GUWAHATI: The Arunachal Christian Forum has petitioned State Bank of India (SBI) authorities, alleging that the bank’s digital banking and KYC platforms are incorrectly classifying Christians belonging to the state’s Scheduled Tribes (STs) under the “General” category.
In a letter addressed to the SBI’s Regional Manager in Itanagar, the forum claimed that members of the Christian community belonging to “constitutionally recognised” STs in Arunachal Pradesh were facing difficulties while opening bank accounts or updating their KYC through the SBI YONO application and other digital platforms.
“It has been brought to our notice that when a customer selects ‘Christian’ from the religion option in the SBI banking apps, the software system does not allow the customer to select the ‘Scheduled Tribe’ category and instead directs them to the ‘General’ category,” the forum alleged.
Terming the classification “potentially discriminatory”, the forum argued that the Scheduled Tribes Order of 1950 does not prescribe any religion-based exclusion whereby a member of a notified ST ceases to be an ST merely because they profess Christianity.
“The SBI is not the competent authority to delist a tribal Christian customer who possesses a valid ST certificate. The SBI cannot delist or automatically classify a tribal Christian under the General category solely based on their declared religion,” the forum said.
The organisation urged SBI authorities to rectify the software and ensure that religion and tribal status were not treated as mutually exclusive categories.
The organisation sought a response within 15 days on the corrective measures taken and warned that, if the issue remained unresolved within this timeframe, it would be compelled to gherao all SBI branches in Arunachal Pradesh.
Senior SBI officials could not be reached for comment.
