Man Who Was Barred From Entering Bank For Wearing Shorts Goes Viral

A man claimed that he was barred from entering an Indian bank as he was wearing a pair of shorts.

The man, who goes by the name ‘Ashish’ on Twitter, tweeted to State Bank of India (SBI), and said that a staff member of one of the bank's branches told him to go back and return wearing “full pants" because customers were expected to “maintain decency," reported News18. He asked SBI if there is an official policy when it comes to customers' outfits.

He also shared a news article which was about a similar incident that happened in Pune. When another Twitter user asked him about the incident, Ashish wrote that as he entered the bank, a peon then told him to come back in full pants. On asking where the rule was written, then the entire staff started shouting at him.

The bank responded to his tweet by confirming that "there is no policy or prescribed dress code" for customers, and they can dress up according to their choice and may consider the locally acceptable culture, tradition or norms for a public place like a bank branch. The bank then promised to look into the matter.

They interacted via Twitter DMs then Ashish posted an update on the situation saying that the bank had taken care of the issue and said that he would like to close the complaint.

Three years ago, SBI had asked its employees to follow a dress code, and stick to etiquette and grooming guidelines, according to the Independent. The bank, which had a staff strength of 269,000 and more than 24,000 branches in 2018, said in a circular that in order to ensure that an "acceptable level of decorum in the workplace is maintained, all employees should adhere to a model dress code.”

Male employees had to wear smart formals and women staff members were “advised” to pick western dress or formal Indian wear as their work attire. The circular also asked the bank's employees to “practice adequate personal hygiene to keep bad breath and body odour away," and not have an “unkempt look.”