The Arunachal Christian Forum (ACF) has alleged that a nationalised (public sector) bank's digital banking software does not allow Christian users belonging to Scheduled Tribes (ST) to select the ST category while opening bank accounts or updating KYC details
ITANAGAR — The Arunachal Christian Forum (ACF) has alleged that a nationalised (public sector) bank's digital banking software does not allow Christian users belonging to Scheduled Tribes (ST) to select the ST category while opening bank accounts or updating KYC details, and instead directs them towards the "General" category.
In a letter to the bank authority on Wednesday in Itanagar, the apex Christian body of Arunachal Pradesh termed the alleged software behaviour "potentially discriminatory" and demanded that the bank examine and rectify the issue within 15 days.
The ACF claimed that when a customer selects "Christian" under the religion option in the bank's banking applications other digital account-opening and KYC (Know Your Customer) facilities, the system allegedly disables the option to select "Scheduled Tribe (ST)" and instead directs the customer to the "General" category.
"If this is indeed the intention of a bank, it creates a serious concern for a person who has constitutional status as a Scheduled Tribe," the forum said in its representation.
The ACF said the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, as amended from time to time, contains a separate entry for Arunachal Pradesh and specifies the recognised tribes of the state.
It claimed that the Arunachal Pradesh entry does not prescribe any religion-based exclusion under which a member of a notified Scheduled Tribe ceases to have ST status merely because the person professes Christianity.
"If the bank's banking application is technically designed in such a manner that if the religion option is chosen as Christian, only the General category option is available and the Scheduled Tribe option is not available to a Scheduled Tribe Christian, such a function may result in an incorrect and potentially discriminatory classification of genuine ST Christian customers," the forum said.
The ACF also contended that the bank was not the competent authority to alter or remove the ST status of a tribal Christian customer possessing a valid ST certificate.
"The bank cannot de-list or automatically classify a tribal Christian customer under the General category solely because the customer is Christian and has truthfully declared his or her religion," it said.
The forum has urged the bank authorities to examine the banking application and associated customer-onboarding and KYC software to determine whether selecting Christianity as a religion automatically disables the ST category for tribal Christian customers in Arunachal Pradesh.
It has also sought clarification from the bank on whether any law, regulatory provision or Reserve Bank of India (RBI) circular or instruction permits such a classification.
"If no such statutory, regulatory or RBI instruction exists, the software logic should be corrected so that religion and Scheduled Tribe status are not incorrectly treated as mutually exclusive," the ACF said.
The forum also urged the bank to issue appropriate instructions to all its branches in Arunachal Pradesh to ensure that genuine ST customers who are Christians are not compelled to declare themselves as members of the General category merely on the basis of their religion.
The ACF has asked the bank to communicate the corrective action taken to the forum within 15 days from the date of the representation so that the matter can be communicated to affected members of the community.
The forum warned that if the issue is not resolved within the stipulated 15-day period, it would be "compelled to gherao all the branches of that bank in Arunachal Pradesh" on the following day.
The ACF has urged the bank authorities to treat the matter as a serious concern and take appropriate technical and administrative measures to address the alleged discrepancy in the digital banking system.