SBI again refuses to disclose SOPs on sale, redemption of electoral bonds

NEW DELHI: In response to a first appeal filed under the Right to Information Act, State Bank of India stuck to its stand and again refused to provide a copy of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued to its branches for sale and redemption of electoral bonds. It justified the denial by saying the information sought was held by the bank in "commercial confidence", was the "intellectual property of the bank" and the internal guidelines were strictly meant for the dealing staff.
Transparency activist Anjali Bhardwaj had filed an application on March 4 seeking the SOPs issued by SBI since April 2017. When the bank denied the information on March 30, she appealed to the first appellate authority (FAA) of SBI. Dissatisfied with the May 17 response of the FAA, Bhardwaj will now appeal against the denial in the Central Information Commission (CIC).
In its May 17 order, the FAA said, "The information sought is held by the bank in its commercial confidence and hence cannot be provided. Further, the internal guidelines are strictly meant for the dealing staff and the information is also intellectual property of the bank, hence rightly denied under Section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act."
Section 8(1)(d) states, "Information, including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information."
Bhardwaj said the SOPs on electoral bonds were sought given the lack of clarity over the manner in which SBI maintained data on transactions through the bonds and potentially allowed tracking of the bonds as it recorded the unique number both on the purchaser and redeemer side. "Even after Supreme Court struck down the electoral bond scheme as being unconstitutional and ordered disclosure of all details of EBs, SBI continues to withhold crucial information," she said.
"The FAA has failed to demonstrate how disclosure of SOPs would 'harm the competitive position of a third party' and has also not disclosed who is the third party in the matter. Further, the FAA has not weighed public interest in the matter and has blandly cited the document being an internal guideline to justify denial, even though there is no such exemption clause in the RTI Act," Bhardwaj added.