Know minimum balance charge of savings bank accounts in India

Mumbai: In the last five years, public sector banks in India have collected Rs 8495 crore from their customers who failed to maintain minimum balance.

India’s largest bank, State Bank (SBI), has not been charging any fee for not maintaining the minimum balance for the last few years. However, several other government banks continue to levy such charges. Among them, Punjab National Bank (PNB) collected the highest penalty, amounting to Rs 1,538 crore over the last five years.

As per the RBI guidelines, banks are required to inform their customers about the minimum balance requirement at the time of opening the account. If the requirement changes, banks must inform the customers. If a customer does not maintain the minimum balance, the bank must notify them about the charges and give them one month to add money to their account.

Here are the details regarding the charges for not maintaining the minimum balance in savings accounts across different banks:

State Bank of India (SBI)

Since 2020, SBI has not levied any charges for not maintaining the minimum balance in savings accounts.

ICICI Bank

The minimum balance required in this bank is Rs 5000. For not maintaining this, a penalty of Rs 100 + 5% of the shortfall in the required minimum average balance (MAB) is charged.

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HDFC Bank

The average monthly balance requirement for HDFC Bank is Rs 10,000 for metro and urban areas or Rs 1 lakh for an FD of one year and one day. For semi-urban areas, the rule is Rs 5,000 or Rs 50,000 for an FD of  one year and one day. Failure to maintain this rule attracts a penalty of 6% of the shortfall in the average balance or Rs 600 (whichever is lower).

Punjab National Bank (PNB)

The penalty for not maintaining the minimum balance in the account is Rs 400 for rural areas, Rs 500 for semi-urban and Rs 600 for urban/metro areas.

Yes Bank

No minimum balance charges are levied.

Axis Bank

No charge is levied for not maintaining the minimum balance on the Basic Savings Account. Whereas, the penalty is charged between Rs 600 to Rs 50 in metro and urban areas, between Rs 300 to Rs 50 in semi urban areas and between Rs 150 to Rs 75 in rural areas.