Department of Financial Services Secretary M Nagaraju, who recently conducted surprise visits to branches of public sector banks in New Delhi, was in for a rude shock.
He was made to wait for an hour (!!!) to meet the manager in one bank, and in some other branches, he found the behaviour of officials "unsatisfactory."
The surprise checks were meant to observe how employees of PSBs interact with customers and where they lag compared to private banks. "The DFS secretary, along with other senior officials, conducted visits to three major PSB branches in New Delhi. In one of the major branches, the DFS secretary had to wait for around an hour to talk to the branch manager, until he disclosed his identity. The manager was busy on a phone call,' said a source. During the inspection, he source added, the DFS secretary found some serious behavioural issues.
"The DFS secretary has advised banks to be more courteous towards customers. Senior finance ministry officials also checked how the banks are implementing financial inclusion schemes at the ground level. Such inspections may continue across the country," said the official.
PSBs have been lagging behind private banks in many parameters. During the December quarter of FY25, PSBs recorded a retail deposit growth rate of 8.8 per cent, while private banks achieved a stronger double-digit growth of 13.5 per cent. This robust show by private banks was primarily driven by a surge in term deposits.
Harsh Kumar, Business Standard