She said no minimum balance would be required to be maintained in case of Jan Dhan accounts and basic savings accounts. Banks impose penalties only when people don't meet minimum balance requirements for other types of accounts, clarified Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
She made this statement while replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha on the recovery of about ₹8,500 crore as penalties by public sector banks during the last five years from their customers for not maintaining minimum balance.
Sitharaman explained that the penalties for not keeping a minimum balance apply only to accounts other than PM Jan Dhan and basic savings accounts designed for economically disadvantaged people. No such balance requirements or penalties are enforced on these kinds of accounts, she said.
Besides, a written reply in the Lok Sabha revealed that public sector banks earned about ₹8,500 crore in fines pertaining to minimum balance from FY 2019-20 onwards. It was also disclosed last month by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary that state-owned banks charged depositors ₹2,331 crore in fines during FY24 for not maintaining the average monthly minimum balance.
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