We all know that we must maintain some specified minimum balance in our savings account. Otherwise, banks used to penalize us. But do you know after few months they must not levy any penalty!!!. Very few know these small banking rules.
It is clearly mentioned in RBI guidelines also that if savings account holder not maintain the minimum balance then there must be some penalty. Banks need to intimate customers about the rules and amount of penalty to be levied in a transparent manner. However, if the account holder continues the account with non- maintaining the minimum balance then RBI specified some rules, which are very much customer friendly and usually most banks not following. So let us see what those measures are.
1) Banks must inform you about the penalty levied on non-maintenance of minimum balance-
In case account holder fails to maintain the minimum balance then banks should inform the customers through SMS/Email/Letter. So even if you aware about penalty on non-maintaining of minimum balance, banks must inform you about the penalty levied to you.
2) Banks must limit the services available to such savings account-
In case customer not maintained the minimum balance, then banks must not continue to charge. Instead, they must reduce the services available to that of Basic Savings Bank Deposit Accounts. Once the balance restored, then they convert the account to its original account. However, how many banks follow these rules?
For your information, Basic Savings Bank Deposit Accounts are those savings accounts, which meant for basic banking transactions and you no need to maintain minimum balance. Along with that, usually there will be some restriction on services.
3) The penalty must be in proportion to the shortfall-
Usually banks penalize you to the full amount of penalty for not maintaining the minimum balance. However, let us say you have Rs.4, 000 in your account and banks specified limit of maintaining minimum balance is Rs.10, 000. In addition, bank rule claims that not maintaining a minimum balance will cost you Rs.1, 000. In that case, banks cannot levy you full amount. Instead, it should be proportionate. To say in simple words, it must be equal proportional of actual shortfall. In the above example, it is Rs.600 but not Rs.1, 000 as you have balance of Rs.4, 000 in your savings account.
Whether all banks follow this rule? Check out yourself 🙂
4) Account balance must not turn into negative-
If you continuously not maintained the minimum balance required by banks then they must not charge continuously so that your balance turns into negative. Instead, they must take the above two steps to bring it to always in positive balance.
5) Banks have to wait for a month before levying penalty-
If an account holder fails to maintain the minimum balance even after repeated intimation to him/her, then banks must levy charge only after a month of waiting period. So they cannot charge you if your balance falls short of minimum balance for a single day.
Hope above information will be helpful in your banking.
Image courtesy of [Stuart Miles] at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Sir last 6 month or last 2 year batakar amt deduct hua humene kya karna
Dear Akash,
Approach the bank.
Recently i opened sbi Account which cost minimum of 3000 at any time but recently they cut 118 rupees from my bank what is this for?what should i do now please help
Dear Abhay,
Please approach the bank in this regard.
sir what is closure, can you please gave information in breifly ??
Dear Shahan,
Close the account by visiting the branch.
Sir,
Axis Bank employee cheated me in the name of insurance. He forged the proposer sign and initiated an insurance of max life wealth assured plan. I complained as soon as bond paper arrived. The bank didn’t take my complain seriously and manipulated the solution information.
1. What to do?
2. Am I get compensation for bank fraud?
Dear Avinash,
You can complain at a higher level of the bank and also with the insurance company immediately.
Yesterday SBI bank deducted 5000 rupees from my account when someone send me 20000 rupees. When I checked in mini statement there is no details why or what for the bank deducted the money. What should I do pls healp me.
Dear Amit,
Contact the bank.
Hi, I have two questions.
1.If a person holds two savings account in the same bank and the minimum balance is not maintained in one of them , will the bank deduct charges from the other account ?
2.What would happen to the charges if the account goes dormant ?
Dear Sajal,
1) No, they can’t.
2) It is still considered as due.
Hi sir,
my salary account was kotak bank one year back but company not given salary in kotak bank they given my personal account. kotak bank account not used much just used simple transactions. so after one year now called to kotak bank customer they told me your non-maitanance charges are 5100/-rs , i was shocked . they are not inform their charges via sms/call. i called to customer care they told me yesterday. i need to close my account with penalty payment , i’m unable to pay non-maintanance charger, if forget that penaly , any problems in future , please suugest me what can i do it now ?? thanks…!!
