RTI to get Bank's video surveillance records

[trey 1]

Hi RTI community members,

 

This is my first post on this site.

 

Almost everyone will agree that State Bank of India has one of the most rude and unprofessional staff. I had my own bad experience-:

 

I visited the branch to apply for visa debit card. The clerk who process debit card request said he knew nothing about this card and asked me to go see the branch manager. The branch manager very rudely asked me to leave the cabin and bring the person on whose advice I came here. When called; the employee simply refused and said he never sent me to his cabin, on hearing this the branch manager started shouting like hell in front of two more people and asked me to leave. He didn't even listened to my arguments and assumed that I was lying. I suffered mental agony due this.

I feel aggrieved and want to make that branch manager pay for his unprofessional behavior.

 

I want to file complaint in consumer court and banking ombudsman. But before that I need to collect some evidence. I guess that RBI has made it mandatory to keep the video records for a certain period of time. I want to get copy of that day's video through RTI. So that same can be produced before the jury as an evidence.

[jj99 136]

Even though if you get video ( but this will not be video as you seem to be, it will be in form of images ) which will have no sound so getting images will not be good enough in your exercise

 

What you can do is file a simple application to branch manager of what you want after around 20 days file RTI as to what has been done on my application and who is responsible for that job

and what he/she has done.

 

only after this you start what you intend

[trey 1]

@jj99

 

I have seen the real time surveillance myself. Those are good-quality video records not images. And the branch manager was shouting with aggressive hand movements, eventhough sound may/may not be recorded; the video records will confirm my presence at the time which the manager cannot deny. It will also confirm that I was made to run from here and there by the bank clerk thus rendering poor service. Where can I file RTI to obtain these records?

[jps50 1,580]

Please file RTI application addressed to branch head/ACPIO of the same branch seeking video footage of particular day and tentative time from --- to --- hours by referring:

 

 

Central Govt application:

http://www.rtiindia.org/forum/blogs/jps50/19-rti-application-central-govt-info.html

 

As a note, please quote attached decision of Central Information Commission by which it ordered supply of CCTV footage to railways.

 

You can pay Rs.10 in cash to branch head as filing charges.

 

Please also peruse:

 

Bank problems:

http://www.box.net/shared/12ijyj35xivah5ft3tt8

CCTV FOOTAGE.pdf

[smbhappy 633]

While asking for the video footage, do as advised in the post No. 2 & 4 by JJ and JSP.

 

Besides, cover the entire incident in a letter and shoot that off to the branch manager, naming him and the other employee who guided you there in a shape of a Notice under the Consumer Protection Act 1986, alleging there in the mall treatment, mental agony, harassment, insufficient and deficient service etc.

[jj99 136]

cic decision has some drawbacks :-

 

it is you ( rti applicant ) to prove of wrong doing ( corruption ) then only you will get video footage

but at the end this exercise will not be worth of its inputs, I will still say do as per post #2

[trey 1]

@smbhappy, jj99

 

Does unprofessional behavior and neglect of service come under corruption in this case?

 

I am going to file a complaint with public grievances cell of SBI and will get the complaint no. I want an apology letter from the branch manager and compensation. Failing which I will sue the branch manager as a representative of SBI who is guilty of providing poor service under CPA 1987.

 

Will my testimony in the consumer forum be enough to prove my allegations?

[trey 1]

@ jps50

 

Thank you for such a detailed reply.

 

Branch Manager's cabin is accessible to common public hence it is not a sensitive area under CCTV cover unlike strong room and locker room. I will surely get a copy of CCTV footage.

Will this evidence be enough in consumer forum?

[smbhappy 633]

@smbhappy, jj99

 

Does unprofessional behavior and neglect of service come under corruption in this case?

 

I am going to file a complaint with public grievances cell of SBI and will get the complaint no. I want an apology letter from the branch manager and compensation. Failing which I will sue the branch manager as a representative of SBI who is guilty of providing poor service under CPA 1987.

 

Will my testimony in the consumer forum be enough to prove my allegations?

 

It is not corruption certainly a deficient service. You may prove your presence in the bank by producing any transaction that may had been carried on that day by you at the bank. A detailed Notice to the bank will also cover the ground. You have the Banking Ombudsman to approach for ill treatment meted out to you.

[trey 1]

It is not corruption certainly a deficient service. You may prove your presence in the bank by producing any transaction that may had been carried on that day by you at the bank. A detailed Notice to the bank will also cover the ground. You have the Banking Ombudsman to approach for ill treatment meted out to you.

