If you live abroad and a bank account, property paper, PAN card, passport file or an elderly parent in India is in trouble, this hub is the starting point. Each linked guide gives one clear escalation path you can run from another country, with portals that work, complaint formats you can copy, and the exact authority that has the power to fix the problem.
Quick answer. Most NRI problems in India are solved at the right window, not by paying anyone. Bank issues go to the bank Principal Nodal Officer first, then RBI CMS at cms.rbi.org.in. Property issues go to the Sub-Registrar and revenue Tehsildar, then a civil suit if needed. PAN and tax problems go to the AO and Income Tax e-filing grievance. Passport issues go to the embassy, Passport Seva and MEA MADAD. Parent emergencies go to the local police, hospital grievance cell and the District Magistrate. For information stuck inside a government file, RTI under the Right to Information Act, 2005 is the cheapest and fastest tool.
This hub is for Indians living outside India as NRIs, OCIs or PIOs who suddenly face a problem back home. You may be a software engineer in the United States, a nurse in the Gulf, a student in Canada, or a retired person who shifted to Australia. The pattern is the same. A relative calls. A bank text arrives. A registry clerk asks for a bribe. A passport office sits on a file. An aged parent falls in the bathroom.
You cannot fly back every week. You do not always have a power of attorney holder you trust. You worry about being cheated because you are not on the ground. The five guides below are written for that situation. They tell you which Indian portal accepts complaints from abroad, which authority must reply within a time limit, and what document you should keep ready before your next call to India.
When something goes wrong in India and you are abroad, do these five things in the first 24 hours.
Build one folder, named India papers, on your laptop or in a cloud drive. Share read access with one trusted family member in India. Inside it, keep clear scans of these papers.
When a problem starts, you can attach the relevant scan to the complaint email within minutes. That alone moves cases faster than any intermediary.
There is no single super-portal for all NRI grievances. There is a small set of forums, each with a clear scope. Use the right one.
The Right to Information Act, 2005 gives any citizen, including OCIs, the right to ask any public authority for information held by it. Reply must come within 30 days. The fee is usually ₹10 for citizens, and free for those below poverty line. NRIs can pay through an Indian relative or through online RTI portals for central ministries.
Practical examples where RTI works well.
Skip RTI when the answer is fully available on a public portal, when the matter is a pure private dispute, or when you only need a refund that the bank ombudsman can order directly.
| = Problem | = First step | = Second step | = Use a lawyer if |
| Frozen bank account, KYC fail | Email bank Principal Nodal Officer | RBI CMS at cms.rbi.org.in after 30 days | Account remains frozen after ombudsman award |
| Property sold without your consent | FIR at police station of property location, written complaint to Sub-Registrar | Civil suit for cancellation of sale deed | Always. Property litigation needs a lawyer. |
| PAN inoperative, refund stuck | e-Nivaran on Income Tax portal | CPGRAMS to Department of Revenue | Re-assessment notice or scrutiny |
| Passport renewal stuck in India | Embassy or consulate of jurisdiction | MADAD plus CPGRAMS Passport Seva | Impounded passport or LOC issue |
| Tenant not paying rent | Written notice, then rent control or small causes court | Eviction suit in civil court | Always for eviction |
| Consumer complaint, builder or service | Written complaint to company | eDaakhil consumer commission | Claim above ₹1 crore or appeal stage |
| Parent missing or unsafe | Call 112, lodge missing person report | District Magistrate complaint, senior citizen helpline 14567 | Maintenance suit or property safety order |
| Government file information not shared | RTI under the Right to Information Act, 2005 | First appeal under Section 19 within 30 days | Writ petition if information is wilfully denied |
For serious disputes, speak to a qualified lawyer.
Hero image prompt: A calm Indian family video call setup. A son or daughter on a laptop screen in a foreign apartment at night, with India flag in soft focus, and an elderly parent in India seated at a table with passport, bank papers and a property folder. Warm, hopeful, photoreal. ===== Suggested social posts ===== X (Twitter): New hub for NRIs. Bank frozen, property fraud, PAN inoperative, passport delay, parent emergency. Five guides, real Indian portals, one place. https://righttoinformation.wiki/nri-india-problem-solver LinkedIn: If you live outside India, you have probably had a difficult call from home. A bank account is frozen. A relative is trying to sell property without you. A parent is alone in a hospital. We have put together a citizen guide for NRIs that maps each common problem to the right Indian authority, with the portal, the time limit and the complaint format. No middlemen, no legal jargon. Five guides plus a hub. Share with anyone abroad who keeps hearing the line, you have to come to India to fix this. They probably do not.