Dear Vinod,
If the account is not useful for you, then let it be.
Axis Bank didn’t intimate me abt my negative balance. By mistake I had a credit of 25k and they deducted that amt stating as my prior negative bal.i told them that i was not informed abt the negative balance. They said u didn’t do any transaction and since 8 months ur account is zero so it’s ur responsibility to check with the bank n maintain the aqb.any idea what can be done
Dear Komal,
Whether they deducted Rs.25,000? Now coming back the charges, whether they have intimated the charges at the time of account opening or during the period of account when they either started to charge or revised their charges?
Hi sir,
i have opened student account 2009 . that time there no rules of minimum balance. my account was not active till 2018 now i have checked my account they have charged minimum balance charge without any notification. what i can do can you please suggest me please.
Dear Keerthan,
If you need the account, then pay dues and activate it. Else better to close the same.
Sir,
I have a student account in Karnataka Bank. It’s almost 3 years since i left my education and am unaware of minimum balance and even i didn’t check the balance. Now it’s showing negative balance of 2000Rs/. I visited my nearest branch and asked them to close my account but they refuse by saying account is changed from student to general automatically and asked me to pay the balance first then they will close.. What should I do?? Plzz help.
Misba-Either pay the dues and activate else just forget it.
Hi sir
I opened a kotak mahendra 811 savings account…By mistake instead of zero balance they created 811 edge which requires to maintain minimum monthly average balance of 10k…Now If close that account i have to pay the penalty for non maintainence..So please guide me..I registered a complaint against this issue but no response….What if I leave this account without doing any transactions
Seelam-Check with them whether they allow you to open one more account, then decide.
Sir my mini statement is showing bank balance in gative something 4000 even they send some messages about debiting of 8000 rs. Twice and no other message came from their side. So wat should i do. I have saving account in syndicate Bank.
Rishabh-Discuss with them regarding the charges they levied and if possible clear it.
Hi Sir,
I have opened the NRE account in Kotak. But I returned back to home country in 2 months. So I didn’t do any transaction. But after one year bank sent an email that they debited some amount for not maintaining min balance. Now account must be negative. I don’t want this account. Can i leave it as it is or should I pay the money.
Maha-Better to close it.
I joined a company and they opened my Ac in HDFC Bank, but within 10 days I left my job. So I forgot about my Ac, but after 2 years I was trying to open a Ac in HDFC but they said that I have already a Ac in HDFC with negative 9K.. I never used their Debit card and all other services and a single penny never credited in my Ac.. so what should I do to close this account Ac.
Thanks !!
Mayur-You have to pay the dues.
Hi, in 2013 my company open a salary account for me in kotak mahindra bank. later in 2017 june i left company but forgot to close that kotak account. in jan 2018 i visited kotak branch for close the account . bank charge me 4100 rs for non maintenance charges. i request them very humble please deduct this charges but they refuse.in that case what should i do. please suggest me
Madhusudan Sharma
Mdhusudan-You have to pay the charges and activate it. Else just leave it.
i do not want to activate that kotak account sir, i just want to know if i not pay and i forget , than what kind of action the bank can take.
Madhusudan-In that case rules are silent. Hence, better to leave the account as it is.
Hi,
My company opened a salary account in axis bank in june 2015 i worked there for 1 year & later on there was no credit of salary so it was automatically converted to savings account.
Since past 8 months i was not actively using the account & minimum account balance was also less than 10,000. so i was charged for non-maintenance of minimum balance in the account.
They have arleady deducted around 800? & now it has gone to -2000? (Negative). I visited my nearest branch & requested them to waive off atleast the negative balance charges as i wish to close my account. But they refuse to waive of the charges.
I wish to close the account now. Is there any way out ?
Thank You,
Pratik
Pratik-If they are not ready, then request for closure. Even for that also they not budge, then simply forget that account.
They never informed me through mail or call about the average minimum balance and did not inform the Nmc.
