The Ranikor branch of the State Bank of India (SBI) is failing its customers, the All Khasi Hills A’chik Federation (AKHAF) has said in a press release.
Its president, Clivester Marak visited the branch last week and found several shortcomings. The biggest problem, he claimed, is that the bank’s ATM is perpetually short of cash, which wastes the time of the many account holders who travel from far and wide to visit the branch.
Sadly, even pensioners have to return home without their money due to this problem, AKHAF said. Even opening new bank accounts and applying for other services can take months, it added.
Marak claimed that a senior citizen even fainted due to the excessive heat while having to wait the whole day to complete some bank work. Account holders who travel from far away have to hire a taxi to get to Ranikor and thus shell out hundreds if not thousands of rupees but sometimes their visits to the bank are in vain, he added.
The AKHAF called for more staff to be posted at the branch and for its infrastructure to be expanded.