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Former Infosys director and prominent entrepreneur TV Mohandas Pai has criticised a State Bank of India (SBI) branch manager in Karnataka for refusing to communicate with customers in Kannada, calling the incident "very, very wrong" and likening it to "colonial arrogance."

The controversy erupted at SBI’s Surya Nagar branch in Anekal taluk, near Bengaluru, after a video surfaced on social media showing a woman manager refusing a customer’s request to speak in Kannada. “I will not speak in Kannada for sure,” she says in the clip, insisting on using Hindi instead. The video quickly went viral, prompting a wave of outrage from Kannada-speaking citizens and pro-Kannada groups, who demanded disciplinary action.

Following the backlash, the manager issued an on-camera apology. However, the gesture failed to fully address the public’s anger and reignited long-standing debates around linguistic respect, especially in customer-facing roles in national institutions.

'Every Business Must Serve Its Local Customers'

Mohandas Pai joined the conversation by replying to a post on X (formerly Twitter) defending the manager’s position. Responding to commentator Tushar Gupta, who argued that SBI is a national bank, not obligated to use regional languages, Pai firmly countered: “Every business must serve its local customers in a language they understand. This is not the British Raj again. This is a service business.”

Pai clarified that fluency in Kannada wasn’t the demand, but rather a basic ability to communicate out of respect for the local populace. “Learning, say, 200 words to converse is difficult? They are customers, not your captives or subjects. This arrogance is very, very wrong,” he wrote.

Gupta’s original post had dismissed the idea of mandatory local language use in national institutions, asserting, “It's the State Bank of India, not the State Bank of Karnataka. This business of 'learn the local language to work in the state' cannot be allowed. We are Indians first. The Constitution has no such condition.” 

Pai pushed back, stating that customer service demands a level of linguistic accommodation: “Nobody is asking them to write or read the language. But they must speak to people in a language they understand. Every business has to respect its customers.”

The incident also drew the attention of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who condemned the manager’s behaviour and praised SBI for its prompt response. “The behaviour of the bank official is strongly condemnable. Respecting local language is respecting the people,” he said in an official statement.

He confirmed the bank had transferred the employee and urged the Union Finance Ministry to implement mandatory cultural and language sensitisation training for banking staff deployed across the country. “This is not just about Karnataka. This is about ensuring dignity and respect for local languages and culture in every part of the country,” Siddaramaiah noted.