Recently, Bank of Baroda CEO and managing director Sanjeev Chadha announced that the bank was ready to issue a loan to the Adani Group if the lender met the bank’s underwriting standards. A picture linked to this news is making the rounds on social media. The image features people standing in a queue outside a Bank of Baroda branch. It has been claimed that the CEO of Bank of Baroda said that the bank would continue to fund Adani companies even after Adani’s scam was exposed. Due to this, upset customers began queuing up outside Bank of Baroda’s Al Ain branch in the United Arab Emirates to get their accounts closed.
A user named Tasil tweeted this picture and wrote that people across the UAE were standing outside banks to get their accounts closed every day. When another user asked the reason behind this, Tasil replied that this was happening because of the Adani scam. (Archived link)
Former Indian Air Force pilot Rajiv Tyagi made the same claim while tweeting the viral picture. (Archived link)
Ahmed Khabeer, editor of Jamia Times, also tweeted the image, citing Rajeev Tyagi as the source of the viral news. (Archived link)
Similarly, RJD Sivan, Dazeinfo founder Amit Mishra among others also tweeted the viral picture with the same claim.
Fact Check
Alt News found that Bank of Baroda issued a statement on February 26 after this picture had gone viral. Here, the spokesperson of the bank explained that Bank of Baroda had taken a business decision to close its Al Ain branch in the UAE a year ago, and had obtained approval from the Central Bank of UAE for the same. A notice dated January 20, 2023 by the Al Ain branch stated that it would shut down with effect from March 22. To ensure smooth continuity of services, all accounts currently maintained at the Al Ain branch would be transferred to Bank of Baroda’s Abu Dhabi branch, also located in the UAE. Customers wishing to close their account could do so before March 22 without any fee or penalty. The customers queuing up outside were visiting the Al Ain branch to give necessary consent/further instructions in respect of their account/s at the branch. The Bank added that it was committed to continuing uninterrupted services to its customers, and urged them not to believe the misleading claims and false information being circulated on social media.
— Bank of Baroda (@bankofbaroda) February 26, 2023
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Overall, the business decision to close the Bank of Baroda sponsored Al Ain branch in the UAE was falsely shared by several social media users by linking it to the recent statement made by Bank of Baroda CEO regarding the Adani Group.
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