The Hindu Business Line : Anxious customers throng GTB branches

Disappointed customers seen in front of a closed branch and ATM centre of Global Trust Bank in Hyderabad on Saturday, immediately after the announcement of moratorium by the Reserve Bank of India. - A. Roy Chowdhury

Hyderabad , July 24

THE scene at the headquarters of Global Trust Bank (GTB) on the Sardar Patel Road here on Saturday afternoon was akin to that of a major fire-fighting exercise with the top brass of the bank having a tough time in making and attending to hundreds of phone calls to and from branches, officials and customers.

While some officials were busy passing on the RBI instructions on moratorium to all branch managers across the country, others were seen advising the regional heads and area managers to immediately approach the nearest police station seeking deployment of adequate number of police personnel for providing protection to the assets of the branches and also to control the panic-stricken depositors storming the bank's ATM centres to withdraw their money.

A few top officials were on the job of instructing the bank's technology department workforce to ensure that the main controlling switch of the ATM network declines withdrawals, adhering to the RBI instructions.

Anxiety, agony and disappointment were writ-large on the faces of bank officials. The same was the mood of hundreds of depositors, who thronged the branches and ATMs across Hyderabad and Secunderabad. By the time they came to know the news through television tickers, the bank branches and ATMs were all closed, forcing them to return disappointed.

The first reaction of the bank's Chief Promoter, Mr Ramesh Gelli, was that he "did not expect the RBI to take such a drastic move at a time when the bank was seriously involved in revival exercise by roping in strategic partners."

When contacted, the GTB Managing Director, Mr Sudhakar Gande, told Business Line that, "We have received the RBI communication and we will be fully complying with the same."

While Mr Gande declined to comment further on the RBI directives, sources in the bank said the top brass did not anticipate the development and was "literally shell shocked at the RBI move imposing moratorium. This is especially because the management has recently submitted a detailed revival package involving the capital infusion proposal by the global fund major - NewBridge Capital."

However, finding a silver lining in the RBI directives, a senior GTB official said, "as compared to Nedungadi Bank, where six months of moratorium was imposed, RBI has announced only three months moratorium in our case. This indicates that the RBI is close to finding some solution."

Later in the evening, Mr Ramesh Gelli said, "As I have not been associated with the bank for the last three-and-a-half years and have only been an investor, I am not aware of the considerations that weighed with the RBI in coming to this decision (of moratorium). However, I believe that RBI will protect the interest of all deposit holders and find a quick solution."

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