Account holders will be liable to pay only Rs. 15 a month for not maintaining a minimum balance.
The country’s largest bank, State Bank of India (SBI) has slashed its penalty charges for not maintaining a minimum account balance in Savings Bank Account by 75%. The charges for non-maintenance of Average Monthly Balance (AMB) for customers in Metro and Urban branches have been reduced from Rs. 50 per month to Rs. 15 per month. On the same lines, the charges have been reduced from Rs. 40 a month plus GST to Rs. 12 and Rs. 10 plus GST charges for semi-urban and rural centres, respectively. The revised charges will be effective from April 01, 2018.
Let us take a look at the monthly minimum balance that is required to be maintained by some of the leading banks in the country, and what penalty one has to pay in case they fail to do so.
Savings Bank Account Charges (For Metro cities)
| BANK | Account Detail | MAB/QAB (Rs) | Penalty on non-maintenance of MAB/AQB |
| SBI | SBI Savings Bank Account | 3000 (MAB) | Up to Rs. 15 per month** |
| PNB | Savings Account (General) | 2000 (QAB) | Up to Rs. 250 |
| IDBI | Super Savings Account | 5000 (MAB) | 4% per month on the differential amount of MAB & Actual Avg Bal maintained (Min Rs. 100) |
| ICICI Bank | Regular Savings Account | 10000 (MAB) | Rs. 100 + 5% of the shortfall in required MAB |
| HDFC Bank | Regular Savings Account | 10000 (MAB) | Up to Rs. 600 |
| Corporation Bank | CorpBank Savings Account | 500 (QAB) | Up to Rs. 100 per quarter |
| Canara Bank | Savings Bank Account | 1000 (MAB) | Up to Rs. 40/ Month |
*MAB: Monthly Average Balance
QAB: Quarterly Average Balance
Penalty and charges may include applicable GST as per prescribed rate
Data taken from respective bank’s website, as on 13 Mar 2018
**As per media report
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