I was having 4500 in bank after a month when I checked the amount was vanished.
Anish-In that case you have all rights to question the bank.
Hi,
:
Your XXXX- – – – has not maintained the bal requirement of Oct17 & will attract fees in Dec17.To avoid,please fund your a/c to meet the bal requirement for Nov17.
What does this mean ?
And, what’s the starting date of my next month?
Reply asap.
Thank you in adv.
Sanchit-They warning you for not managing MAB. They will already penalize you as this is not managing MAB for October 2017.
I was having a salary account with hdfc bank …but only used for 3-4 month then i left the job….after that it was not used for past 3 year…not i havr got a call from hdfc bank on my new number which i have given in for my four wheeler loan from hdfc bank…they call me and told me about the debit balance of 9000/-..should i pay this for just clossing account..never before i was told about this debit balance ….they told me that if i dont pay it will effect my cibil score…is it true…? Please guide me….shall i write for complaint…
Prince-I am not sure how the penalty raised to that level. Check with the bank about the details.
My SBI account was not operating since 21 months as I was unable to maintain minimum balance. If I start will penalty be levied if I start using it now.
Srinivasan-YES. Hence, check the due penalty at first.
So what will be the best course of action? I am paying two loans and my financial situation is too tight now to pay the charges for insufficient balance. What should i do?
Unknown-If you are unable to pay the penalty charges, then leave the account as it.
I have two savings bank accounts open for atleast three yrs. Forgot about it as i changed jobs. Will bank close the account or will they sue me for not paying insufficient mini balance charges?
Unknown-They might not closed and they be dormant accounts with dues of penalty.
Hi actually I left job before 3years back but bank account still open and balance -3000 so I would ask you should deposit amount or will leave as same.
Monika-Whether the bank informed about the charges to you?
Hi,
My wife’s Axis Bank Salary account is not in use for the past 4 years atleast (after my marriage, she quit the job). Now I went to close the account, there is Rs.868 lien amount. Is there a way I can request to waive off this amount so that I can close? Is this legal? I read in some article, RBI rule says banks should not levy any penalty charges for non-maintenance of average balance. Is it true? How should I handle this case? Should I request Branch Manager to waive off? or to demand as my rights?
Please advise.
Thanks,
Rangaraj
Rangaraj-They will not waive off and your information of RBI is also wrong. Hence, better to let it be like that only.
Hi Basavaraj, Thanks for your response. let it be mean? I can just leave that account as it is? Will they not add more and more penalty on this account, and some time in future, will this anyway affect my wife’s Cibil Score, or some kind of problem? I honestly don’t have an idea what will they (Axis bank) do with this account. Will they close, or they will try to chase for recovery?
Please advise.
Thanks,
Rangaraj
Rangaraj-Such cost will not affect your CIBIL score. They can’t chase you for recovery.
I had an account with Kotak 1 year back and since then i did not used it much , the status was changed to Dormant .
Now i thought to go ahead with account went to the branch the official told as you do not have any pending amounts your account can be active if you put some amount in it and status will get changed to active .
So i o”put ?100 and activated it and after some days put around ?10k and now suddenly i am getting notifications whole amount has been deducted in multiple parts and now account balance is showing “ZERO” .
What do you should should i raise a complaint in RBI .?
Sanjay-First check with bank regarding such hefty charges. Then take the action.
HI,
I had a CC from ICICI in 2010 and they agreed to close this at 12k final payment, post this discussion they never contacted me (mail/call) I tried reaching the representative but no luck, and days went by. in 2016 I opened SB account with ICICI and now in last week they hold back 25k in Lien saying this payment was due and I never paid. They are saying that they were trying to search me, but the fact is My mob no. remained the same, mail id is not changed and worked in the same office for 7 years when the CC was issued, they Cleary did not followed up. Now this money in Lien is not released until I pay them 22000 as this is the o/s amount till date. I have no proof of discussion of 2010 with 12K, what should I do?
Sangeeta-If you have no proof then you have to pay the dues.