 

Wow, looks like I have enough proof-:

I applied for an online Demand Draft through my bank a/c that day and went their to receive it.

Later in the evening I received a phone call from the Assistant Branch Manager regarding debit card. The said call was made from bank's landline number to my residence landline number.

 

Can I obtain a copy of bank's phone records from BSNL straightway or do I have to file RTI with BSNL?

 

I found this URL I think I should start from here

https://www.sbi.co.in/user.htm?action=customercomplaintform

[jps50 1,580]

The decision of CIC confirms that CCTV footage is accessible under RTI. It should not be interpreted narrowly only for corruption. I am sure scaling up complaint of misbehaviour or harassment to Local HO of bank and RTI for footage will cool down bank staff.

 

Complaint to LHO if not attended properly in a month should be followed by RTI with following links:

 

Long pending ? :

http://www.rtiindia.org/forum/blogs/jps50/69-any-thing-pending-govt.html

 

Central Govt application:

http://www.rtiindia.org/forum/blogs/jps50/19-rti-application-central-govt-info.html

 

You can address RTI application to branch head/ACPIO of the same branch and pay Rs.10 in cash, since bank has designated all its branch heads as ACPIOs under RTI to accept RTI applications, filing fees and appeals.

 

Please also study various policy initiatives posted on website of the bank for customers, as per directives of RBI and make use of them e.g. compensation policy, citizen charter, code of ethics, fair practice code etc. Following link [specially item No. 8 may be quoted in complaint] will be useful:

 

http://www.rtiindia.org/forum/blogs/jps50/113-useful-extracts-supreme-court-judgement-common-man.html

[karira 5,897]

Instead of doing all this, it will be better to write a ordinary letter to the Regional Manager of the Bank describing your experience completely.

[jj99 136]

@smbhappy, jj99

 

Does unprofessional behavior and neglect of service come under corruption in this case?

 

I am going to file a complaint with public grievances cell of SBI and will get the complaint no. I want an apology letter from the branch manager and compensation. Failing which I will sue the branch manager as a representative of SBI who is guilty of providing poor service under CPA 1987.

 

Will my testimony in the consumer forum be enough to prove my allegations?

 

Don't have personal grudge unnecessarily, you are pressuring your mind too much in this exercise it is very difficult to prove what you want to say, so be careful in doing things your anger will first guide you take some steps and then you will repent on ( money / time / mental condition ) for small but an event which you should forget. these are like every day instances ( see DIG Rathod event even CBI registered the case but then withdrew becoz of no or little evidence to prosecute )

[jps50 1,580]

Taking client for ride, insulting him or harassing him by bank or any govt staff should not be allowed without taking it to logical end. 'Jane-do' attitude emboldens such employees. I was with a public sector bank for 31 years and 20 years as head of large branches. Internal management have their own constraints, union pressure etc to take action against staff, but if no-nonsense customer pursues it, management is forced to take corrective steps. I used to encourage customers to lodge written complaint to me against my erring staff so that action can be taken. Such complaints put employees on guard not to at least repeat such incidents. They do not know that CCTV camera can now nail them in disciplinary proceedings. If we want that common man has to be respected in govt offices in a democratic country, we must resist injustice. Let us pay some price by way of some money and time to improve good governance and courteous behaviour by public servants befitting citizen of a democratic country. I invite kind attention to posts at:

 

http://www.rtiindia.org/forum/82586-education-loan-refused-completely-wrong-basis-now-sanctioned-through-rti.html

 

Let us resist injustice to get justice. We have RTI to help us. I quoute:

 

 

“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” - Albert Einstein

 

“Injustice anywhere is threat to justice everywhere.”

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

Silence of good men is more dangerous than brutality of bad men—Martin Luthar King

 

“The real swaraj will come not by the acquisition of authority by a few, but by the acquisition of capacity by all to resist authority when abused.” Mahatma Gandhi.

[trey 1]

@ jj99, jps50

 

In this case its the branch manager, but SBI is notorious for its rude staff. According the Banking Ombudsman maximum number of consumer complaints are against SBI.

 

I rarely visit the branch, all of my transactions are carried out through internet. I checked last time I visited the branch was in June 2010. Its been more than a year. Imagine what will be the agony of those who have no access to net-banking and still stand in line for transactions. Or an illiterate a/c holder who has to go to the manager every time to get his/her thumb impression attested so that he/she can withdraw cash from the counter. The manager gloats when he is pleased to attest a thumb impression.

