As most patrons know Ministry of Education had most kindly chosen us for a IKS grant but with a very limiting condition and in my opinion over-bureaucracy to only allow ICICI Bank as the Chosen Partner and this has turned a nightmare for us.

The frivolous staff of Noida Sector-50 ICICI
Manu Srivastava
Gautam Khanna
with
there equally indolent counterpart Rahul Gupta ICICI-IKS Coordinator

engaging in Holier-than-thou/We-Know-It-All attitude with not a little hint of self-indulgence thinks there dim-witted understanding of Banking Laws can be utilized to persecute bona-find NGOs by just saying no and disappearing.

I couldn’t even get them to give me official reasons for declining my Bank Account in 4 months other than the preposterous “आपको आना पड़ेगा” – from Singapore just to speak with them face-to-face – mobile phones and cameras have not been invented yet.

All I knew from word-of-mouth the country clowns are claiming there is no such NGO existing even though my co-applicant had entertained them.
Yet again like the yet to be invented mobile-phones/video-calls
– online banking has not come in existence, my HDFC Bank Statements for last 12 years cannot be perused
– web-sites dont exist my archive.org work and this site cannot be viewed.
there is no evidence-check accept the most primitive way of seeing is believing and the subjective interpretation of someones fancy.

But thanks to my twitter shout-out care@icicibank.com showed, there CSC did inquire and most importantly left incriminating evidence on there own flawed process which will allow me to make my case to the Consumer Court even stronger.

So basically confusing a Banking/Corresponding Address with a Working Address clearly in breach of RBI guidelines.

RBI guidelines can be read below:

My email to the Banking Ombudsman can be read below
Email to Banking Ombudsman

eGangotri Digital Preservation Trust

Hon. Bank Ombudsman
Reserve Bank of India,
06 Sansad Marg,
New Delhi

3 Dec 2024

Dear Hon. Bank Ombudsman:

We are eGangotri Digital Preservation Trust, a Delhi registered NGO working for bringing the blessings of rare Sanskrit books and manuscripts to the Open-Access Digital universe.

This is a complaint against ICICI Sec-50 Branch for willfully denying a Bank Acct to our NGO despite a Govt. Mandate.

We are seeking redressal for 

(1) A Private Bank disregarding a Govt. Directive, non-compliance including Administrative Inaction 

(2) Causing us 

  mental harassment 

  financial loss

  time-loss 

by poor service, 

    unprofessionalism, 

    procrastination, 

    whims and fancies-based approach, 

    negligence, 

   administrative inaction

   dereliction.

ICICI Staff involved in causing/abetting aforementioned :

Manu Srivastava, Bank Manager Sec-50, Noida
Rahul Gupta, ICICI Appointed Coordinator for IKS

Summary of Grievance:

Pursuing the creation of an Official Bank Account as per Govt. Directive of Min. of Education IKS Division through ICICI – we approached them in the First Week of July.

Despite all paperwork submission  till Oct 15th no account was created.

Reasons given verbally were flimsy based on a perfunctory subjective evaluation of our Banking Address – no such NGO exists in the premises.

Official Reason was sought through Phone/Email including Conf-Calls with Respected Shri Murti-ji IKS who heads IKS.
Even the Govt. appointed Head of the Agency was already dealing with multiple cases of ICICI-inaction and negligence.

ICICI never came back with any written response.

Below I will detail the entire process

Events Timeline

On Aug 2,2024 the Ministry of Education IKS Division awarded us by a grant worth 12.5 Lakh Rs.

Reference of the Award:

Click to access iksinternship_results-updated.pdf

Viewable: Item 7 titled

Digitization of Sanskrit Primary Secondary and Tertiary Literature/Disciplines in All Languages 

A Condition of this grant was that Monetary Transfer will be based on a Zero Balance Account exclusively through ICICI.

We approached ICICI Sec-18 Branch for the creation of an account on July 1st – retro-actively – and we were assigned Mr. Tarun Shrotriya.

Tarun Shrotriya ji visited our premises and handed us some docs to fill.

After that he just disappeared and all attempts to call him went answered. Dereliction 

I and my Lawyer Adv. Vidit Chauhan visited Sec-18 ICICI Branch and complained to the Branch Manager Shri Puneet Bhardwaj ji.

Tarun Shrotirya was there.

On being asked why he had not proceeded with the filing he frankly admitted that the premises he visited didn’t seem affluent enough to be worthy of ICICI Bank Services.

Puneet asked him to work on our application.

