SBI clarifies: E-voting needs change in law

The State Bank of India (SBI) has clarified it is unable to provide e-voting for shareholders due to the legal position and not because of its unwillingness to utilise such modern tools.

In response to a Business Standard report, "Shareholders cry foul as SBI skips e-voting", the bank has reiterated that it cannot provide e-voting unless the SBI Act, 1955, is modified by Parliament.

"It is not that the bank does not want to utilise modern tools like e-voting. E-voting is not acceptable as per SBI Act, which requires shareholders to be either physically present or represented as per the laws. The bank cannot change this procedure unless the Act is modified by Parliament," it said in an emailed statement on Thursday.

Expressing unhappiness over the shareholders' perception of the bank's investor-unfriendliness mentioned in the report, the bank said: "We deeply resent the attempt made to unnecessarily portray us as investor-unfriendly when the truth of the matter is that we need to be guided by current laws rather than our wishes in any matter."

On the poor attendance at its general meetings, the bank said, "We would like to point out that the bank has taken all required steps to communicate the details of the AGM /EGM to all its shareholders and should not be blamed for attendance numbers."

"SBI is a government-owned entity and we believe in following the path of transparency as well as adhering to corporate governance and the regulatory requirements, while dealing with all our stakeholders," the bank said.