Dear Friends, This matter was referred to me by Pranay Gadodia and Mr. Pincha. I thought it wise to use media to raise larger awareness before proceeding to court. If the bank doesn't redress it within next ten days, Renuka intends to move Delhi Hight Court to redress the issue. Any comments?
SC Vashishth, Advocate *Visually-impaired running for ATM card for 3 yrs Ananya Panda Tribune News Service* New Delhi, December 4 Even as the Punjab National Bank (PNB) installed its first disabled-friendly automated teller machine (ATM) in the city yesterday, visually-challenged Renuka Bhagat, 30, is yet to get an ATM card for which she has been doing rounds of the bank for the past three years. On top of this, in order to access her savings account in the Hauz Khas branch of the bank, she has go accompanied with a witness. “It has been more than three years. I have been requesting the officials of the Hauz Khas branch of the bank to issue me an ATM card. It becomes inconvenient for me to go to the bank for every transaction. Moreover, the officials insist that I visit the bank only with a witness as I am partially blind,” she told The Tribune. Whenever Renuka needs money, she has to come to the bank from her hostel in Laxmi Bai Nagar or from her work place, which is also not very close to the bank. On November 7, she met the chief manager of the branch, A.P. Goyal, with her request. After initial denial, Goyal gave a written justification for usage of ATM card, which she submitted in the bank the next day. The Reserve Bank of India, in this context, in July 2008, has issued a master circular to all banks on customer service. According to clause 10, visually impaired persons should not be discriminated. Earlier, a circular (No. CE/RB-1/vip/1766, dated November 18, 2008) of the Indian Banks Association also stated that all blinds are entitled to all facilities of a bank without any extra formality. Interestingly, when Renuka reminded Goyal about the circular, he posed to be ignorant about the existence of any such notice. She then approached PNB’s general manager, customer care service, Malathi Mohan. Following this, on November 17, she was asked to sign a ‘letter of undertaking’ for the issue of the ATM card. Goyal stated, “As per the executive guidelines of the PNB, an undertaking has to be approved by our corporate office in such cases so that the bank is not liable for any loss due to the loss of the card.” However, Renuka, feeling discriminated and objecting to the formality, rued, “I would not give any undertaking. I too have the right to access the modern facilities like others. Why should I be treated as a secondary citizen just because I am differently-able. The repeated visits that I had to make for something as simple as an ATM card were sheer harassment for me.” -- Warm regards, Subhash Chandra Vashishth Mobile: +91 (11) 9811125521 Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to. Consider environment! To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
