In Sept 2021, Axis Bank introduced #ComeAsYouAre scheme - a #DilSeOpen charter of policies for LGBTQ+ customers & employees, where same sex partners could open a joint savings bank account. My partner and I went to the 7 B'lows Branch to do this. Here's what happened - (thread) 
With all our documents in hand, we visited the branch in New Siddarth CHSL, Seven Bungalows.On entering, we said we wanted to open an account and were directed to a table where there were 2 men & one woman.
The male officers allowed us to sit. The female officer now stood up & continued to stand right behind Bhakti's chair for pretty much the entirety of what followed.We asked how we could open a joint savings bank account. One male officer asked what our relation was to each other
We informed them that we were partners. Immediately to this they said oh you want to open a current joint account, incorrectly assuming we were business partners. We clarified that we were same-sex partners, and told them about #DilSeOpen and #ComeAsYouAre.
They told us this was not possible. We couldn't open a savings account since to do so, we needed to have "blood relation" or be family members. Everyone got awkward, Bhakti showed them a news article about this policy, and I showed them the press release on their own website.
One of the two men took Bhakti's phone which had the tabs for the News Article & Axis bank press release still open, to show it to his manager and discuss with him. The other man disappeared somewhere "trying to figure it out".
All this while, the young woman had been standing right behind us, for reasons completely unknown to us. I wonder if three officers are usually required to witness/learn/observe how a joint savings bank account is opened.
She asked us if we had any proof to say that we were same sex partners. Bhakti in turn asked her if she is asking us if we have a marriage document of some sort, the woman jumped to confirm, "yes, yes".
She indirectly asked us if we had any proof that we were married. We then informed her that same sex marriage is not recognised in India.
For those who are still doubtful like this woman, please refer to the official response given by Union Law Minister Mr. Ravishankar Prasad to TMC Leader and member of the the Rajya Sabha Me. Derek O'Brien. rajyasabha.nic.in/rsnew/Question…
We told her this was why we were specially coming to Axis Bank since they provided us the opportunity to do open an accnt. She said, as a new joinee she would help us. She was attending a training on her phone itself, and could bring this up in the training and get it answered.
She took my phone where the press release was opened, and went outside to apparently ask over the training seminar about how to go about providing this service to us. We awkwardly sat there waiting to hear from her.
The 2 men came back and again explained- only a current account would be possible if we wanted to say we were partners ("partners" = business partners, not life partners). Since the manager was busy,they offered to take down our number & get back to us after discussing this w/him
As a marginalised community this was becoming embarassing & humiliating.Thanks to the PR Blitz around this campaign, we walked into Axis Bank thinking it would be a safe space.We told them this was their policy, they needed to learn more about it & know how to talk to & treat us.
The two men disappeared. The manager came and told us - savings account isn't possible, there's no proof of you being partners. Current account is possible. We showed him the Axis Bank website. He left to take a call and never came back
The new joinee told us she was advised to take some time to let Axis discuss this internally. Bhakti asked, how could they launch a service and have no training or documentation requirement outlined for their staff? To this she said- it had not been too long since it was launched
We weren't willing to accept this thinking-on-their-feet explanation. It's been over 7 weeks. @AxisBank chose to launch this service on the 3rd anniversary of decriminalization of Sec 377. We believe they knew what they were doing and ought to have processes set up by now.
We left, telling ourselves they need to do their homework. We said, sure we will wait to hear from you guys about this, so who is going to take our number? To this, the two men stared at us clueless and blankly. Later that evening, the trainee got in touch.
Last screenshot from the chat -
There was a lot of buzz around this when it was launched, with bytes from the ED of Axis Bank. Our own community member @hiyer is helming this initiative. It was applauded all over social media and yet the reality is very different.
1.Branch employees seemed to have NO idea of this scheme. No awareness that it existed, and no willingness to believe it did until we showed them their own bank's website.
2. Everyone acted super awkard & distanced,which made us feel othered. Not really #DilSeOpen
2. Everyone acted super awkard & distanced,which made us feel othered. Not really #DilSeOpen
3. We were told that this is the 1st time this is happening in Axis Bank so they had no idea how to deal with it. Surely on the launch of such a scheme, there'd be some sensitivity training across its branches and some clarity to employees on the processes they'd need to follow.
4. Our chat with the employee, while not an official response, was more revealing than anything. We have joint accounts with other members of their family, but we've never been asked why why we were insisting on opening a joint account with them, or if we wanted to murder them.
We didn't want to go to another bank. Here, we were promised equality. We were told to try at another branch but why should we not have the convenience of #ComeAsYouAre at our local branch?If @AxisBank is open & and inclusive,I'm sure this doesn't extend only to a few branches
5. If this was our experience in wanting to do something as simple as open a joint savings account, I dread to think how it would be for people who are scared to come out about themselves, in Mumbai or elsewhere, and take the big step of doing so in front of bank officials.
My final thoughts don't fit in one tweet. Please read through this @hiyer @RajkamalVempati @fayedsouza
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