Citizens face hardships as SBI closes branch at Collectorate

MARGAO: People visiting the South Goa Collectorate are upset over the closure of the State Bank of India branch in the Ground floor of the Collectorate. The branch was closed since Tuesday and a notice has been displayed next to the shutter of the office stating that the branch has merged with SBI’s Agricultural Development Branch in Osia complex which is more than a kilometer away.

Herald contacted the bank officials in SBI’s ADB branch who informed that the office in the Collectorate was leaking and therefore they can’t keep their locker, documents and electrical equipment in such conditions.

Unfortunately, the ADB branch is already saturated. Shop owners who have accounts in the branch complain that the line is so long that it takes an hour to deposit money. “There are only two cash counters and the staff taken time to count the cash,” said Katerina Ferandes who works in Osia complex.

“People will be wasting nothing less than 2 hours to pay a challan now. The government has to open the branch again at least for taking cash and issuing challan. It takes half an hour to walk from collectorate to Osia complex. If you have a vehicle, it still takes half an hour because of the signals and slow traffic at the Old market circle,” says Octaviano Coutinho resident of Chinchinim who frequently visits the bank on behalf of his clients.