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Have banks increased charges for depositing and withdrawing money? All you need to know
Bank of Baroda initially decided to increase the service charges from November 1, but later withdrew the decision, the ministry has said.
Amid various reports claiming that several service charges by certain Public Sector Banks have gone up from November 1, the Centre has issued a clarification and said called these reports misleading.
In March, the finance ministry had announced a three-month waiver on cash withdrawal from any other bank ATM. Banks allow a limited number of free withdrawals before charging a fee. Minimum balance requirement in the account also varies from bank to bank. The ministry announced a three-month waiver on that during the Covid-19 pandemic. The waiver period ended in June.
Several reports claimed some service charges are going up from November 1. Here is all you need to know:
1. No service charge is applicable on the 60.04 crore Basic savings bank deposit accounts, including 41.13 crore Jan Dhan accounts opened by the poor and unbanked segments of society, for the free services prescribed by RBI.
2. Charges for regular savings accounts, current accounts, cash credit accounts and overdraft accounts have not increased in all banks.
3. Only Bank of Baroda initially decided to make some changes with regard to the number of free cash deposits and withdrawals per month, which was supposed to be effective from November 1.
4. “Bank of Baroda has since informed that in the light of the current Covid-19-related situation, they have decided to withdraw the changes. Further, no other PSB has increased such charges recently,” the Centre has said in its clarification.
5. “As per RBI guidelines, all banks, including PSBs, are permitted to levy charges for their services in a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory manner. Other PSBs have also intimated that they do not propose to raise bank charges in the near future in view of Covid pandemic,” the ministry said.
