SBI Software Denies Christians: Arunachal Forum Schedule Tribe Option

State Bank of India (SBI). File | Photo credit: Reuters

An apex group of Christians in Arunachal Pradesh has alleged that the State Bank of India’s digital banking software is preventing religious followers from selecting the ‘Scheduled Tribe (ST)’ option while opening an account or updating their Know Your Customer (KYC).

The Arunachal Christian Forum (ACF) said the digital system automatically classifies applicants as “general” when they identify themselves as Christian.

In a letter to the regional director of SBI’s regional office in Itanagar, the state capital, ACF president James Techi Tara and general secretary Yomrik Lombi warned of unrest if the public sector bank did not make the required technical fixes within 15 days.

SBI regional office received the letter on October 5.

ACF said the software disables the ST option when someone marks “Christian” as their religion. The forum pointed out that tribal status in Arunachal Pradesh was not dependent on religious affiliation under the Constitution (Scheduled Tribe) Order, 1950, and said such software was “potentially discriminatory”.

“SBI is not the competent authority to remove a tribal Christian customer who is in possession of a valid ST certificate. SBI cannot automatically classify tribal Christians into General category only on the basis of their declared religion,” the ACF letter said.

The forum urged the SBI authorities to examine the onboarding logic, clarify whether any regulation or Reserve Bank of India directive allows such classification and fix the software to prevent religion and tribal status from being considered mutually exclusive.

SBI officials said they are looking into the matter.

Published – 8 Oct 2026 09:23 IST