SBI to charge for breaching monthly average balance in saving a/c’s

TIL Desk Business/New Delhi/ Making it compulsory for account-holders to maintain a minimum balance, the State Bank of India (SBI) said it will be charging defaulters a penalty from April 1 onwards.

Making maintenance of Rs 5,000 mandatory for accounts in metropolitan areas, Rs 3,000 in urban areas, Rs 2,000 in semi-urban areas and Rs 1,000 in rural areas, the SBI listed out the charges to be effective from April 1.

These charges will be based on the difference between the minimum balance required and the shortfall. For metropolitan areas, if the shortfall is greater than 75 per cent. the charges would be Rs 100 plus service tax.

If the shortfall is between 50-75 per cent, the bank would charge Rs 75 plus service tax and for below 50 per cent shortfall, a fee of Rs 50 plus service tax would be levied, according to the SBI notification of new charges. Similarly, for rural areas, the penalty for non-maintenance of minimum balance ranges from Rs 20-50 plus service tax, it said.