Many banks have imposed an excessive cost on certain services offered in a study by the IIT-Bombay, including the State Bank of India (SBI), which was revealed by the BSBDA (Basic Savings Bank Deposit Accounts). The study found that the decisions of the SBI concerning the levying by the BSBDA account holders of a Rs 17.70 charge for each debit transaction beyond four cannot be considered “reasonable.” It pointed to an excessive collection of over Rs 300 crore from almost 12 Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account (BSBDA) holders of SBI, over the period 2015-20 as a result of the charging of service charges.
Punjab National Bank, which has 3.9 Crore BSBD accounts, collected Rs 9.9 crore in the same period. Several banks, most especially the SBI which has the maximum number of BSBDAs, have systematically violated RBI rules for each debit transaction (even via digital media) that has been executed for more than four months. “This charge imposition has resulted in unfair collections of more than Rs 300 crore from among almost 12 crore BSBDA SBI holders for the years 2015-20. Amount of Rs 72 crore collected for the period 2018-19 alone and Rs 158 crore for 2019-20,” said IIT Bombay professor Ashish Das. RBI Guidelines are governed by the levying of fees for BSBDA in September 2013. According to the direction, these account holders are allowed to more than four withdrawals in a month, provided that the bank does not charge the same fee at the banking discretion. With the characteristics of a BSBDA defining, regulatory requirements clearly indicate that, while the savings deposit account shall be a BSBDA, banks will not charge any fees even for value-added services which a bank may wish to offer at its discretion, in addition to compulsory free bank services (which included four withdrawals a month). SBI had charged BSBDA holders for each debit transaction after four months in violation of the RBI regulations, adding that even for NEFT, IMPS, UPI, BHIM-UPI and debit cards for commercial payments, the charges were as high as Rs 17.70 for each debit transactions. On the one hand, the country strongly promoted digital methods of paid services, while on the other hand, SBI discouraged the individuals themselves by charging an operating Rs 17.70 per digital transaction for their everyday expenses digitally.
The uncompromising attitude of RBI to monitor its own legislation has prompted other banks to become unreasonable in charges beyond four debits a month. There is also an additional Rs 40 charge for cash withdrawals from ATM. The bank also charges IDBI bank with a debit freeze of more than 10 debits per month. Despite this relief, RBI still needs to ensure compliance by means other than UPI/BHIM-UPI or RuPay-Digital with the implementation of its own regulations while charging as much as Rs 17.70 for any digital debit transaction.
