the goan I network
PANAJI
A number of customers have complained of poor service at the State Bank of India (SBI) main branch in Panaji (located close to Mandovi Hotel, on the main road). Most customers complained that they had to stand in queue for much longer than they had expected for routine banking services like depositing cash.
The customers even said that the staff at SBI’s main branch is not supportive, particularly in the case of senior citizens and disabled persons. A source on the condition of anonymity, said, “The staff at the SBI’s main branch doesn’t help senior citizens and disabled persons in filling vouchers, withdrawal slips, etc.”
Another senior citizen, who is a customer of SBI for many years, said, “I had to wait for 20 minutes to deposit cash at the branch. The bank’s system is very slow. The staff should be helping the senior citizens, but that’s not the case. I am more than 70 years of age and I can’t stand in a queue for 20 minutes.”
The SBI’s main branch in Panaji is a really old branch. Due to which, a number of its customers are senior citizens, who have their savings account with the branch for decades.
Another customer, who visited this branch on January 22, said, “I gave them (the staff of the branch) a cheque of Rs 5,15,000 because I wanted to withdraw that much. They didn’t give me a token for more than 15 minutes. When asked the reason for the delay they told me that the staff who is supposed to take care of this is not in her seat.”
Jose Cabral, a Panaji resident and a customer of SBI’s main branch, said, “I had invested in sovereign gold bonds in December 2016. I should have got interest after 6 months, but I didn’t get it. Then, I gave a letter and only then did I get the interest. Now it’s more than 12 months since I invested. So, I should get the interest for another 6 months (from July to December, 2017), but, I haven’t got it so far. Even otherwise the staff here is not cooperative.”
The staff being non-cooperative was the most common complaint among the customers visiting this branch. A customer said, “SBI has an online system. But, I think, the senior staff-members at the branch are not familiar with the system and they take a lot of time to process simple transactions.”
The Goan Everyday managed to get in touch with the senior management of SBI. A senior SBI official said, “The time taken by the staff to deal with each and every token is monitored. We are targeting less than 12 minutes to deal with each token. Besides, the bank is doing some studies and taking a number of steps to improve customer satisfaction.”
