New Delhi1 year ago
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11 government banks in the country have collected a penalty of about Rs 9,000 crore from customers for not maintaining minimum average balance in their savings accounts in the last 5 years.
Some public sector banks collected penalty from customers for not maintaining monthly minimum balance in the account, while some collected it on quarterly basis.
However, accounts like Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Account, Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account and Salary Account are exempted from the minimum balance requirement.
Private banks are not listening to the government
Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary gave this information in response to a question in the Rajya Sabha. The Minister said that the Department of Financial Services (DFS) has advised banks to rationalize the penalty charged for not maintaining Minimum Average Balance (MAB).
In this, special emphasis has been laid on providing relief to the customers of semi-urban and rural areas. It seems that only 7 out of 11 public sector banks have followed this advice. Other 4 banks have also said to do so soon. But many private banks are not doing this.
Why are some banks still charging these fees?
Under RBI guidelines, banks can decide the penalty as per their board approved policies. But this penalty should be in the form of a fixed percentage on the difference between the actual balance and the minimum balance agreed at the time of opening the account.
Source: www.bhaskar.com
