By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Customers of State Bank of India Main Branch are a dejected lot when it comes to updating their bank passbooks.
They say that though the bank has provided a separate counter for updating passbooks only but that has not solved the problems faced by them.
A customer said that the counter clerk remains out of the counter and does not take his seat on time in the morning thereby making the customers stand in the queue for long hours. One such customer went to the bank recently for updating his passbook and had to wait for over one and half hour to update his passbook, despite the fact that he was the first customer in the queue.
“The clerk came after half-an-hour whereas the time for opening this counter is 10 o’clock. After coming to the counter, he turned on the computer and went away. He came back after another half-an-hour enjoying a mouthful of paan and continued to do his own work. In the meantime, an official came inside his cabin with whom he spoke for a while followed by another official who came to take some change from him,” said the customer.
Another such customer said that the clerk does not have any courtesy towards the waiting customers whereas he keeps on cleaning his machine and other furniture for long after taking his cabin.
He is echoed by a lady customer and said that since the bank has outsourced its services to some agencies it should employ more manpower and counters for passbook updating.
Meanwhile, customers of the SBI Evening Branch are also facing numerous problems. A customer of this branch said that he has been returned at least twice in the recent past when he went to the bank branch in Police Bazaar for depositing some cash.
“The official reasoned that the system is down and so they cannot attend my request. I want to ask the SBI authority how the bank can function with system failure for days together,” he lambastes.