Axis bank forms policies favourable for LGBTQIA community

Private sector lender Axis Bank has announced a charter of policies and practices that are favourable for its customers and employees from the LGBTQIA community, as part of efforts to encourage "diversity, equity and inclusion" in its work environment.

The lender said its policies will ensure account holders from the LGBTQIA+ community people are able to nominate their partners in their bank accounts.

Customers will also be able to open joint savings and term deposit account with their same sex partner, Axis Bank said while announcing 'ComeAsYouAre' charter of policies and practices for employees and customers from the LGBTQIA+ community.

On the human resource (HR) front, employees will be allowed to list their partners for mediclaim benefits irrespective of their gender, sex or marital status.

Employees can also dress in accordance with their gender/gender expression, it said, adding with this it has aligned with the bank's wider "Environmental, Social, and Governance" commitments.

"Axis Bank, in line with its 'DilSeOpen' philosophy, today announced #ComeAsYouAre, a charter of policies and practices for their employees and customers from the LGBTQIA+ community.

"With these initiatives, Axis Bank becomes one of the first banks in India to take such steps to promote and implement diversity, equity and inclusion," it said in a release.

Notably, the Supreme Court in a historic judgement in September 2018 decriminalised all sexual relationships between consenting adults in private.

The country's third largest private sector lender said it recognises that employees could have a gender or gender expression that's different from their sex assigned at birth.

Effective from September 20, 2021, customers will be able to opt for these measures and can add 'Mx' as a title.

Customers who are gender non-binary, gender fluid or transgender persons will have the option of choosing their title from the option of 'Mx' in their savings or term deposit account.

Employees from the LGBTQIA+ community will be able to use a restroom of their choice. The bank said it has initiated all gender restrooms at its large offices.

Rajesh Dahiya, Executive Director, Axis Bank, said: "At Axis, we have put our focus on diversity, equity and inclusion that respects and recognises the importance of distinctive life journeys and several identities that extend beyond the paradigms of gender. This for us is as much about the invisible markers as it is about the visible ones."

"It is our belief that it fosters a culture of innovation and leverages the multiple talent pools that exist in a rich demography like ours," he said.

Axis Bank said it is focussing on creating equitable processes and policies that allows it to create space for everyone to thrive.

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