SBI Fined Rs 85,000 For Dishonouring Cheque After Failing To Read Kannada Numeral

A State Bank of India branch in Karnataka's Dharwad District has been fined Rs 85,177 for dishonouring a cheque after failing to properly recognise a Kannada numeral on it.

A customer, Vadirajacharya Inamdar had issued an SBI cheque for Rs 6,000 to Hubli Electricity Supply Company Limited (HESCOM) towards his electricity bill on September 3, 2020.

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However, when HESCOM sent the cheque for clearance at the SBI branch at Haliyal in Uttara Kannada district it was rejected.

Couldn't distinguish between 9 and 6

This was after the staff there misread the cheque was filled in Kannada including the numerals.

The SBI branch in Haliyal wrongly identified the Kannada numeral nine as six and, therefore, dishonoured the cheque. The numeral nine indicated the month of September, but the bank read it as June.

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Following this Inamdar, an English lecturer in the Government PU College in Hubballi, approached the Dharwad District Consumer Grievances Redressal Forum with his complaint.

On Wednesday, the Forum consisting of President Ishappa Bhute and members V A Bolishetti and P C Hiremath found the SBI deficient in its service and imposed the cost.

The Consumer Forum noted that the bank failed to honour a cheque of Rs 6,000 despite the complainant having more than Rs 9 lakhs in his account.

ICIC bank rejected cheque in Kannada

This is not the first time such incidents have been reported from Karnataka.

In 2017, an ICCI customer from Belagavi had dragged the bank to court after his cheque was dishonoured on grounds that the information on it was written in Kannada.

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According to Anand Diwakar Garag he had presented a cheque for Rs 17,220 to the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), as a premium for his insurance policy, but it was sent back with a note reading "present with document".

Canara Bank manager threatened to call police over Kannada

In 2021, the manager of a Canara Bank branch was seen threatening to close the account of a customer and call the police after he spoke in Kannada.

Madam @nsitharaman ,I would like to bring to your notice the ill effects of IBPS exam on the localities of Karnataka. An official from @canarabank threatens to customer for speaking Kannada in Karnataka and asked him to leave the bank. @FinMinIndia do you support this ?#IBPSmosa pic.twitter.com/hVskNhvIlc

¡ª GC ChandraShekhar (@GCC_MP) November 11, 2021

This is despite the fact that Canara Bank, which is the third largest nationalised bank in India, was started in Mangaluru and still has its headquarters in Bengaluru.

In 2017, the Karnataka government had made it mandatory for bank staff to learn the Kannada language within six months.

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In 2020, Kannada Development Authority chairman TS Nagabharana had told senior bank officials that they should ensure employees learn Kannada, else relieve them from their jobs.

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