The RBI has made it very clear that bankers must not deduct money from the accounts of customers for not maintaining the minimum balance.
But the Banks are deducting the money from the accounts left right and center in the name of not maintaining the balance. Some banks are making money by charging for everything.
There is no one to stop them and so far no one has complained about this. They keep losing money. This is a big issue for the middle class and poor people.
The Government must look into this issue and save the common man from losing money in the name of minimum balance. According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, banks do not have any Minimum Balance requirement for Basic Savings Bank Deposit accounts (BSBD), including accounts opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY).
As on March 2019, there were 57.3 crore BSBD accounts across the country, including 35.27 crore Jan-Dhan accounts. Hence, for these accounts, there are no charges for not maintaining a minimum balance. BSBD accounts provide certain basic minimum facilities free of charge.
For accounts other than BSBD accounts, as per RBI’s Master Circular on “Customer Service in Banks” dated July 1, 2015, banks are permitted to fix service charges on various services rendered by them, as per their Board approved policy while ensuring that the charges are reasonable and not out of line with the average cost of providing these services.
As apprised by eighteen Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and four major private sector banks, the amount collected through the levy of charges for non-maintenance of minimum balance in Savings Bank account.