We spent some more time with him and he disappeared again. Second dereliction

Upon the advice of a friend we tried our luck with Sec 50 Branch. They atleast entertained our application.

I was assigned Shivani and we started discussing the Act Opening application since July 11th 2024 – based on my whatsapp logs.

All Docs were made ready as per the requirements – Proof of Residence, Trust Deed, 80G/12A Cert.

But Shivani claimed I needed a letter from ICICI-IKS Coordinator Rahul Gupta before she could proceed further so she returned all my docs.

On 28th Aug 2024 I told her that the ICICI Rahul Gupta has emailed the Letter and now finally she can resume with the Account Opening.

To dispatch her the documents was another task as she was off for almost every day for a week plus. Negligence Poor Service. Harrassment by Delay and Absenteeism.

Because I need to call everyday and track a simple thing like dispatch of docs.

When she finally did show up at work and received my documents there was a mute agreement that they are completed pending the Rahul Gupta email.

But every 2-3 days there was a call and she wanted still more documents, signatures, new paper-work

This took her 3 weeks to get more paperwork.

Harrassment by Delay , convoulted requirments.

After wasting the entire Sept. like this on Oct1st I asked her is everything good to go.

She said a visit by the Branch Mananger was pending.

But I protested why is that needed you and your associates have been here multiple times and all the paper work is ready. She claimed this is some protocol.

Then every single day we asked her when is your Branch Manager coming.

There was always an excuse.

Harrassment-Through-Delay-Infinite Waiting, Dereliction,Negligence.

My Co-applicant and Co-Trustee Shri Deen Dayal Pandey went out of the way and visited the premises, but despite showing up on an appointed time Manu Srivastava had left.

ICICI-Coordinator Rahul Gupta was apprised on multiple occasions of poor service. He didn’t seem to do anything other than vague verbal assurances.

Negligence to Customer Woes.

Then wasting two weeks the Branch Manager Manu Srivastava finally showed up with Shivani.

Asked irrelevant/perfunctory questions. Why don’t you open with HDFC why ICICI.

This clearly demonstrated that the Branch Manager didn’t know what he was talking about and he had a very random – whim-driven approach.

My Co-Trustee explained its a Govt. mandate and only ICICI has been chosen.

Manu Srivastav asked many vague questions – why is there no staff here.

We explained to him the obvious – all our actual work happens in Libraries and Centers where they have books – visit egangotri.org and see for yourself what we have uploaded. Otherwise visit our centers in Haridwar and visit Gurukul Kangri and other premises.

Harrasment by Irrelevance, Incompetent Questions

Then Shivani ji called me and said you have to be here physically to meet her Branch Manager Manu Srivastav.

On Oct. 5th I had already proceeded to Singapore and she knew this. I told her how it is possible. She claimed that that is protocol. Manu Srivastav is not convinced of the purpose of our bona fine intentions !!!

Why cant Manu Srivastava call me over a video call and satisfy his baseless curiosity.

Why will I take a flight ticket to India just to be there physically and satisfy your protocol which is whimsical and baseless.

The Grant is a Govt. Mandate. I have provided all documents why is my physical present an overarching condition – because you have met me many times while I was there how does it change when your Branch Manager visits.

Again proves they are whimsical. 

Harassment by making outrageous demands.

 On Nov. 4th in a chain of replies to my email titled:

Formal Inquiry Regarding Non-Compliance in Bank Account Opening

Ms. Shivani wrote following:

Dear Mr. Chetan,

This is to bring in your kind notice once again that during our visit at your communication address, Branch manager Mr. Manu Srivastava is not fully convinced about the purpose and source of grant /donation expected in this account. The meeting held with Mr. Deel dayal pandey on 15^th of oct couldn’t justify the purpose of this account to the satisfaction level of due diligence. Bank can’t compel to open account if customer is not able to explain business profile, nature of financial transaction and purpose of business activities to the satisfaction level. As already informed you by Mr. Rahul that matter is under discussion with compliance team. So, I request you kindly wait for a revert from Mr Rahul and from Mr. Manu Srivastava on the final decision of opening this account.

Moreover, I did not inform you to destroying your documents rather bank annexures which is bank property.

Thanks & Regards,

Shivani

Relationship Manager- IB

ICICI Bank Ltd.

Mob. No- +918104311848

Read the following: 

is not fully convinced about the purpose and source of grant /donation expected in this account. 

Source of the Grant is Govt of India. The Letter by Govt. of India has already been shared with you.

