A State Bank of India (SBI) employee in Bengaluru has faced criticism after refusing to speak Kannada with a customer. The incident happened at the bank’s Surya Nagar branch and was caught on video. In the video, the employee is seen arguing with a customer who asks her to speak Kannada, the local language. The employee responds by asking if there is any rule that says she must speak Kannada. The argument continues, and the customer keeps insisting that the employee speak in the local language. In the end, the employee walks away, saying, “I will never speak Kannada.”

The video has upset many people in Karnataka, where Kannada is the main language, and it has started a debate about the importance of using local languages in public services. In the video, the SBI employee is heard telling the customer that it's not the customer’s job to tell bank staff what to do. The customer asks the staffer to speak in Kannada instead of Hindi. The employee replies by asking where it is written that he must do so, and the argument gets heated. The customer says it’s an RBI rule, and the staffer responds, “You find out... Ha, you can take my video.”

At one point, the customer says, “This is Karnataka,” and the staffer replies, “This is India.” The video was widely shared on social media platform X. A user tagged SBI and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, accusing the staff of forcing Hindi on customers, behaving rudely, and not following RBI rules during work hours.
After facing criticism, the State Bank of India (SBI) released a statement saying it regrets the incident at its Surya Nagar branch in Bengaluru. The bank said it is looking into the matter seriously and added that it has a zero-tolerance policy toward any behaviour that affects customer sentiment. SBI also said it is committed to respectful service.

The issue has now grown bigger. Pro-Kannada group Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) accused the SBI Chandapura branch staff of not respecting Kannada-speaking customers and not providing services in the local language. On May 21, KRV announced it will hold two protests at 11 am. One group will march to SBI’s Head Office on St. Mark’s Road in Bengaluru to submit a memorandum. At the same time, KRV’s women’s wing will protest outside the Chandapura branch on Anekal Road, where the issue happened.

KRV state president TA Narayanagowda said the protest is about respect for the Kannada language and customer dignity. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah called the bank staff's behaviour “strongly condemnable,” and Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya also said the incident was “unacceptable.”

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah appreciated SBI's action of transferring the staff member involved in the incident. He said, “The matter may now be treated as closed.” However, Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya took a stronger stand, saying, “Banks working in Karnataka should serve customers in Kannada. Period.”