Bandhan and Canara Bank’s officers browbeat employees in meeting, video goes viral

In May 2023, India’s central bank conducted a meeting with the board of directors of all public sector banks (PSBs) and private banks to discuss issues related to governance and ethics.

In videos circulating on social media platform X, officers of Bandhan Bank and public sector lender Canara Bank were seen practicing rude behaviour, using foul language with their junior colleagues and intimidating them over failing to meet targets. One of the videos that surfaced on April 24 was of an online meeting showing a Bandhan Bank officer called Kunal Bhardwaj saying: “Definitely correct sir?... Are you even ashamed of yourself? This is March?” to an employee who apparently did not meet the targets set for the month.

A similar video on May 4 showed an officer named Lokapati Swain of Canara Bank saying: “If you will not participate in recovery, including holidays because you want time after working to travel with your family but your hell to your family. What should I do? And the bank has given you a job for work not for travelling with family. I don’t care about my family, I don’t care about my family also, I care about Canara Bank. So clear message to all, and if week-wise, Monday to Saturday, work is not happening, Saturday or Sunday, whenever holiday, and if you did not respond kindly, things will be different and for everyone be it officer, chief manager, AGM.”

Also read: HDFC Bank officer abuses employees in online meeting, suspended after video goes viral

Who's this Kunal Bhardwaj of Bandhan Bank? Sack him @CSGhosh2013https://t.co/kRAoQmq0tH

— Newton Kumar (@idesibanda) April 24, 2024

However, in response to the video, the official X handle of Bandhan Bank on April 25 said: “The Bank has taken cognizance of the incident. At Bandhan Bank, we place high emphasis on values and we condemn such behaviour. We do not endorse or promote such an approach. Necessary action has already been initiated and we will take appropriate steps in line with the Bank’s policy.”

And Canara Bank, too, on May 4, responded to the video its officer was featured in. The bank’s official X handle said: “At Canara Bank we always value the contribution of our employees and their families, it is proven time and again. The bank does not endorse this kind of individual behaviour and personal opinion of a particular staff. We assure that appropriate action is being taken.”

The @canarabank whose tag line is “TOGETHER WE CAN” is saying that don't take care of your family.
Don't they know that we all work for the family and not for ourselves.

Requesting @DFS_India @DrBhagwatKarad @FinMinIndia to kindly intervene. pic.twitter.com/AjzCQrpsXz

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— Garib Banker (@WomenBanker) May 4, 2024

Email queries sent to Bandhan Bank were unanswered at the time of publishing this article. And Canara Bank responded with the same material of the tweet it shared earlier on X.

RBI caution

Employees being set hard-to-attain goals is a recurring theme in the banking sector, and has led to several occasions where they resorted to bending the rules to achieve them. So much so that in May 2023, the Reserve Bank of India conducted a meeting with the board of directors of all public sector banks (PSBs) and private banks to discuss issues related to governance and ethics. Concerned over the rising incidence of mis-selling, the finance ministry has directed heads of PSBs to put in place strong mechanisms to avoid unethical practices for selling insurance policies to customers, for instance.

The Department of Financial Services has received complaints that fraudulent and unethical practices are adopted by banks and life insurance companies for procuring policies from the bank customers, a letter addressed to chairpersons and managing directors of PSBs said.