First of all the bank should be see who is still studying for those student the minimum balanced should be Rs 500 other wise f**k the sbi
Haseeb-Remember, they are not running social service NGO but a business.
hi sir,
i have axis bank salary account,but im not using that account in past 2 years.
will they charge anything if i deposit .
Abhilash-Check with the bank for charges applicable for your account and dues if any. If there are dues, then they will deduct.
I had a salaried account opened by a company in HDFC, I left the company the very next day, forgot about the account. After 3 years I got into merchant navy, opened an NRE account with HDFC, have 3.5 lakhs in that account. Opened HDFC app and saw the navy account with sweet 3.5 lakhs and that crackpot account with balance minus 7,800 rs. HOW THE HELL THEY LINKED TWO ACCOUNTS? I was fuming with rage and little scared that they may touch my balance from navy account and pay for that minus shit.
Is it possible that they already did that?
When its was an salaried account and that account never saw a penny in its life, how they continued? These banks are blood sucking parasites.
Tejender-Simple…raise the issue. They need some heat treatment.
Sir, I opened my saving account in SBI bank in November 2016 but I didn’t do any transaction and my balance is nil. They asked me to submit KYC as my ac is currently non operative but I want to close my account. Is it possible or will I have to give fine?
Surbhi-If you don’t want that account, then simply close it.
But what will happen or is there any problem if I don’t close my account by myself and don’t wanna maintain a/c for ever in sbi savings a/c while I have 0 balance left in my a/c whether sbi will automatically close it after a certain period or bank will charge/penalty on this.?
Himadri-They will not close the account, but your penalty go on accumulating.
I have an account in an ICICI bank which I was not using since 2014…balance is zero since 2014. Now I want to use so I opened my account through internet banking and I saw that balance is still zero..there is no negative balance. But I am worried to deposit money in an account that they will charge me for not maintaining balance.will they charge??
Kartikay-Check with bank if there is any charges pending, then you can deposit.
How could it possible for those who earn not more then 10000/-PM, is there any guideline to resolve those persons problem.
Lalit Gaur
Lalit-It is not based on your earnings.
Dear Basavaraj Sir,
Very nice explanation and very good article. sir, are these rules applicable to salary account also? usually salary account balance will have NO minimum balance or zero balance account.
regards
RAJESH PAI
Rajesh-Salary accounts still enjoy zero balance.
sir
My account was being blocked by bank due and i was not able to withdraw through atm as well as netbanking. After 3 months i received one message that you account was being credited with Rs. 22000/- by a system error and now you have to pay that amount as your account goes – 18200 Rs. i was surprised to see this message. Now i received a call from bank and they told me to pay the negative balance and give us a day when you will pay.They told me that i did a purchase from my debit card, but the thing is my debit card and netbanking is blocked by bank than how can i purchase from debit card. Pls help me. i am afraid of a legal action
Ravinder-Raise the issue with banking ombudsman if bank not heed you.
Tell me how it should be less than the minimum balance in the State bank of India account
Shah-I am unable to understand your doubt. Can you elaborate more?
Hi Basu,
I have a business current account on company name from HDFC, Kanpur, UP branch and i am not using this account anymore as business is no more active. They are levying non maintenance charges since a year almost and earlier they were charging 750 and not it increased to 1750 around for quarterly. I’m worried if i have to pay that amount or some action bank can take to collect that amount as i am not in a state to pay this.
Any suggestions or how it works? I started with 10000 as min balance.
Shashank-I am not aware about the current account rules. Check with bank and better to resolve it at the earliest.
In 2013,opened salary account in HDFC bank.after quitting the job I didn’t close my account so now when I checked it’s showing negative balance. Will they ask me to pay that negative amount and does it affect if I open new HDFC salary account now?
Raj-Yes, you have to pay the dues. I think they not allow to open one more account as you already having one old account.
common he dont have to pay his account services are to be restricted till he again maintain the balance as needed. and as per RBI…no non maintenance charges on dormant accounts. If they still ask him to pay he must tell them he will go to ombudsman .
Kumar-May I know where it is mentioned that charges not apply to dormant accounts?? Above that may I know the definition of dormant account as per RBI?
