‘No need to maintain minimum balance in Jan Dhan and Basic Savings Account’- FM Nirmala Sitharaman

New Delhi| Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that there is no need to maintain minimum account balance in Jan Dhan and Basic Savings Account. Penalties are imposed by the bank only on those customers who fail to maintain the required amount in their account. The Finance Minister said this in response to a question about a fine of Rs 8,500 crore being collected by public sector banks in last 5 years for not maintaining minimum balance on behalf of customers in bank accounts. Finance minister said that in such a situation, if your bank charges for not maintaining the balance in Jan Dhan or Basic Savings Account, then you can complain about it. You can also complain about the bank to the Banking Ombudsman.

Sitharaman said that the members of the House have raised the question of deducting the amount for not maintaining minimum balance by the banks. This rule does not apply to PM Jan Dhan accounts and basic savings accounts. This applies only to accounts in which customers are expected to maintain a minimum balance in their account to a certain extent. This reply was given in writing in the Lok Sabha by the Finance Minister.

The public sector banks which have collected fine for not maintaining minimum balance include Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Punjab and Sindh Bank, Union Bank of India Bank, UCO Bank, Indian Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of Maharashtra. And the name of Central Bank of India is included. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary told the Lok Sabha last month that public sector banks have collected a fine of Rs 2,331 crore in FY24 for not maintaining minimum balance. This amount was 25 per cent more than the amount recovered last year. In FY 2023-24, fines of Rs 633 crore have been collected by Punjab National Bank, Rs 386 crore by Bank of Baroda and Rs 369 crore by Indian Bank for not maintaining minimum balance.