Minimum Balance In Account: SBI, HDFC, ICICI and PNB bank account holders will have to keep this much balance in the account, In some government and private sector banks, customers are required to maintain minimum balance every month in their savings account.
However, the minimum balance in the accounts varies with the banks. There are some conditions related to the minimum balance in the bank accounts of metro cities, cities and rural areas. Failure to comply with these conditions may result in deduction of charges by the Bank. Apart from this, the charges related to ATM withdrawal are also deducted by the banks.
State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest PCAU bank, had in March 2020 done away with the requirement of keeping a minimum amount every month on its savings accounts. Earlier, SBI account holders were required to maintain a monthly average balance of Rs 3000, Rs 2000 and Rs 1000 depending on the location in their accounts.
At the same time, it is mandatory for savings account holders in urban and metro cities to maintain an average monthly balance of Rs 10,000 in leading private sector bank HDFC. Whereas in small towns this amount is Rs 5,000. At the same time, it is mandatory for bank customers in rural areas to maintain an average balance of Rs 2,500 every quarter. Bank imposes penalty for not following this rule.
ICICI Bank’s savings account holders in metro or urban areas will have to maintain a minimum monthly average balance of Rs 10,000, Rs 5,000 in small-towns and Rs 2,000 in rural areas. On customers who fail to maintain the average balance, the bank imposes a shortfall charge of 6 per cent or a penalty of Rs 500, whichever is less.
It is mandatory for the savings bank account holders of Punjab National Bank located in metro and urban areas to maintain a balance of Rs 20,000 on a quarterly basis. Whereas, account holders in small-town and rural areas have to maintain a minimum quarterly average balance of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 respectively.
It is mandatory for Kotak Mahindra Bank savings account holders to maintain a monthly average balance of Rs 10,000 in metro and Rs 5,000 in non-metro areas. However, for failure to maintain the minimum balance, the bank charges a penalty of 6 percent of the shortfall in AMB.
All major banks in the country allow a limited number of free ATM transactions every month. But apart from doing the free transactions, banks levy charges along with applicable taxes. According to a notification issued by the Reserve Bank of India in June last year, banks were allowed to charge Rs 21 per transaction at ATMs over and above the monthly free transaction limit with effect from January 1, 2022.
