New Delhi, Business Desk. Most banks ask their customers to keep a minimum balance in the savings account. Failure is not to be made. The minimum balance of the bank can be between Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. Minimum remaining non-maintenance fees vary for urban, semi-urban and rural branch customers.
Some banks like Bank of Maharashtra, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Axis Bank have changed their charges for non-maintenance of minimum balance from August 1, 2020. Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank charge a penalty depending on the type of account if the account holder fails to maintain the minimum balance. Bank of Maharashtra has announced that its minimum balance has been increased from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000. If a customer fails to maintain this amount in an account, the bank will now charge a fine of up to Rs 75 per month
Some tips for those who are unable to keep minimum average balance
Basic Savings Bank Deposit (BSBD) Account
If you are a salaried person, in that case you probably already have a zero balance savings account, as such accounts are usually available only with jobs.
However, if you do not already have such an account, you can also open a zero balance account for personal use. These are called Basic Savings Bank Deposit (BSBD) accounts and are used by most banks to enhance financial inclusion among the economically weaker sections of society.
You can easily open a BSBD account by completing your customer-related (KYC) process. In addition, banks offer the same interest rate on BSBD accounts as they do on regular savings bank accounts.
There is no difference between the functions of a zero-balance and a regular savings account, the facilities offered by the BSDS account may be limited and may vary from bank to bank.
SBI also provides BSBD account facility to customers. However, it should be noted that SBI BSBD account holders may not have a savings account with SBI as a person can avail either of the two SBI accounts.
Facility
Basic RuPay ATM-cum-Debit Card will be issued free of charge and no annual maintenance fee will be applied.
Receipt / credit through electronic payment channels like NEFT / RTGS will be free.
Deposit / collection of checks deposited by the Central / State Government will be free.
There is no charge on activation of inactive accounts.
There is no account closure fee.
Maximum of 4 cash withdrawals in a month, including withdrawals from own ATMs and other bank ATMs, cash withdrawals at branch channel, AEPS cash transactions.
