Ministry of Finance has issued a “factual position in which government has announced that no extra charges will be levied by the PSBs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, private banks are free to charge extra money for the transactions conducted with them.
As per the statement issued by the Ministry of Finance, “No service charge is applicable on the 60.04 crore Basic Savings Bank Deposit accounts, including 41.13 crore Jan Dhan accounts opened by the poor and unbanked segments of society, for the free services prescribed by RBI.”
The statement also says, “Regular Savings accounts, Current Accounts, Cash credit accounts & Overdraft accounts: In this regard, while the charges have not been increased, Bank of Baroda had made certain changes w.e.f. 1st November, 2020, with regard to the number of free cash deposits and withdrawals per month. The number of free cash deposits and withdrawals, have been reduced from 5 each per month to 3 each per month, with no change in the charges for transactions in excess of these free transactions. Bank of Baroda has since informed that in the light of the current COVID related situation, they have decided to withdraw the changes. Further, no other PSB has increased such charges recently.”
