Maintain a minimum balance in your SBI account or pay a penalty

State Bank of India on Thursday made it compulsory for account-holders to maintain a minimum balance and will charge defaulters a penalty from April 1, reported the Economic Times. 

The public sector lender has made the maintenance of Rs 5,000 mandatory for accounts in metropolitian areas, Rs 3,000 in urban areas, Rs 2,000 in semi-urban areas and Rs 1,000 in rural areas.

The penalty to be charge will be based on the difference between the minimum balance required and the shortfall. In metropolitian area, if the shortfall is higher than 75%, a charge of Rs 100 plus service tax will be levied. If the shortfall lies between 50-75%, the bank would charge Rs 75 plus service tax and Rs 50 plus service tax for a shortfall between 50%. 

In rural areas, the penalty would be between Rs 20 to Rs 50 plus service tax, said SBI in a notification. 

The public sector lender would also renew from April 1, the Rs 50 charge for people carrying out over three cash transactions at its branch within a month. This charge is applicable currently as well.
 
Private sector banks HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank recently announced the levy of a minimum charge of Rs 150 after four free cash transactions at their branches.