific forum, including e-filing a formal case with a Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission if informal resolution doesn't work. For a financial-services-specific dispute, the relevant sector regulator's own mechanism (SEBI's SCORES, RBI's Ombudsman Scheme, IRDAI's Insurance Ombudsman) is generally the faster, more specialized route - the National Consumer Helpline is most useful as a starting point when it's unclear which specific regulator a complaint falls under, or for a financial-adjacent consumer dispute that doesn't neatly fit any single sector regulator's remit.