PENALTY FOR NON MAINTENANCE OF MINIMUM BALANCE

• Many commercial banks today want their savings account customers to maintain a certain average monthly balance (AMB).
• From public sector lender State Bank of India (SBI) to its private sector peers HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, most banks have fixed their own average monthly balance requirements, which vary depending on factors such as branch location, Bank’s fund position and other factors.
• Also, Banks charge a penalty from the customers failing to maintain the required average monthly balance in their savings accounts. The amount of penalty in case of non-compliance varies in different branch locations, based on factors such as the degree of shortfall.

Let us go through the penalty charges levied for non-maintenance of balance by SBI, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank:

State Bank of India

1. Customers having a regular savings bank account in SBI branches located in metro and urban areas are required to maintain a monthly average balance of Rs. 3,000, according to the bank’s corporate website, sbi.co.in.
2. Customers with SBI savings accounts in semi-urban and rural branches are required to maintain a minimum average balance of Rs. 2,000 and Rs.1,000, respectively.
3. The bank has laid out the following penalty charges for its customers failing to maintain the required average monthly balance in their regular savings accounts:

HDFC Bank

1. Customers having a regular savings account in HDFC Bank branches located in metro and urban areas are required to maintain an average monthly balance of Rs. 10,000 each, according to the bank’s website, hdfcbank.com.
2. In semi-urban branches, the regular savings account holders are required to maintain an average balance of Rs. 5,000 every month.
3. In rural branches, the customers are required to either maintain an average quarterly balance of Rs. 2,500 or set up a fixed deposit of Rs. 10,000 for a maturity period of a minimum one year and one day, according to the HDFC Bank website.

Following is the details of penalty charges levied by the Bank, in case of  non-compliance with the monthly balance rules:

ICICI Bank

1. ICICI Bank requires its customers to maintain an average monthly balance of Rs. 10,000 each in the regular savings accounts located in metros and urban areas, according to the lender’s website – icicibank.com.
2. The average monthly balance required in semi-urban, rural and “gramin” locations is Rs. 5,000, Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 1,000 respectively, according to the ICICI Bank website.

The bank has prescribed the following penalty charges in case of non-compliance with the balance requirements:

Note:

• Many banks also offer savings accounts which do not force the customers to maintain any particular minimum balance.
• These include bank accounts focused on the government’s financial inclusion drive.