Raj n Basavraj,
According to the RBI guidelines on non operative savings account, banks can not levy charges for non maintenance of that account, as in your case the salary account is charged for non maintenance, probably your salary ac must be converted into savings account, you just google RBI directives on charges for non maintenance account you will have that answer. Visit your home branch and inform the officers over there, if they do nt waive off the charges complain to grivance redressal officer, nodal officer or even to banking ombudsman. U will get the waiver!
Santosh-Can you update US about the latest changes? As per me the above rules are latest one.
Sry it is Kotak bank
I was workingin Mumbai and had a salary account in total bank..I left the job 2years back and now I got a mail telling that my account is negative 4333 …so I am not using this account and I need to close this ….is it possible to close account without paying the negative balance…I dnt have that much money to pay, so kindly help me…. Provide a solution for it
Basil-You can’t close it without paying dues. But you can negotiate about the amount dues.
No Basavraj,
He can close it without paying charges, just check RBI guidelines for the same.
sir,
i was having the savings bank account with Kotak mahindra bank, due to some family problems i went to my village and i was not in bangalore for more than 3 years, but i am getting the messages of non maintainance charges of Rs. -8000/- , for minimum balance maintainance, even i am getting only 5000 salary i cant pay that -ve amount to bank and even i had not used that account for 3 years so what to do with this issue.
Thank you in advance.
Chethan-If they sent message to you, then why you neglected to act?
Sir help me . In saving account the sbi bank debited about 2 lac 12 thousand through sweep tfr dr but the same amount is not credited to my mod balance also my mod balance automatically deducted …i dont know how it happens without transferring the amount in avail balance through sweep tfr cr
Bhupendra-Check with Bank Officials.
Sir,
I had a salary account with hdfc
bank. but I transfered my
salary a/c to SBI and then I
have not operated the HDFC
bank a/c. Bad part is i have left the
company and unaware of
minimum balance.
very few month they
send sms me that charged 687 for non maintenance showing negative balance
But now negative
balance of Rs. 2357.74/- is showing
in that a/c. Pls suggest sir
whether I have to pay that
amount or not as because the
negative balance is increasing
day by day.
Ritesh-If you don’t want to use it, then close it. But in either case pay the dues and clear it.
Dont worry ritesh you no need to pay the ammount call the customer care tell them to revised the hall amount they will revised then you can visit your nearest branch fill the form and close same situation was happend with me last month, and speak strictly to the cx care people.
Is it advisable to have 2-3 bank accounts
Mohan-One is suffice, why to complicate life?
dear sir i have come across some news about negative balance in savings account.
suppose i have two saving bank accounts with SBI and karur vysya bank. SBI shows favourable balance of 4500 and karur vysya bank shows -3150. i am afriad of the news tell by my friend they said that sbi debits 3150 as non maintainence of minimum balance in KVB bank. is it true? if one bank recovers the other bank negative balance? i need your reply in this regard as early as possible i will wait for positive reply
Praveen-It is completely false information. Stay away from such rumours.
Dear Sir,
i am gopal, I have an account in Kotak Mahindra Bank. I am unable to maintain minimum balance in my Kotak savings account because of un-employment. I didn’t have any income source past 1 year, so I am unable to maintain minimum balance. But Kotak bankers are sending me mails, I have to pay non maintenance charges of -4137.50/-. I asked customer care people for remove the non-maintenance charges to my account but kotak bankers are won’t accepting my request again they are advising me to pay the non-maintenance charges of INR -4137.50 to continue the account. I want to continue the bank account but i don’t have that non-maintenance charges amount. i requested to you please give the best solution for my issue…..
Thanks & Regards,
Gopalakrishna
Gopal-If you are not at all using the account, then better to close the account.
Dear Sir,
Now i want to continue my account what i do right now
Gopal-Simple..Pay the dues.
So are you misguiding me to ignore the RBI rules did you now the RBI Rules sir….