This is incriminating evidence clearly shows they are following there own whims-fancies ;

the subjective evaluation of a uninformed Bank Manager are depriving a legitimate bona fide NGO such as ours the Govt. Grants badly needed to support Work of Civilizational Importance such as eGangotris’.

On Oct. 29 I wrote an email entitled

Formal Inquiry Regarding Non-Compliance in Bank Account Opening

Contents:

Dear Rahul Gupta ji,

I am joined in this email by Respected Murti ji, IKS National Coordinator, and Adv. Vidit Chauhan, eGangotri’s legal advisor.

This serves as a Formal Notice of Inquiry into the delayed and unjustified non-compliance regarding my ICICI Bank account opening at the Sector-50 Branch.

On October 16th, 2024, we conducted a call with you and Murti ji, during which you assured us of a swift response and clear reasoning as to why the ICICI Sector-50 Branch is obstructing the account opening despite all formal requirements being met, as mandated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Government of India.

Despite multiple follow-ups via phone and text messages, I have received no response. This unjustified delay has cost us financially, with losses amounting to nearly ₹2,00,000 per month due to undisbursed grants and the subsequent impact on our operations. The actions of your branch may potentially constitute non-compliance with the regulatory mandates and guidelines provided under Indian law.

Legal Non-Compliance and Potential Consequences:

1. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Circulars:
   • As per RBI’s “Know Your Customer” (KYC) directives and the Master Direction – Know Your Customer (KYC) Directions, 2016, no bank should deny account opening if all KYC requirements are met. Your branch’s non-compliance in this matter potentially breaches RBI norms.
   • Section 45 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 grants powers to take punitive action against banks for non-compliance with RBI directives, which could be enforced.
2. Right to Services and Consumer Protection:
   • Denial of legitimate banking services without substantial cause or clarity violates our rights under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, potentially qualifying as “deficiency in service” under Section 2(11). This entitles us to seek appropriate compensation for the monetary and operational losses incurred.
3. Right to Sue for Damages:
   • In case of further delay or refusal, we will be compelled to take legal action under Section 73 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 for damages due to breach of promise to provide banking services. Failure to act on this matter may force us to initiate proceedings to recover the incurred losses and potential reputational harm.

Demand for Immediate Action:

1. Response Deadline: We hereby demand an immediate update on the status of my application within 3 Business Days from the date of this notice, failing which legal action may be initiated.
2. Compliance Assurance: You are requested to provide a clear response in writing as to why the account has not yet been processed, and to take prompt action to ensure compliance with RBI mandates and other relevant banking laws.

This matter will be escalated to ICICI’s Head Office, the Banking Ombudsman, and potentially the RBI, should we not receive a timely response. Additionally, we may seek restitution for the financial losses sustained due to this delay.

We look forward to your immediate and adequate response.

Regards,

Chetan Pandey

We asked for reasons why you have declined our application and on 4th Nov. Rahul Gupta acknowledged my email apologizing that he will send us an official note for the reasons of declining.

Since then I have not heard anything from ICICI. Rahul Gupta ji the ICICI-IKS Coordinator has blocked my whatsapp. He doesn’t not pick my direct phone calls.

Clear Case of Dereliction of Duty.

Relevant Legal Provisions

1. RBI Guidelines on Account Opening:
   • As per the Reserve Bank of India’s Master Direction on Know Your Customer (KYC), 2016:
     • No bank can refuse to open a bank account if the applicant has fulfilled all KYC requirements.
     • The refusal based on subjective evaluations constitutes a violation of this directive.
2. Banking Regulation Act, 1949:
   • Section 45 allows RBI to take punitive actions against banks for non-compliance with its guidelines.
   • The dereliction of duty, lack of due diligence, and arbitrary refusal to open my account fall under regulatory non-compliance.
3. Consumer Protection Act, 2019:
   • Section 2(11) defines “deficiency in service,” which includes any fault, imperfection, or inadequacy in providing services.
   • The mental harassment, delays, and financial losses caused by the bank’s actions are grounds for compensation under this act.
4. Indian Contract Act, 1872:
   • Section 73 allows recovery of damages for breach of obligation. The delay in account opening has caused you financial losses, making the bank liable for compensation.
5. Government Mandate:
   • The grant explicitly requires the account to be opened with ICICI Bank. Non-compliance with this mandate by the bank undermines the government’s directive and affects the NGO’s operations.
6. RBI Banking Ombudsman Scheme:
   • Clause 8 of the Banking Ombudsman Scheme allows you to escalate issues involving:
     • Refusal to open an account without sufficient grounds.
     • Non-adherence to RBI regulations or directives.

Thanks and regards.