'This is India': SBI staffer refuses to speak Kannada, spars with customer; transferred
PTC News Desk: In a rather bizarre incident, a State Bank of India (SBI) official was transferred after she got engaged in a heated argument over not speaking Kannada with customers. The controversy erupted after customer asked the bank official to speak in Kannada and she refused citing democratic principles enshrined.
A video of the incident, which took place at the bank’s Surya Nagar branch in Bengaluru, shows the staffer arguing with a customer over the use of the local language.
In the video, the official can also be heard asking the person recording the video, who is presumably the customer, if there is any rule that mandates her speaking Kannada. The argument quickly escalates where the customer can be heard repeatedly telling the officer to speak Kannada, at which point she walks away while declaring, “I will never speak Kannada.”
The video has been doing rounds on social media and several users criticising the bank staffer. Following the backlash, SBI issued a public statement expressing regret over the incident. “We are deeply concerned about the recent incident at our Surya Nagar Branch of AO South Bengaluru. The matter is currently under thorough evaluation,” the bank said.
The controversy has intensified, with the pro-Kannada group Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) announcing statewide demonstrations. The organization has accused staff at the SBI Chandapura branch of consistently mistreating Kannada-speaking customers and failing to provide essential services in the regional language.
- PTC NEWS
