Bajaj Finserv MD Sanjiv Bajaj faces Twitter backlash over pesky calls remark

Sanjiv Bajaj faced backlash from Twitterati for saying that individuals seeking to avoid pesky unsolicited calls from Bajaj Finance representatives will soon have the "right to be forgotten" by the company.

Sanjiv Bajaj, chairman and managing director of Bajaj Finserv Ltd, the holding company of the group, said mobile phone users would soon have the right to be forgotten by Bajaj Finance.

"You will see in three months' time, on our website and our app, an option -- you click it and we will never bother you again. You'll have the right to be forgotten with us but then make sure, you never come back to us for our products and solutions," Bajaj said on telemarketing calls used to push loans.

Bajaj's comment comes at a time when Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has asked telcos to take immediate actions to curb the menace of unsolicited commercial communications (UCC) that, at times, leads to instances of frauds and scams. 

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His comment, however, did not go down well with Internet users.

According to Bajaj, loans solicited through “push calls” account for less than 15 per cent of the NBFC's business and the aim is to bring it down to less than 10 per cent and then even lower the organisation gets more digital.

“The aim would ideally be getting that 15 per cent down to 10 per cent or take it down to zero so that our calls would only be service calls. All promotional activities will happen through our digital channels. That is the aim we want to get to,” he said.

For the quarter ending March, Bajaj Finance reported a 30 per cent YoY jump in profit at Rs 3,158 crore compared with Rs 2,420 crore in the same quarter last year.

Bajaj Finance said it was a strong quarter across all financial and portfolio metrics. It delivered Rs 16,537 crore of core asset under management (AUM) growth in the March quarter and added 30.90 lakh new customers to the franchise during the quarter.

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