Members of the Bank Business Correspondents Association in Tiruchi have asked the District Collector to help them get their commission and basic salary, which they have not received for several months.
Business correspondents are people who help banks provide services to the public, especially in villages and remote areas. In Tiruchi district, more than 800 correspondents help people with banking services like opening accounts, providing doorstep banking, and helping them receive government scheme benefits such as old-age pension, disability assistance, Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai, Pudhumai Penn, and Tamil Pudhalvan schemes.
Earlier, the government paid banks ₹30 for each transaction, and banks gave ₹10 from this to the correspondents as commission. But after the State government told banks to handle these services directly from 2025, many banks stopped using correspondents and stopped paying their commission.
The correspondents also said they have not received their basic salary for the past six months. Although Indian Overseas Bank paid them for a short time, it later stopped payments too.
Because of this, many correspondents now have no regular income. They have requested the government to release their pending payments and protect their jobs. They also warned that if this issue is not solved, it could affect banking services and government scheme delivery to the public.
