On June 5, HDFC Bank suspended one of its officers in Kolkata after being accused of displaying disruptive conduct towards colleagues during an internal meeting. A video shared on Twitter captured the officer shouting at junior colleagues due to their alleged failure to meet sales targets for banking and insurance products.

HDFC Bank, in a statement provided to Moneycontrol, addressed a recent social media report. The bank confirmed that the employee in question has been suspended following a preliminary inquiry. Additionally, a thorough investigation has been launched in accordance with the bank's conduct guidelines.

Furthermore, the prominent banking institution emphasised its unwavering stance on maintaining a zero-tolerance policy towards any kind of workplace misconduct. The bank strongly upholds the values of treating all employees with dignity and respect. 

The video showed the manager asking the junior employee to achieve a target of selling 75 insurance policies within a single day. Here is a Twitter post of the video:

Historically, there have been cases where life insurance policies were sold to customers residing in Tier II-III cities, despite their age being above 75 years. Typically, bank branches promote products offered by their subsidiary insurance companies.

Bank executives, particularly those employed in public sector banks (PSBs), are experiencing significant pressure from upper management to promote third-party products such as insurance. Falling short of targets can result in informal penalties, whereas meeting targets can lead to rewards such as extravagant parties held at luxurious five-star resorts.

As a common practice, banks often engage in cross-selling insurance products offered by their subsidiaries, as well as those from other companies, alongside loan products. On numerous occasions, banks strongly encourage the purchase of insurance policies in conjunction with loan products.