SBI Climbs Down after Backlash
Moneylife Digital Team 02 October 2017
The work of nearly 40 decades cannot be discarded overnight without consequences. For decades, parents and teachers taught children that banks were nationalised in our interest. Smart parents taught children how to open accounts to save money. Scholarships are generally credited into nationalised bank accounts because they are safe and inexpensive. Now, the government is busy turning things upside down. Banks are being allowed to charge for a range of services and for not maintaining a minimum balance. 
 
The giant State Bank of India (SBI) had led the way debiting depositors’ accounts for a variety of charges. A heart-breaking report in Mumbai Mirror wrote about 100 students of a Mumbai school who were encouraged by their teacher to save in a SBI account. They’ve discovered that chunks of their diligently saved money were deducted for failure to maintain the average balance. Most of these students had barely Rs500 squirreled away in their accounts. The teacher who tried to inculcate the saving habit is left embarrassed, especially when Bank officials advised students to close the accounts—so much for the government’s financial literacy and inclusion initiative. Incidentally, SBI charges Rs500 to close accounts. 
 
SBI appears to have responded to the barrage of criticism that it has faced. On 17th September, it announced that it was reviewing certain categories of bank accounts for non-maintenance of average monthly balance (AMB) for students and senior citizens which is pegged at a high Rs5,000 in metro areas. SBI deducts Rs100 plus taxes for failure to maintain AMB. Its website now reveals a basic savings bank deposit account (BSBD). This is a no-frills account of sorts with no charges but will permit only four transactions a month, including standing instructions. A customer with a BSBD account cannot have any other savings account. It will be interesting to see how many customers switch to this account. Those who do are clearly being encouraged to clean out their account once a month and deal in cash. Digital transactions anyone? 
Comments
sohan modak
8 years ago
Yashwantjii, that is exactly I have been saying since one month or so. SBI must reemburse excess charges levied earlier to its account holders.
Yashvant Desai
8 years ago
RBI / RTI activists to look into the issue and force the bank to refund the account closure charges levied arbitrarily with interest and recovered the same from those officers who conceived this and provide wide publicity
A BANERJEE
9 years ago
This only proves the anti-people attitude of the SBI top management and exposes the real govt attitude towards encouraging banking habits among the commoners.
Mohan MM
9 years ago
SBI is not permitting SB account holders to change to BSBD account. My neighbour, who is a security guard in the opposite building, is unable to maintain minimum balance of Rs.2000 in his SB account with SBI Maradu branch, Kochi (previously SBT branch). After seeing the news in TOI Kochi edition dated Sept. 26, 2017 I had drafted an application for him to change his SB account to BSBD account on October 3/4, 2017 addressed to Manger, SBI Maradu branch, Kochi. They accepted the application assuring him to do whatever is necessary. He had gone the SBI branch today (13th October) to withdraw cash. But the bank has charged him for NOT maintaining minimum balance of Rs.2000 even after giving application to change to BSBD. Bank staff told him that he has to continue with SB account because their head office is not agreeing to change his account to BSBD account. Can you tell me who should be contacted now to get his SB account change to BSBD account. Your help will be highly appreciated. Thank you. This person does not have a n ATM card now and also no cheque book facility.
Avinash Khasge
9 years ago
the comprehensive decision is required to help students, senior citizens & weaker sections
LALITABH R SHRIVASTAWA
9 years ago
Instead of fleecing small depositors and savers, the Bank would be better off improving its leaky credit appraisal process. Also, it will be laudable if it can bring to book its erring officials who are responsible for creating the large pile of NPAs.
gvn rojarao
9 years ago
SBI Chiram Bhattacharya school children are not even left to retire until she retired
SuchindranathAiyerS
9 years ago
SBI plunders school children to finance Non Performing Assets and India's deficit? The Indian State has done so since 1947 with inflation and the dismantling of quality education other than Christian,


it is, as in all Modi Sarkar policies, only the vulnerable whom no Indian tyrant from Pranab Mukherjee to Arundhati Bhattacharya to Arun Jaitley to Nerandra Modi have ever seen, who suffer:
sohan modak
9 years ago
Not just review but return us the money already deducted arbitrarily.
Ramanathan Krish
9 years ago
Informative and well written article.
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