SBI to Penalize Account Holders for Low Balance: Penalty includes Service Tax also [Read Circular]

SBI

The State Bank of India, after 5 years, is re-introducing penalties for low balance and hiking its transaction fee from April 1, 2017.

The circular uploaded in the Bank’s website provided that if an account holder in a rural area does not have a minimum balance of Rs 500, the penalty is Rs 20 plus tax a month. Service Tax is added to the all penalties. The amount of penalty depends upon the shortfall in the balance amount. If the customer has less than Rs 250 in the account, it is Rs 50 a month.

In urban areas, if the balance is less than Rs 1,500, the customer pays a penalty of Rs 40 a month. If the balance is less than Rs 750, the penalty is Rs 80 a month.In the metros, the minimum balance to be maintained by the account holder is Rs 5,000. If an account holder falls short by Rs 2,500, the penalty is Rs 50. If the balance is below Rs 1,250, the penalty goes up to Rs 100 a month.

The bank has also decided to revise charges on cash handling. The state Bank will charge Rs 50 for every additional transaction after three cash deposits at its branches. The maximum deposit allowed at a non-home branch is Rs 2 lakh a day. Any amount exceeding the limit will be accepted with the permission of the branch Manager. The bank has also hiked the fee for cash withdrawal, after three such transactions, to Rs 150 from the earlier Rs 100.

Restrictions are also levied on withdrawal of cash from ATMs.  From the 1st day of April, account holders are allowed to use SBI ATMs for free five times a month in Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. They can use other banks ATMs three times a month. Rs. 20 will be charged for every financial transaction and Rs 8 for every non-financial transaction when the limit is exhausted.As far as SBI ATMs are concerned, customers are charged Rs 10 for every additional financial transaction and Rs 5 for every additional non-financial transaction.

Read the Circular here.

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