New Delhi: Bank account holders will be in for a surprise since a finance ministry response to questions tabled in the Parliament revealed how public sector banks had earned a massive Rs 8,500 crore by levying fees and penalties on services offered on savings and current bank accounts.
The most popular charges levied by PSBs are in the form of penalty charged for failure to maintain minimum account balance. Bank account holders must ensure that the minimum account balance is maintained to avoid such penalties. While private banks charge a higher amount under this head, government-owned banks are not behind.
The amount garnered by PSBs over the past 5 years from such levies and penalties equals a whopping $100 million, according to numbers tabled by the finance ministry in Parliament.
Which PSBs earned most from fines and other levies
The major government banks that continue to charge fines include:
Punjab National Bank
Bank of Baroda
Indian Bank
Canara Bank
Bank of India
Other PSBs in the list include:
Union Bank of India
Punjab and Sind Bank
UCO Bank
Bank of Maharashtra
Central Bank of India
The banks mentioned above fined customers Rs 100-250 for failing to maintain the minimum balance in their savings accounts. Current account holders are charged Rs 400-600 for failure to maintain the minimum balance. These charges are imposed on a quarterly or monthly, basis, depending on the bank’s policy.
To be sure, the State Bank of India, India’s largest lender, stopped penalising customers for not meeting minimum balance requirements starting from 2019-20 after it faced criticism for the same. This has not deterred other PSBs for charging customers for different banking services.
What are other penalties levied by govt-owned banks
Customers should be aware of banks’ fee structures to manage their costs properly and avoid needless additional charges. In addition to minimum balance penalties, banks charge consumers for a variety of other services, such as:
Documentation fees for loan processing or account opening
Requesting bank statement copy
Loan repayment defaults
Exceeding account overdraft limit
Current accountholder’s failure to submit balance sheets or renew essential documents
Bank charges: Lenders earned nearly Rs 8,500 crore from levies on services offered to customers, ranging from minimum balance requirements to documentation and more. Biz News Business News – Personal Finance News, Share Market News, BSE/NSE News, Stock Exchange News Today
