State Bank Of India [SBI] — improper guidance for transferring my account to another branch.

Address:

Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600048

I had a savings bank account with state bank of india, thirumangalam branch, chennai.in the year 2016, i shifted my residence to varadharajapuram, near mudichur. Since there was no branch of sbi near my residence, i continued operating from thirumangalam branch, which was 35 km away. Fifteen days back, a new branch of sbi was opened in mudichur.
I decided to transfer my account from thirumangalam branch to mudichur branch. I approached the branch manager of mudichur branch and enquired about it. She told me that it is possible to get the transfer as per my request. She advised me that i should go and give a request letter to thirumangalam branch. I told her that my account was transferred from bangalore to chennai in the year 2012 and there was no requirement for such a request. Thirumangalam branch completed all the formalities on my oral request. She told me that the rules have changed now. I just asked her how come all the rules in sbi are changing only against the interest of the customers and not a single rule changes in favor of customers. There was a rude reply ‘yes’. I didn’t expect anything better! She told me that if i go and give my request letter, they will transfer the account immediately and while returning from there i can even confirm that the account is transferred. I thanked her and went to the thirumangalam branch.
When i went to thirumangalam branch and submitted a letter, they asked me to produce an identity proof. I told the accountant, who attended my request that i have got the passbook, which has got my photograph, address etc., and on checking the passbook she can confirm my identity. She didn’t agree. I told her that i submitted my photo, aadhar card copy, passport copy etc., for their kyc requirements just 15 days earlier. She told me that she did not keep any such details and everything was sent to the concerned department. Is it so difficult for them that they can’t even keep a scanned copy of our details for such emergency requirements? If in case a fraudster comes to the bank how can they verify the details? He would be more prepared to answer them than they are! Basically, what is the purpose of collecting the kyc details? To send it to some other department for filing? I told her that i am 70 years old and she can’t expect me to go get my id proof again. I requested her in a raised voice to check my passbook and do the needful. She advised me to meet the bank manager.
I met the branch manager and explained everything. After seeing my passbook and checking my account the branch manager told me that change of branch can be done using my mobile! She also helped me to log in to my account in my mobile and completed the business. Unfortunately, thanks to the ‘sbi systems’, i didn’t get my otp for completing the business. After trying twice, she told me that since i didn’t get my otp, she is instructing the accountant to do it using her computer.
The accountant tried to do it. But her computer couldn’t recognize the mudichur branch. Two more persons also tried but they also couldn’t get the mudichur branch in their computers. Finally, they told me to contact the mudichur branch and explain the difficulty. I tried to get the mudichur branch manager and there was no access to any telephone. Since i didn’t expect this problem, i also did not get the phone number of the branch. It was partly because the attitude of the branch manager was very rude.
I came back to mudichur branch and explained the problem. They immediately called the thirumangalam branch accountant and explained the procedure on how it should be done. Such is the awareness and skill of the accountant level people working in a busy sbi branch! Mudichur branch people told me to wait for 10 minutes so that they can let me know whether the job is over. Since i had my taxi waiting and since it was already waiting for more than 20 minutes and i was not sure whether i will be able to get the result in 10 minutes, i told them that i will call them after half an hour. They agreed.
I just went to the branch manager to inform her about the progress. She told me to call her the next day afternoon at 3.45 pm. The same lady had told me in the morning that i can get the confirmation while coming back from the thirumangalam branch. When i asked her she started giving me a lecture! Since i knew that the job was a less than 5-minute job as explained by the thirumangalam branch manager, i just tolerated her and listened. When i called her the next day at 3.45 pm, she said the account has been transferred.
Today i checked my account on my computer. The account is transferred alright. But i had a shock when i saw that the thirumangalam branch people had credited my account with an interest of rs.112/- and then debited the same amount before transferring the account.
Effectively, they have saved sbi by stealing that amount from me. Will it go to set right vijay mallya or yes bank accounts or the 76, 000 crores they wrote off last year, god knows.
I am now wondering whether these people should be called # or crooks. For less than 5 minutes job which could have been done using my mobile, my loss was around rs.2, 000/-!