What it means
- Customers and users can complain about AI interactions, AI decisions and AI-generated content through a known channel.
- Complaints are tagged as AI-related, acknowledged and resolved within set timelines, with easy escalation to human staff.
- Patterns in AI complaints are analysed and drive fixes.
- ISO 27001 reuse: None. New for AI, not covered by ISO 27001. SOC 2 P8.1 (inquiries, complaints and disputes) is a partial analogue for privacy complaints.
Why it matters
- The 2026 IT Rules require intermediaries to acknowledge grievances within 24 hours and resolve them within 7 days, and to resolve Rule 3(1)(b) removal complaints within 36 hours.
- RBI FREE-AI asks for grievance redress for AI interactions and decisions, with easy escalation to human staff, inside a board-approved consumer protection framework.
- The India AI Governance Guidelines and NITI Aayog principles both name grievance redressal as an accountability measure.
Checklist
- Add an "AI-related" tag and sub-categories (wrong decision, harmful output, deepfake, chatbot failure) to your existing complaint system.
- Publish the grievance officer's name and contact as the IT Rules require, and link it from AI features (SC-AI-025 Public AI transparency statement and notices).
- Configure SLA timers: acknowledge in 24 hours, resolve in 7 days, 36 hours for unlawful content removal requests, 2 hours for intimate or impersonation content (SC-AI-035 Takedown and response timelines).
- Route AI complaints to staff who can see the AI logs and can override outcomes (SC-AI-027 Right to contest and human review for individuals).
- BFSI: align with your RBI internal ombudsman and grievance redressal policy; include AI explicitly.
- Monthly: report AI complaint volumes, root causes and SLA breaches to the AI committee (SC-AI-040 Board reporting and AI risk metrics).
- Raise corrective actions for repeat root causes and track them to closure.
Evidence examples
- Grievance redressal policy that names AI complaints.
- Complaint system configuration showing the AI tag and SLA timers.
- Monthly MIS of AI complaints with ageing and SLA breaches.
- Sample closed tickets with acknowledgement and resolution timestamps.
- Corrective action log linked to complaint root causes.
Common pitfalls
- AI complaints buried in "general" category, so nobody sees the pattern.
- Chatbot is the only complaint channel for complaints about the chatbot.
- SLA clock starts when a human picks up the ticket, not when the user submitted it.
- Grievance officer details missing or outdated on the website.
Satisfies
- VoluntaryNIST AI RMF and GenAI Profile
- BindingTexas TRAIGA
- BindingKorea AI Basic Act
- VoluntaryRBI FREE-AI
Also relevant to
- India AI Governance Guidelinesguidance mapping (grievance mechanism for AI harms; no obligation IDs)
- NITI Aayog Responsible AI for Allguidance mapping (accountability principle; no obligation IDs)
- ICMR AI in Healthcare Guidelinesguidance mapping (grievance routes; no obligation IDs)
- AI (Ethics and Accountability) Bill 2025guidance mapping (pending bill; no obligation IDs)
Standards crosswalk
Clause references only. Check the standard itself for the exact wording.
ISO/IEC 42001
- 7.4 communication
- A.8.3 external reporting
- 10.2 nonconformity and corrective action
ISO/IEC 27001
No direct equivalent
SOC 2
- CC2.3
- P8.1
Key takeaways
- Tag AI complaints so patterns become visible.
- Indian platforms work to hard clocks: 24 hours to acknowledge, 7 days to resolve, shorter for unlawful content.
- Complaints must lead to fixes, not just closures.