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10 Latest Updates On Minimum Balance Rules In SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank
Banks collect Rs 5,000 crore penalty in FY18 for insufficient balance More than half of that amount collected by country's largest bank SBI SBI suffered net loss of Rs. 6,547 crore in 2017-18
13 Aug 2018, 02:16 PM IST 
HDFC Bank collected the 2nd highest amount of charges for not maintaining minimum balance during 2017-18.
- SBI, which suffered a staggering net loss of Rs 6,547 crore during 2017-18, collected the maximum charges by penalising its customers for not maintaining minimum account balance.
- SBI collected nearly half the amount raised by the 24 banks put together (Rs 4,989.55 crore). Had it not been for the additional income of Rs 2,433.87 crore under this head, SBI's losses would have soared further.
- After SBI, the largest amount of charges for not maintaining minimum balance during 2017-18 was collected by HDFC Bank, reported news agency Press trust of India (PTI). It charged its customers Rs 590.84 crore, which is lower than Rs 619.39 crore in 2016-17, the data revealed. Axis Bank collected Rs 530.12 crore in the last fiscal while ICICI Bank charged Rs 317.6 crore.
- In response, SBI said that effective April 2018 average monthly balance requirement is reduced up to 40 per cent keeping in view the feedback from various stakeholders.
- SBI has around 42.5 crore savings bank accounts, of which almost 40 per cent accounts are exempted from maintaining the average monthly balance.
- According to the RBI norms, banks are permitted to levy service/miscellaneous charges.
- SBI customers who have accounts in metro and urban centres have to maintain a monthly average balance of Rs. 3,000; customers with accounts in semi-urban areas are required to maintain an average monthly balance or AMB of Rs. 2,000, and those in rural centres need to maintain a minimum balance of Rs. 1,000, according to the bank's website - sbi.co.in.
- HDFC Bank's savings accounts customers who have accounts in metro and urban areas need to maintain a monthly average balance of Rs. 10,000. HDFC Bank's customers in semi-urban and rural branches need to maintain Rs. 5,000 as average monthly balance, according to the bank's website - hdfcbank.com.
- ICICI Bank's customers of savings bank accounts in metro and urban locations need to maintain an average monthly balance of Rs. 10,000, according to icicibank.com. ICICI Bank customers of semi-urban branches need to maintain Rs. 5,000 as average monthly balance while those in rural locations need to maintain Rs. 1,000 as monthly average balance, according to the bank's website - icicibank.com.
- Customers opening accounts under Basic Savings Bank Deposit (BSBD) scheme as well as Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna are not required to maintain any minimum balance. (With agencies inputs)