New Delhi: Bank of Baroda has reduced the number of free deposits and withdrawals since November 1. It has decided to charge a large number of service charges from customers who receive services more than a certain number of times. There was a strong reaction from customers after the news broke. There were fears that other banks could take similar drastic measures. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Nirvana has promised that no bank will increase service charges in the near future. The Finance Ministry said today that the Bank of 4 Baroda would reverse its decision in view of the Karona epidemic. No other state-owned bank has increased service charges in the recent past. All banks in the country, including state-owned banks, are able to pay for their services as per the Reserve Bank’s directives. The RBI’s guidelines make it clear that when charging a service charge, it should be fair, transparent, impartial and reasonable. Other state-owned banks have said they have no plans to increase the bank’s service charges in the near future. They have made such a decision in view of the corona epidemic situation. Basic Savings Bank Deposit (BS4BD) – including Jandhan account – There is no provision for service charges in the account. There are 70.06 crore BS7BD accounts in the country, of which 41.13 crore are public funds. The people who open Jandhan accounts are poor and they are residents of areas where there are no banking facilities. So there is no provision to charge service from any deposit account holder in this category. The Finance Ministry has clarified that the Reserve Bank of India has instructions to provide free banking services to them. The ministry also said that the service charge has not been increased in the case of regular savings accounts, current accounts, cash credit accounts and overdraft accounts.
