India state-run banks 'turn away Muslims'

[chakra]

Did you read the rest of the thread? This theory of economic status has no grounds.

Banks can charge minimum balance. On top of that Scholarship funds would easily far exceed any banks minimum balance requirement. Further more, banks charge a fee for maintaining minimum balance accounts, they like to have customers running low on cash.

So wrong on all counts. The Banks are lying.

If someone is unable to maintain even a minimum balance in the account then how does one expects banks to recover the charges of maintaining an account??
And in the case the bank approaches the person to recover the charges then they will start calling this "EXPLOITATION".
Then we will have a whole new thread running on how indian banks exploit some communities!!

 

[Pride]

Did you read the rest of the thread? This theory of economic status has no grounds.

Banks can charge minimum balance. On top of that Scholarship funds would easily far exceed any banks minimum balance requirement. Further more, banks charge a fee for maintaining minimum balance accounts, they like to have customers running low on cash.

So wrong on all counts. The Banks are lying.

Asim, Do you really think that all the banks made a lobby and then created a policy to not open a bank account for minority. I lived in muslim populated area for around 20 years and I can give you thousands of references of account holder from my bank who are muslims.
The main reason bank feel insecure is many people goes to Middle east for earning and then there are no surity of cash inflows in the hence they grill many a times user for opening an account in PSU bank.

Anyways, If I believe in this news. Any Indian can file RTI "Right to Information" to get to know the facts, why his account is not opened.

 

[KS]

Did you read the rest of the thread? This theory of economic status has no grounds.

Of course it has.....I think the author has purposely cherry picked the cases of the Muslims and has written this article.

So by going this logic of religious discrimination do all Hindus who apply get loans..?

If NO then ur logic of religious discrimination holds no ground.

If YES then all the banks in India will be running on loss ..which is not the case.

 

[Jade]

Poor economic background?? and what it has to do with opening an account in a bank?? those who do not afford to deposit money in bank due to extreme poverty, they dont do. So if someone is going to bank for depositing money it means he/she can afford it.


And there is bank rule if your balance is bellow 5000 rupees they charge you Rs50 or so for giving services

Bank accounts are not only for saving money, but to get loans, refund checks, pensions etc...

PS: By the way your avatar has become very famous in India. Recently, I was visiting a local photo studio and was astonished to find your avatar enlarged and hanging inside...presumably as an advertisement.

 

[Pride]

Bank accounts are not only for saving money, but to get loans, refund checks, pensions etc...

PS: By the way your avatar has become very famous in India. Recently, I was visiting a local photo studio and was astonished to find your avatar enlarged and hanging inside...presumably as an advertisement.

Jade, Just to share her avatar is a girl named Fatima belongs to Morocco (and found in France) who has been considered most beautiful child whose pics is floating in internet.

 

[Hafizzz]

State-owned banks in India have been accused of discriminating against the country's Muslim minority.

India's minorities watchdog has received a record number of complaints from Muslims who say they have been prevented from opening bank accounts.

India's Muslim community is among the poorest in the country.

Some bankers say it is not so much their religious background, but their economic status that makes it hard for Muslims to get banking facilities.

The National Commission of Minorities says that there has been a 100% increase in the number of complaints it has received over the past year from Muslims who say they are being prevented from opening accounts in state-run banks.

Reports say the worst case took place in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, where some 90,000 Muslim students were unable to open accounts to deposit scholarship cheques given to them by the government.

Official reports frequently put Muslims at the bottom of India's social and economic ladder - even beneath than low-caste Hindus.

Their economic status means they are often excluded by private banks, which prefer more well-to-do clients.

Already a number of reports have suggested that India's Muslims fare poorly when it comes to getting access to quality education or employment opportunities.

This latest finding will add more pressure on a government which is seen as doing very little for the country's largest minority group.

source BBC News - India state-run banks 'turn away Muslims'

That's racism. Shame on you , India !!!

 

[third eye]

Seems odd to me.

So long as a man has money to deposit banks are happy. A common prob I see while opening bank accounts is inability to prove identity & residence ( local) both of which are mandatory.

Also , there is an issue of ' zero balance'. Besides this I cannot see any hitch.

 

[chakra]

That's racism. Shame on you , India !!!

Did you read the replies submitted by indian members OR you just reached the conclusion without knowing the facts??

 

[Awesome]

Of course it has.....I think the author has purposely cherry picked the cases of the Muslims and has written this article.

