A complaint is a form of dissatisfaction by a person or organization to DQS Certification India and may be related to its activities, person and where a complainant expect a response.
Complaint can be made by any person or organization against the following:
- Operation and / or procedure
- Auditors, staff of DQS Certification India
- Audit process followed by auditor
- Misuse of certification status either in the scope or in the logo
Steps for Complaint process are as follows:
All dissatisfaction reported by users of third party certification (clients of certified organization) is considered complaints.
Process for complaint handling is explained in General Terms & Conditions provided to client
All complaints relating to management system of certified clients are forwarded to Apex Management.
Upon receipt of complaints Apex Management along with Manager Registration Services confirms whether complaint relates to certification activities that DQS Certification is responsible for, by examining certification documents like assessment reports.
Once the validity of complaints with respect to certification activity is established, then it is logged in Complaints Log and Complaint Handling Report is updated by Manager Registration Services.
The complaint is referred to certified client under complaint, through a forwarding letter by Manager Registration Services and its response is requested along with evidences to support its version.
Confidentiality of complainant & subject of complaint shall be maintained by DQS Certification.
On receipt of response of certified client, an independent person is assigned to review the response and make recommendations to Apex Management for further course of action. On the basis of recommendation Apex Management decides the action it may be planning the special audit for further investigation, or raising the non conformance on the basis of information available, or closing the complaint if he finds clients response satisfactory & conclusive.
If Apex Management is not independent to the subject matter than the Advisory Council Member for that particular client industrial or economic sector decides the further course of action as above.
Details of decision recorded in complaint investigation report by Manager Registration Services and approved by Apex Management. Complaints Log shall also be updated with the decision remarks.
If decision calls for a corrective action, proposed corrective action is recorded in Complaint Handling Report.
Follow up of corrective action & verification of effectiveness of corrective action is tracked by Manager Registration Services.
On the basis of the facts Available, Apex Management evaluates the needs for communicating the acceptance & progress of complaint resolution. Apex Management communicates the acceptance & progress to complainant, wherever appropriate.
If Apex Management is not independent to the subject matter than the Advisory Council Member for that particular client industrial or economic sector evaluates the need for communicating the acceptance & progress of complaint resolution. Communication in such cases to complainant is done by Manager Registration Services.
Manager Registration Services sends a formal notice for closure of complaint handling process to complainant whenever communication of acceptance is earlier given.
Manager Registration Services coordinates with Client & Complainant, to reach to an agreement with to whether complaint is to be made public and to what extent. Deployment of this decision shall also be agreed upon and documented in minutes of meeting.
Manager Registration Service shall ensure that the execution of this decision is done by client & shall collect the related evidences.
If decision is not executed by the client in agreed time frame than suspension of certificate shall be initiated as per Pro 10.
Overall Responsibility :
It is the responsibility of the Associate Director to administer and operate the complaint system. In the Apex Management’s absence, the Manager – Registration Services is delegated responsibility.
Alternatively you can also send your complaints through email to : complaints@dqsindia.com