Minister asks banks to pay compensation on death of customer

The routine of serpentine queues in front of banks and ATMs repeated across Bihar today as state Finance minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui asked bank managements to take responsibility for the death of a customer and pay compensation.
He voiced the demand at a meeting of the 58th state-level bankers committee meeting here amid media reports that four persons had died in different parts of Bihar while standing in the queues.
Siddiqui observed that if banks had opened their branches in accordance with the area-wise population, as per the guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India, people of the state would not have faced the rigour in withdrawing or exchanging money.

The banks which were registering more than expected accumulation of deposits after the scrapping of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes had the responsibility to provide loan to customers in the same proportion, he said in a statement.
Siddiqui expressed dissatisfaction at the performance of the banks in Bihar during the review meeting.