What Course Will C.S. Setty Plot For SBI?

The new chairman's biggest challenge is to figure out where to steer a bank that is already humongous in size

- Shayan Ghosh & Gopika Gopakumar

Standup comedian and graphic designer Kajol Srinivasan wasn't laughing after an interaction with the manager of a State Bank of India (SBI) branch in Mumbai a couple of months ago. She had arrived at the bank armed with a certificate from a doctor proving that her mother was alive. Without it, her pension would be discontinued.

Given that her mother was 80 years old and suffering from Parkinson's disease, Srinivasan requested the branch manager to verify her identity over a video call. Unfortunately for mother and daughter, the manager was a stickler who insisted on doing things the 20th-century way—nothing less than the physical presence of the octogenarian would satisfy him.

"He refused despite all the background and insisted that my mother come to the branch," said Srinivasan.

Submitting a life certificate is a yearly ritual for millions of pensioners. Srinivasan explained that it was impractical for her mother, who was in a retirement home in Neral, 80km from Mumbai, to visit the bank. Eventually, she managed to get the verification done online. But her ordeal did not end there. A few weeks later, her mother got a letter from the branch stating that she had to comply with the bank's KYC (know-your-customer) requirements or the account would be frozen.

A frustrated Srinivasan took to X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter) to detail her struggles with the bureaucratic mindset that bedevils India's largest bank. There were numerous responses to her post by X-erati, many detailing their own struggles. That is when officials at SBI took note.

"I do not know where they got my number but I got a few calls to say that the KYC had been sorted. All I wanted was to sensitize them that branch managers need to be more receptive," she said.