So by going this logic of religious discrimination do all Hindus who apply get loans..?

If NO then ur logic of religious discrimination holds no ground.

If YES then all the banks in India will be running on loss ..which is not the case.

Dude, religious bias and prejudices do exist in India...

Anyone with an inkling of banking experience will tell you straight off there is no good reason this should be happening in any significant numbers.

There is plenty of business to be earned from low income individuals. Students need to deposit their money into their accounts then pay to landlords and universities through cheques. Even if the issue is of low income and credit cards can't be issued, this is the world of Visa and Master Debit cards. You don't need to extend a credit line to the customer, just directly debit the balance they hold in your banks account and charge them a transaction fee.

Money from all ends.

The money they keep in the bank, earns the bank an interest.

If they go below the minimum balance they get charged.

If they go below Zero balance, the charge is incurred the next time they get a balance.

If they go zero balance for a long time, usually two consecutive months, their account goes dormant - 6 months, its closed.

As TE said, the no IDs would be a valid issue and in this money laundering world full of Osama Bin Laden and what not that is a justified practice. But here the only excuse has been made of the economic situation.

Banks need to identify you uniquely. They do that if you are opening an individual account through the National ID card or if you're opening a business account then through a Trading License. I don't see that being a problem that is being complained about here.

 

[scrumpy]

What possible link can there be to open a current deposit/saving bank account with a bank, with economic status?

If they maintain less than the minimum balance requirement, then the bank can place minimum balance charges. I'm sure there are banks in India where they offer zero balance accounts as well with no minimum balance charges.

Stop protecting racists.

Asim, Trust me, I will be the first to rally against any sort of unjust discrimination.

However in this case you are mistaken. Banks generally provide free services to a bank savings account holder. They recover this money by then lending your money to others at a higher rate of interest. For this they maintain rules about minimum balances or in some cases, annual income. Then there is also the case of references and address proofs. Many of the affected people would have been unable to provide it. My maid sometime back has a similar problem. As for these scholarship cheques, I believe that these are incentives given to the poorest sections to get them to study. I doubt that these would go beyond a few hundred rupees. Do you think a bank would relish the idea of opening an account for a student who will probably use it only for 2 transactions(deposit the cheque and then withdraw the money)?

Banks are businesses too. They will try all the tricks available in the books to avoid taking loss making accounts. Unless government regulation forces them to take such accounts, they will not do so. I thought this was already done though for exactly the same reasons I explained earlier.

Frankly, I may agree with you when it comes to bits like housing, employment where there may be some incentive for discrimination. However in such cases where the bank employee in all probability will never have to deal with the person again, I find it difficult to believe.

 

[Tshering22]

What a political propaganda! The Banks have clearly mentioned it is their economic situation that has them spurned and in turn these people have started taking the support of the sensitive "religion" card? This is so tragic and hurtful that they repeatedly misuse their minority status.

The people who complained with this false agenda are the kind who are responsible for any social unrest that happens in country and gives a bad name to good people of any community. Such political-minded people should be penalised for creating needless disharmony.

 

[BATMAN]

What a political propaganda! The Banks have clearly mentioned it is their economic situation that has them spurned and in turn these people have started taking the support of the sensitive "religion" card? This is so tragic and hurtful that they repeatedly misuse their minority status.

The people who complained with this false agenda are the kind who are responsible for any social unrest that happens in country and gives a bad name to good people of any community. Such political-minded people should be penalised for creating needless disharmony.

^^ why i'm not surprised

 

[Tshering22]

^^ why i'm not surprised

Don't be. We don't tolerate social miscreants of any faith. I'm a listed 'minority' too. Why don't I face these much-touted inconveniences then?

The truth is, all are faring well in our country of all communities and certain miscreants want some cheap attention and help corrupt politicians to support their creating of dis-harmony.

We know better of what is going on in our country. There's no need to cherry-pick provocative topics that are only generated for destroying social peace.

 

[Ras]

I don't know the background here....but some years back the US congress forced banks to give housing loans to low income families(mostly blacks) saying that they were discriminated against...result was 10 years down the line we were faced with the total collapse of the entire housing market.

 

[fallstuff]

I don't know the background here....but some years back the US congress forced banks to give housing loans to low income families(mostly blacks) saying that they were discriminated against...result was 10 years down the line we were faced with the total collapse of the entire housing market.

Another graduate of Rush Limbauh School of Economics, maybe Hannity, or is it Beck ?