Earlier this year, it was reported that SBI had collected minimum balance between April and November 1771 from customers due to non-maintenance of minimum balance in the account. Crores of rupees were recovered as fine.
Therefore, it is very important for you to know how much banks have fixed the minimum amount. Today we are telling you how much you should keep in your account at least so that you can avoid getting fined.
Minimum balance i.e. the minimum amount is called ‘Monthly Average Balance’ in the language of banking, meaning ‘monthly average amount’. This means that at least this amount should be in your account every single month, otherwise penalty will be imposed. This penalty ranges from Rs 5 to Rs 600. All the information given here is related to the savings account. These rules do not apply to current or other categories of account holders.
SBI(State Bank Of India)
SBI has fixed ‘Monthly Average Amount’ separately for urban and rural branches. The account holders of the metro city will have to keep at least Rs 3000 in their account.
Similarly, SBI account holders of urban areas will also have to keep a minimum balance of up to Rs 3000 in their account. If people of metro and urban areas deposit less than this amount in the account, then they can be fined from 10 to 15 rupees. GST is also added to this. In this way the penalty amount will increase further.
However, there is some relief for the account holders of semi-urban and rural areas. It is mandatory for semi-urban customers to keep 2000 rupees and village bank customers 1000 rupees in their accounts. Semi-urban account holders face a fine ranging from Rs 7.5 to Rs 12. GST is also added to this. At the same time, there is a fine of 5 to 10 rupees for the people of rural areas. Along with this, GST is also levied.
ICICI Bank
Private bank ICICI has fixed a minimum balance of Rs 10,000 for people in metro and urban areas. If you keep less money than this, then fine will be imposed. At the same time, the amount has been fixed up to Rs 5000 for semi-urban and Rs 2000 for rural. The fine of private banks is much higher than that of government banks.
If you do not maintain the minimum balance in ICICI Bank, you will have to pay a penalty of Rs 100 and add five percent of the amount that has fallen short in meeting the minimum balance. This penalty amount rule is the same for all types of branches of ICICI except Gramin Bank. For not maintaining the minimum balance in Gramin Bank, five percent of the amount that has fallen short in meeting the minimum balance will have to be paid as a penalty.
HDFC Bank
Like ICICI, the penalty amount in HDFC Bank is also very high. HDFC Bank has fixed a ‘monthly average amount’ i.e. minimum balance of Rs 10,000 for metro and urban area branches. At the same time, the amount of Rs 5000 and Rs 2,500 is fixed for semi-urban and rural branches. If you do not keep this much money in the account, then there are different types of fines.
In metro and urban areas, people who have balance between 7,500 to 10,000 in their account, then they will have to pay a fine of Rs 150 plus some tax. At the same time, those who have an amount from 5,000 to 7,500 in their account, they will have to pay a penalty of Rs 300 after adding some tax. Similarly, account holders of semi-urban area also have to pay a penalty of Rs 150 to 300 plus tax on the basis of reduction in minimum balance.
On the other hand, in rural areas, if someone has an amount from 1,000 to 2,500 in his account, then he will have to pay a fine of Rs 270 and adding tax. And if someone has less than 1,000 in his account, then a fine of 450 will have to be paid. This means that the worst effect will be on the poor.
