Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said all bank employees must treat customers with dignity and make every effort to speak in the local language.
Published May 21, 2025 | 1:32 PM ⚊ Updated May 21, 2025 | 1:53 PM
A screengrab from the viral video.
Synopsis: The SBI transferred a manager after a video of her refusing to speak Kannada in Bengaluru Rural went viral. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that the manager’s action was condemnable and highlighted that such incidents should not repeat.
Following a video that went viral on social media on Tuesday, 21 May, showing a branch manager refusing to speak in Kannada despite a customer’s insistence, the State Bank of India (SBI) has reportedly transferred the official.
A customer asked the bank manager to speak in Kannada since it is the language of the land, but she refused and said, “I will not speak Kannada. You have not given me employment. This is India.” The official then kept on repeating the word “Hindi”. The incident is said to have taken place in SBI’s branch in Anekal of Bengaluru Rural district.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that the manager’s action was condemnable and highlighted that such incidents should not repeat.
However, pro-Kannada outfits have demanded that SBI remove the official from service and a formal apology by the bank.
In the viral video, the manager was seen asking the customer about speaking to the SBI chairman regarding her not speaking in Kannada. Meanwhile, a housekeeping employee interrupted her and said, “Madam never speaks to us in Kannada.”
When the customer said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) mandates bank staff to speak the respective language of the state or region, she said, “Show me where this rule has been written to speak in Kannada.” “I will never speak Kannada,” she added.
In another video that has also gone viral on social media, the manager is seen smiling and learning to say sorry in Kannada. Two other employees from Karnataka are teaching to say “Sorry, if you are hurt. I will try to cooperate and communicate in Kannada at the bank.”
Chethan Surya S, a pro-Kannada activist, posted the video of the manager smiling while saying sorry on X and wrote, “ Do we call this an apology? We don’t need this kind of apology, which she is asking for the sake of asking. She doesn’t seem to regret her arrogance and the words she said. She is not aware of the hurt she has caused. An apology should come from your official page, and she should be fired.”
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah took to X and said all bank employees must treat customers with dignity and make every effort to speak in the local language.
“The behaviour of the SBI Branch Manager in Surya Nagara, Anekal Taluk, refusing to speak in Kannada & English and showing disregard to citizens, is strongly condemnable. We appreciate SBI’s swift action in transferring the official. The matter may now be treated as closed. However, such incidents must not recur. All bank employees must treat customers with dignity and make every effort to speak in the local language,” he wrote on X.
He also urged the Union finance minister of India and the Department of Financial Services to mandate cultural and language sensitisation training for all bank staff across India. “Respecting local language is respecting the people,” he added.
The behaviour of the SBI Branch Manager in Surya Nagara, Anekal Taluk refusing to speak in Kannada & English and showing disregard to citizens, is strongly condemnable.
We appreciate SBI’s swift action in transferring the official. The matter may now be treated as closed.…
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) May 21, 2025
The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KaRaVe) took note of the video and condemned it. Narayana Gowda, President of KaRaVe, said, “We have staged a protest inside the SBI Chandapura Branch itself and also the SBI regional branch in St Mark’s Road, Bengaluru.”
These issues must not occur again. Such things must be taken seriously by the Union government and SBI must issue an apology,” he added.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
