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TN bank manager allegedly refused loan to man who didn’t know Hindi, gets transferred

The customer who was at the receiving end sent a legal notice to the branch manager demanding Rs 1 lakh compensation for the mental stress he had to endure.

Days after a branch manager in Ariyalur, Tamil Nadu allegedly refused a loan to a customer for not knowing Hindi, the bank has transferred the officer. Vishal Kamble, who was the manager in the Gangaikondacholapuram branch of Indian Overseas Bank had reportedly refused to verify the documents submitted by a customer since the papers were in Tamil.

As per an official communication dated September 21 sent by IOB to Vishal Narayan Kamble, he has been transferred to another branch of the bank in Trichy. The manager was on the dock after The New indian Express reported that he denied to check the documents brought in by a customer requesting for a loan.

Twelve days ago, C Balasubramanian, 76, a customer with the Gangaikondacholapuram branch of IOB, had approached Vishal for a loan to construct a commercial complex on a piece of his own land. Balasubramanian said that Vishal, the manager, asked him if he knew Hindi since Vishal was from Maharashtra. As Balasubramanian replied that he knew only English and Tamil, a heated argument allegedly followed between him and Vishal. Balasubramanian also claimed that Vishal said he could not check the land documents since they were in Tamil and denied his loan application without even taking a look at it.

A retired doctor, Balasubramanian followed the incident up with a legal notice to the bank manager immediately after that and claimed a compensation of Rs 1 lakh for the mental stress he had to endure because of the manager. He had also stated that refusing to grant loan for not knowing a language is deficiency of service and that if the bank does not pay him the compensation, he would be moving the District Consumer Court.

The incident sparked outrage on social media with many demanding IOB take strict action against the manager. Many from Ariyalur, who have accounts in the same branch, also told The New Indian Express that this was a common occurrence in the branch and that it was the Assistant Branch Manager who used to interact with customers. 

Source: The News Minute