SBI’s Minimum Balance Penalty: All You Need to Know

Introduction

After a gap of five years, State Bank of India has decided to reintroduce penalty on non-maintenance of minimum balance in accounts from April 1, and revised charges on other services, including ATMs. The State Bank of India has announced that it will impose penalties on non-maintenance of minimum balance in accounts from April 1. It also announced a revision of charges on services like ATMs. A number of changes in banking regulations have taken place since the November 8 announcement of demonetization and currency recall. But in recent weeks the steps introduced by some major banks have betrayed one of the key purposes of demonetization large-scale adoption and sustained use of banking services to move India’s cash driven economy to a digital economy. One of the achievements of currency recall was that a huge amount of money came back into the banking system which gave it a much-needed boost. The need was easier banking regulations as an incentive for people to keep their money in banks. Penalties were definitely not the easy way to go.

Monthly Average Balance in Different Areas

According to information available on the SBI website, the monthly average balance that customers will have to maintain in their savings bank accounts in SBI branches are as follows.

Metropolitan Areas: 

Monthly Average Balance (MAB) is Rs.5000

• In case the monthly shortfall is below 50% of MAB then a charge of Rs.50 + service tax will be levied. 
• In case the monthly shortfall is between 50 and 75%, then the account holder will have to pay Rs.75 plus service tax will be levied. 
• In case the monthly shortfall is more than 75 percent, then a charge of Rs.100 + service tax will be levied. 

Urban Areas:

Monthly Average Balance (MAB) is Rs.3000 

• In case the monthly shortfall is below 50% of MAB then a charge of Rs.40 + service tax will be levied. 
• In case the monthly shortfall is between 50 and 75%, then the account holder will have to pay Rs.60 + service tax will be levied. 
• In case the monthly shortfall is more than 75 percent, then a charge of Rs.80 + service tax will be levied. 

Semi-Urban Areas: 

Monthly Average Balance (MAB) is Rs.2000

• In case the monthly shortfall is below 50% of MAB then a charge of Rs.25 + service tax will be levied. 
• In case the monthly shortfall is between 50 and 75%, then the account holder will have to pay Rs.50 + service tax will be levied. 
• In case the monthly shortfall is more than 75 percent, then a charge of Rs.75 + service tax will be levied. 

Rural Areas: 

Monthly Average Balance (MAB) is Rs.1000

• In case the monthly shortfall is below 50% of MAB then a charge of Rs.40 + service tax will be levied. 
• In case the monthly shortfall is between 50 and 75%, then the account holder will have to pay Rs.60 + service tax will be levied. 
• In case the monthly shortfall is more than 75 the, then a charge of Rs.80 + service tax will be levied. 

Other Transaction Charges

Cash Deposit

• Savings Banks Account holders can deposit cash 3 times a month free of charge. Beyond that Rs.50 + service tax would be levied on every transaction beyond that. 
• In the case of the current account, the levy could go to Rs.20000 

Cash Withdrawal

• If the number of cash withdrawal from other bank ATMs in a month is more than 3 times then a charge of Rs.20 would be levied per transaction. 
• If the withdrawal is more than 5 times from SBI ATM in a month then Rs.10 would be levied per transaction. 
• SBI will not levy any charge on withdrawals from its own ATMs if the balance exceeds Rs.25000 
• In the case of other banks ATM, no charge would be levied by SBI if the balance exceeds Rs.1 lakh. 
• Rs.15 would be charged for SMS alerts per quarter from debit card holder who maintains an average quarterly balance of Rs.25000 during the three-month period. 
• Besides annual maintenance fee of Rs.125-300 would be levied for debit cards depending on the card’s category. 

Conclusion

Some private banks like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank have started charging a minimum amount of Rs.150 per transaction for cash deposits and withdrawals beyond four free transactions in a month. Government have asked SBI to reconsider its decision to impose a penalty on non- maintenance of minimum balance in accounts from 1st April onwards. The government has urged SBI and other lenders including private sector banks to reconsider the charges on cash transactions and ATM withdrawals above a certain limit. These are the major information about SBI to charge penalty for breach of minimum balance from April 1.

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