Service Quality in Indian Banks – An Empirical Study Dr. M. Geeta, Dr. C. Naga Sivanand

Abstract

The services sector’s growth has been evident over the past decades and is contributing more than 60 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the developed economies. The most marked change in the structure of developed economies in the twentieth century, particularly in the later half, has been the transformation from an emphasis on the manufacture of physical goods to the production of intangible services. India is no exception to this phenomenon. One of the most special features of the evolution of the Indian economy in the Nineties has been shift towards the service sector. Among the different services of service sector, banking is one of the major contributors of service sector economy. Banking could be the mirror reflection of an economy. The performance of any economy, to a large extent, may be dependent on the performance of banks. Economic liberalization and globalization, information technology (IT) revolution, changing customer expectations, and increasing competition are generally viewed as a challenge to the existing Indian banking scenario. During the past few years, the banking sector has witnessed revolutionary changes. The entry of private and foreign banks has posed a challenge to the monopoly enjoyed by the nationalized banks. With increasing competition, the importance of quality services in banking has gained paramount importance. Every study has some limitations and errors. The research design for the current study is kept at exploratory/descriptive level. So, conclusions may not be so concrete like experimental or causal research study. The present study is conducted on service quality as an important factor, and it potentially contributes to the banks about the process of services rendered and evaluated by the customers. The current study has examined the service quality of banking sector by making use of SERVQUAL Scale and Marketing Mix Scale. Data was collected and analyzed from the customers of two public banks and two private banks through a questionnaire. The findings revealed that there is a great need of improvement of services that are rendered by the Indian Banks to sustain the competition.