SBI has slashed monthly penalty for not maintaining minimum balance to Rs 15 from Rs 50

The rates have been slashed by almost 75 percent, and will potentially benefit 25 crore of its customers, who hold regular Savings Accounts at SBI.

In a move that will potentially benefit 25 crore of its customers, State Bank of India (SBI) announced that it will be substantially reducing charges for the non-maintenance of Average Monthly Balance (AMB) in savings account, starting April 1, 2018.

Currently, the customers of their metro and urban centres are liable to pay a maximum monthly penalty of Rs 50 plus GST, for a failure to maintain the AMB. But now, those charges have been revised to Rs 15 plus GST per month. Similarly, for their ‘semi-urban’ and ‘rural’ centres, the charges, which are currently Rs 40 plus GST per month, will be slashed to Rs 12 and Rs 10 per month plus GST respectively.

Here is a table comparing the old and new charges applicable for non-maintenance of AMB across various categories:

This step has been taken keeping in view the feedback from various stakeholders. “We have reduced these charges taking into account the feedback and sentiments of our customers. Bank has always focussed on keeping the interests of its customers first and this is one of our many efforts towards fulfilling customer expectations,” says P. K. Gupta, MD – Retail & Digital Banking, SBI.

The bank also reiterated that the customer always has the option of converting their regular savings bank accounts to Basic Savings Bank Accounts or BSBD accounts, free of charge, in case they desire to avail basic savings bank facilities without being subject to maintenance of AMB.

The Bank has a very strong deposit franchise, with 41 crores Savings Bank accounts, out of which 16 crore accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna /BSBD and those of pensioners, minors, social security benefit holders, were already exempted. In addition, students up to the age of 21 years are also exempted. Therefore, this latest revision is aimed at benefiting the remaining 25 crore of its customers who do not fall into the above categories.