Axis Bank Allows Same-sex Couples To Have Joint Accounts, Shuns Gender-specific Dress Code
As India celebrates the third anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling, which decriminalised homosexuality, the bank has become one of the first to announce new policies and practices for its customers and employees from the LGBTQ community, under a new campaign named ¡®DilSeOpen¡¯.
Axis Bank, one of India's top banks, is leading by example and is certainly doing it right. As India celebrates the third anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling, which decriminalised homosexuality, the bank has become one of the first to announce new policies and practices for its customers and employees from the LGBTQ community, under a new campaign named ¡®DilSeOpen¡¯.
People who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, homosexual, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual (LGBTQIA) still face problems in financial services as same sex marriage in India is not yet legalised.
Reuters
New policies for employees
Rolling out its #ComeAsYouAre charter on Monday, the private sector lender said that in spirit of the apex court judgement and it's wider ESG commitments, the new policies and practices embrace diversity, equity and inclusion within the organization and for its customers.
bccl/representational image
- Employees can list their partner¡¯s name for mediclaim benefits irrespective of their gender, caste, sex or marital status.
- Employees can freely dress according to their gender expression, which means it is not mandatory for the employees to dress according to their birth gender.
- Employees are free to use the restroom according to their own gender expression.
- New Human Resources policy that offers redressal to the problems faced by the employees from this community.
Unsplash
New initiatives for customers
Axis Bank has also rolled out new initiatives for its customers, which will be effective from September 20.
- According to the law by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), there is no restriction on who can open bank accounts. However, still homosexual couples are often refused by the banks while opening a joint account. Axis Bank¡¯s new policy welcomes same sex partners to open joint accounts.
- Customers from the community will have the option to choose their title as ¡®Mx¡¯ while filling out forms.
- Customers can make their same sex partners as their nominee.
Senior Writer at Indiatimes. She writes on Lifestyle, fashion, beauty, astrology and health.
