Suryoday Bank - A Nightmare!. Review on Suryoday Small Finance Bank

Suryoday Bank is a small finance bank. Typically, it offers competitive interest rates for depositors. Consequently, depositors get attracted to it in droves and deposit their amounts. Till there, it appears to be fine. The problems arise later. Most of us need to file our Income Tax Returns at the end of the Financial Year. As part of filing IT Returns, we have to reconcile our interest income with Form 26AS(TRACES) and AIS. These are updated by various financial institutions wherein you have invested your money. With Income Tax Department getting more and more hawkish, it is highly important that we ensure that amounts reflecting in Form 26AS and AIS for us are accurately reported by the financial institutions. Usually, banks report it correctly and within the 1st week of May every year for the previous Financial Year. As a good practice, I follow up with the banks every year in May itself so that correct updation is done by them in Form 26AS and AIS and I can file my IT Returns well in time and not at the last minute. This is where my family was shocked thoroughly with updation done by Suryoday Bank in 26AS and AIS. The amount updated by them was hugely wrong and running in to Rs.24 Lakhs and over for me. I hardly get a fraction of interest income from the bank and yet, this gross blunder. My family was in the same situation as well.

We wrote to Suryoday Bank and the senior management of the bank including Mr.Baskar Babu, CEO, Suryoday Bank was addressed. His Senior Management team was included as well. However, in the name of correction of submissions in Form 26AS and AIS, they have only been making multiple blunders. Now after starting this activity in May 2023, we are yet to file our IT Returns as they have not completed accurate submissions on IT portal. We have been writing on almost a daily basis to Mr. Baskar Babu, CEO, Mr. Rajesh Srivastava, Principal Nodal Office and senior management team but till, the issues have not been resolved. Their 3rd party tax partner is highly incompetent thus accounting for the blunders. Mr. Baskar Babu does not give a damn to his customers. Mr. Rajesh Srivastava is highly insensitive and exhibits apathy. There is no real customer service ethos in Suryoday Bank. Writing to RBI Ombudsman appears to be utterly useless as there has been no action from their end to these blunders.

The sad part is that we may not even be able to file our IT Returns by last date of 31-July-2023. And this is entirely Suryoday Bank's fault. There is no sense of responsibility within the bank's senior management team. They essentially behave as if they are doing customers a favour and as if we are beggars. And this is the condition of HNI customers! Even worse, if we do not file our IT Returns by deadline, we will be levied Rs.5, 000/- penalty but banks like Suryoday Bank who have essentially delayed our IT Returns filing process are not held responsible for filing submissions on IT portal wrongly. There is no penalty on them. The Central Board of Direct Taxes(CBDT), Ministry of Finance and the Honourable Finance Minister all expect that tax payers should be responsible for filing IT Returns correctly and in time but they do not feel that banks should be held accountable too. There is no penalty on their blunders. There is no accountability. This is the struggle tax payers have to face.

Next time, you consider Suryoday Bank for your business and investment, you may want to remember my experience and factor that in, when investing with them. It has been the worst experience of our lives! No one has bothered to take responsibility for this fiasco - not Suryoday Bank management team including CEO, RBI Ombudsman, CBDT, Ministry of Finance or Honourable Finance Minister.

Mr. Baskar Babu: Wake up from your sleep and stupor if you genuinely care about your customers. My experience tests your sincerity towards customers and you have utterly failed us! Shame on you!