“No Policy, No Loan”: How Forced Insurance Selling Breached Banking Ethics and Invited Judicial Scrutiny

Rajinder Singh walked into the bank to finalise his loan—an anxious father hoping to secure his daughter’s college fees. The paperwork was routine, the officer courteous. But just before signing, a brightly colored insurance form was slid across the desk. “It’s mandatory,” the officer said, gesturing to a folder labelled BANK and handing over an orange slip marked INSURANCE. Rajinder hesitated. He didn’t understand the policy, didn’t ask for it and couldn’t afford it. Similarly, Ram Bharose entered another branch hoping for a loan to rebuild his small business. The officer nodded—but with a caveat. “You’ll need to take this insurance policy too. It’s mandatory.” Ram didn’t need insurance. He needed credit. But the message was clear: no policy, no loan . This wasn’t anecdotal.