BOB suspends senior officials for manipulations involving 'bob world' app

Most of these employees who are facing actions have been part of the branch network in the North and Western region of the country

After facing regulatory wrath for alleged attempts to inflate registrations for mobile application, Bank of Baroda (BoB) has begun action, including suspension of employees charged for tampering with customer data.     

The bank has not come out with a statement on the number of employees against whom action is being taken, including those suspended.

But a senior office bearer of All India BoB Officers’ Association said the management has indicated that the number of persons suspended is less than 10.

Some of them are at the level of assistant general managers (AGMs). They are allegedly involved in manipulating customer accounts to increase the registrations on the bank’s mobile application. The suspension letters were issued two days ago.

The internal action transfers and issuing show-cause notices to some staff members began last month. It was even before the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked the bank to suspend further on-boarding of customers on “bob world’, its mobile application.

On October 10, the RBI had flagged a supervisory concern over the on-boarding process.

Most of the employees, who are facing action, have been part of the branch network in the Northern and Western regions of the country.

Last week, a senior bank official said while RBI’s action pertains to digital platforms, the issue is related to business and not technical aspects.

Besides conducting an internal audit, cross-verification of customers on-boarded is also underway. The exercise is expected to be completed in three-four weeks, a union official had said.

Last week, BoB, in a statement, had said it had already carried out corrective measures to address the concerns of the RBI and initiated further steps to plug any remaining gaps identified. It did not expect this action (curbs on on-boarding new customers on bob world) will have a material impact on the bank’s overall business and growth plans.

It will work closely with the RBI to address concerns at the earliest to its satisfaction, BoB added.