* Associate Professor, Faculty of Management Studies, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
** Research Scholar, Faculty of Management Studies, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
Online published on 7 December, 2012.
Real India exists in villages, said Mahatma Gandhi. A lot of efforts have been put, after six decades of Independence to fill the gap in facilities between rural and urban areas. In rural development, banking sector plays a key role. Increasing number of banks would foster greater competition, thereby reducing costs and improving the quality of service. More importantly, it would promote financial inclusion, and ultimately support inclusive economic growth, which is a key focus of public policy.
This paper aims to compare customer's expectations and perceptions of service quality, performance and overall service quality of rural bank branches in Varanasi city. It then highlights performance of rural banks to see to what extent they differ from expected quality and also identify the dimension of service quality to which banks should give greater emphasis to make customers more satisfied.
This empirical study is based on the customers of rural bank branches of Varanasi city with a close ended structured, questionnaire duly tested for validity and reliability.
The study has used various suitable statistical techniques for objectivity in findings and more categorical inferences. The study highlights some interesting dimensions of service quality gap of banks with special reference to Rural Banks branches. The study also explores the difference between service quality expectation and perception of the customers of rural banks which, if taken care of by banks, can lead to increase in the performance of the banks manifolds which is indispensible for sustainable growth.
The paper attempts to bring forth service quality gaps in the rural bank branches to facilitate understanding of disparity in service expectations and performance of rural banks.
