‘Defaulter jaise harkate kar rahe ho…’: SBI Card’s aggressive credit card reminder sparks outrage

Recently, Rattan Dhillon of Chandigarh, a State Bank of India (SBI) credit cardholder, brought to light an aggressive recovery message he had received from an SBI agent for a minor unpaid credit card balance on social media platform X. Dhillon called the agent’s conduct intolerable and urged the bank to extend an apology.

Claims made by customers against SBI recovery agent

Dhillon, who appeared shocked that a representative of SBI would dare use such profanities, has shared a screenshot of the WhatsApp message on X which he received that says: “Bank ka paisa free ka tha jo kha ke baith gae. Bilkul hi defaulter jaise harkate kar rahe ho. Paisa bank ka zyada time nahi falta. Ek na ek din nikal jaega aur vo bhi byaj ke sath. Vo din na aaye apna minimum amount pay kar do abhi ek month ka.”

SBI’s response and Dhillon’s views

After checking his documents, Dhillon found that he owed merely ₹2,000-3,000. He rebuked the bank for allowing such diabolical communication, confirming that the agent was indeed from SBI. “This kind of behaviour is unacceptable, and the bank owes me an apology. If they don’t address this, I’ll be filing a complaint against them for the language they used. This is absolutely pathetic. And yes, I’m closing all my SBI accounts today itself!” he added.

The SBI granted public response after Dhillon tweet got viral, garnered more than a million views. They wrote, “We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused. We have taken note of it & our representative will connect with you soon,” However, Dhillon did show utter disinterest in carrying on the further conversation, rather unimpressed with how it all turned out for the bank.

Dhillon went ahead to say that the SBI official had allegedly used insolent language during one recorded telephonic conversation with him. “Sharm shurm nahi hai apko, payment karni hoti hai, due date ke baad akal aati hai apko,” which explain that the agent was suggesting shame did not bother him and he never understood the importance of payment till the due day. 

Social media users reactions

Following the incident, the work of the banking leaders and the professionalism of the recovery agents have engaged the Twitterati in much debate. Several customers have exhibited such tendencies, which suggest that aggressive recovery strategies might actually be a more widespread problem in the banking sector, many customers are curios about the way SBI has handled the incident.

In conclusion, while credit cards provide a lot of benefits, such cases like Dhillon’s raise some serious issues regarding the moral recovery processes of banks. Banks need to ensure they contact customers courteously.