I remember last time there was a wall right next to the entrance; which had a fairly big poster describing the role of Ombudsman and the step-by-step procedure to file complaint against the bank staff. Also there was another poster explaining RTI and the directives laid down by SBI to implement it. This time I noticed it was quietly removed and replaced by a colorful SBI mutual fund poster and another with the punchline Har Bhartiya ka bank LOL

I wonder if the creator of these ads know the ground realities.

[smbhappy 633]

You need not obtain the BSNL details. Just mention the number in your notice together with the date and time on which you received call from the bank. This will sufficiently embroil the bank. The mention of the transaction and your presence there will be another un-controvertible evidence of your having visited the bank. Make your notice formidable with all such incidences and instances.

[dr.s.malhotra 1,471]

this is not corruption . It is neither deficiency in service . It is a case of ill-manners .

I believe simply writing to the higher authorities of the bank would be enough .

The whole exercise of RTI and other such processes would be counter-productive .

If you can afford to quit the bank , do it as a matter of protest after writing the same to highest authority in the bank .

[trey 1]

this is not corruption . It is neither deficiency in service . It is a case of ill-manners .

I believe simply writing to the higher authorities of the bank would be enough .

The whole exercise of RTI and other such processes would be counter-productive .

If you can afford to quit the bank , do it as a matter of protest after writing the same to highest authority in the bank .

 

I have filed written complaint with the local head office. And I am already in the process of opening a new a/c at a user-friendly bank; a bank where serving customers with a smile is not just a punchline.

[jj99 136]

I have filed written complaint with the local head office. And I am already in the process of opening a new a/c at a user-friendly bank; a bank where serving customers with a smile is not just a punchline.

 

@trey pl. inform us your experience with this new punchline smiling banking after one year or so, can RTI apps be filed in this new bank

[trey 1]

@trey pl. inform us your experience with this new punchline smiling banking after one year or so, can RTI apps be filed in this new bank

 

Sure, the new bank is IDBI, which has a staff trained enough to handle customers professionally. And being a public sector bank it comes under RTI. Also from this financial year the bank has dropped various charges.

 

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/idbi-bank-waives-chargessavingscurrent-account-services/406578/

 

http://www.idbi.com/pdf/soc09/Super_Savings_Savings_Account.pdf

 

One of my friend has an account here for six months and he says that it is a no-nonsense tech-savvy bank.

[trey 1]

@ all

 

I want to share one interesting incident with all of you. Once I submitted a request for a demand draft through SBI internet-banking. The systems provides two options; (1) the customer can personally collect the demand draft from the home branch after printing a system generated counter-foil or (2) the bank will deliver it through courier/post to his address within 5 working days.

I selected the second options and confirmed the DD request, subsequently the amount was debited from my a/c.

I waited for 2 weeks but no draft came, finally after 20 days I visited the branch and inquired about the DD, all the officials were confused. They had no idea how to handle this, the assistant branch manager was surprised to hear that such kind of service even exists! One official replied that I should not indulge in cyber-adventurism and said "who will be responsible if the money is lost in transaction"?

Finally, they traced the transaction in the bank records and printed the DD. They also made me sign a counterfoil used for offline DD requests. I tried to explain them that I have submitted all the details online and they can verify my claim by checking their records but they still asked me to fill and sign it. Obsession with paperwork; I guess!

State Bank for Excellence another ironic punchline. LOL

[ganpat1956 673]

Gentlemen, no digressing please. Pls confine yourself to the subject matter of RTI , if you don't want to lose focus on the original query.

[trey 1]

Today the Branch Manager sent an email apologizing for his behavior and promised never to repeat it again

[rajubheda 0]

I had suffer big loss & money with transaction with ICICI bank mulund branch in the year 2008/09,regarding ATM transaction,shall I get the video footage of the year Dec'2008 of Icici Bank

not permitted @ rti india.org

[dr.s.malhotra 1,471]

No . you can not . RTI does not apply to private banks .

[smbhappy 633]

I had suffer big loss & money with transaction with ICICI bank mulund branch in the year 2008/09,regarding ATM transaction,shall I get the video footage of the year Dec'2008 of Icici Bank

not permitted @ rti india.org

 

You may lodge a FIR with the Economic Offences Wing of the Police and ask the police to obtain the Video Footage. Then you can have that from police using RTI.