ICICI Bank refutes allegations of illegal staff termination

Terms allegations of termination of 782 employees 'voluntary abandonment of services'

Private-sector lender ICICI Bank has refuted allegations that the bank terminated hundreds of employees in recent months without following due process. In a recent letter to the bank’s chairman, Praveen Chakravarty, chairman of the All India Professionals’ Congress (AIPC), a key department of the Indian National Congress (INC), India’s principal Opposition party, had stated that ICICI Bank’s terminations reflected unethical and corrosive workplace policies.   “We would like to categorically state that we do not terminate any employee of the bank unless there are issues of integrity or misconduct. Being a law-abiding organisation, we follow employment law and practices in both letter and spirit,” the bank said in response to a query from Business Standard.   “With respect to the allegation that we have separated 782 employees, we would like to inform you that these are cases of “voluntary abandonment of services”, the bank said.   According to the letter from Chakravarty, in December 2024, AIPC received a letter signed by 82 ex-employees of the private-sector lender alleging unfair termination from employment by the bank without due process. Following this, an inquiry into the matter by AIPC revealed that as many as 782 employees were terminated by the bank in a span of six months, the letter said. The letter further mentioned that two of the ex-employees of the bank committed suicide in March.   “It is pertinent to note that certain employees were separated from the bank due to gross misconduct like fake financial claims, sexual misconduct, unethical conduct and other serious disciplinary issues,” the bank said, adding that ICICI Bank’s attrition rate had been lowest among private-sector banks for the past three years, which is a testimony to the bank’s responsible and empathetic employee-centric culture.   “…it appears that a few of the disgruntled employees are misusing the data of “voluntary abandonment of services”, to simply tarnish our image. Their allegations are misleading, and they do not portray the facts,” the bank said.   Additionally, the bank explained that, while leaving current organisations, some employees – largely at the entry level – did not complete their resignation formalities properly. This is a trend widely seen across the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) industry. Such employees simply stop reporting for work at their organisation. When the unauthorised absenteeism continues even after sending several notifications to such employees, their companies treat these cases as “voluntarily abandonment of services”, also termed as “stop reporting”.   “Terming these cases of “voluntary abandonment of services” by employees unfair termination by the bank is grossly incorrect and a motivated attempt by individuals having ulterior intentions,” the bank said.   Previously, in June last year, the top management of ICICI Bank was asked to meet the labour ministry officials for a discussion on alleged unfair termination of employees. The ministry had called the managing director and chief executive officer, Sandeep Bakhshi, and individuals including Abhinay Rai, Sneha Ghodekar and Dharmendra Gupta — who had previously taken to social media claiming wrongful termination, and Nainish Ashok Kumar Rathi.   "A few of them had approached the labour commissioner. The bank has clarified its position in detail to these authorities and reasons of cessation of their employment as elucidated above...,” the bank said.   According to a report, in FY24, ICICI Bank’s employee attrition rate stood at 24.5 per cent, which was one of the lowest among private-sector lenders. “ICICI Bank’s attrition rate has been lowest among private-sector banks for the past three years, according to published reports. This is a testimony to the bank’s responsible and empathetic employee-centric culture. In summary, it appears that a few of the disgruntled employees are misusing the data of “voluntary abandonment of services”, to simply tarnish our image. Their allegations are misleading, and they do not portray the facts,” the bank added in its reply to Business Standard query.