Gopala-I am not misguiding you. Refer the link of RBI, which I provided in above post.
if u did not have knowledge about RBI Rules please refer the RBI Regulations
5.2. Savings Bank Rules
5.4 Minimum balance in savings bank accounts
https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/bs_viewmascirculardetails.aspx?id=9008#54
Gopala-Refer the RBI link of same year (20th November, 2014), where the procedure is purely laid down as per my above post. Your RBI notification link is older than the one which I referred. Hope now you got a clarity 🙂
The Reserve Bank of India has issued a new directive to banks, directing no penalty on customers with lower than minimum account balance.
The new directive may have come as a big relief for a lot of customers, but banks did not seem amused by the move. Apparently, they believe that the removal of the existing penalty system could make a lot of their banking services more expensive for the end user.
Reserve Bank stated that instead of imposing penalties, banks should limit certain facilities in those accounts maintaining lower than the minimum balance threshold. According to it, these services could always be restored when the customer improve his or her balance to the minimum requirement.
“Banks should not take undue advantage of customer difficulty or inattention. Instead of levying penal charges for non-maintenance of minimum balance in ordinary savings bank accounts, banks should limit services available on such accounts to those available to basic savings bank deposit accounts and restore the services when the balances improve to the minimum required level,” RBI said.
Banks, however, argue that the move could be counterproductive instead of helping customers. “The consumer will end up paying more. On the minimum balance of Rs 10,000 we earn only Rs 400 against which we provide ATM transactions, statement and cheque book. The break-even for providing these services is minimum balance of Rs 30,000. The alternative is that we have to charge for these services as against the Rs 400 we earn on minimum balance and the customer may end up paying more than the penalty if he regularly uses cheques and other services,” Aditya Puri, MD, HDFC Bank, stated.
Puri also added that RBI is yet to enforce this new guidelines, and that HDFC will convey its concerns to RBI officials in due time.
Meanwhile, Kamath, Chairman, Punjab National Bank, expressed his view on the new directive from RBI by saying: “The direction is very clear. You create a set of accounts where you do not charge for not maintaining minimum balance but you will be entitled to only limited services. If you want more you will probably have to pay for it.”
Gopala-No need to share all information, this I already read and highlighted in above post. What I am trying to say is if you want the account to be required, then you have to clear the penalty. RBI regulation says cut down the services, but what services for a small savings account?? Banks use this as an opportunity. Rest is left with you to decide.
The RBI guidelines are part of the RBI first bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement, 2014-15 announced on April 1, 2014 regarding ‘Developmental and Regulatory Policies’ proposing certain measures towards consumer protection.
RBI said banks should not take undue advantage of customer difficulty or inattention.
Instead of levying penal charges for non-maintenance of minimum balance in ordinary savings bank accounts, banks should limit services available on such accounts to those available to basic savings bank deposit accounts and restore the services when the balances improve to the minimum required level.
Hi,
I have faced the same issue(charges due to not maintenance of minimum balance) with HDFC bank,
My account balance is -4000 .They are continuing to deduct and is growing negative.
My question is how long will they continue to deduct?
How negative can my account become because of this?
Thanks!
Shruthi-It is automated to their system. Hence, better you show them the rulebook and remind them to stop such things to happen.
Thank you.
I’m a housewife, I have an SBI account. I will keep only 500 /_in my account. Recently bank has debited 118/_towards MAB. Do they debit every month. How much minimum balance should I maintain
Sunitha-Whenever there is a shortfall of MAB, banks have rights to deduct the money as a penalty. Regarding the MAB rules, check with your bank for the same.
Hi Basu,
I received a SMS saying that RBI has passed a new rule for Salary accounts which are converted to normal Saving accounts due an reasons, Bank can not charge any penalty for non maintenance of minimum balance.
Is is correct?
Regards,
Nilesh Patil
Nilesh-I am not aware of such rule.
Nilesh,
Yes it is the right msg,
Dear sir,
I have opened salary a/c in hdfc bank, but after two months my office changed hdfc to axis bank now i didn’t using my hdfc a/c, now its been 1 year passed i have joined another company where they are using hdfc to credit salary.
it ok can i open another a/c in new office or i want pay my negative amount and continue using my old hdfc a/c.
It is possible to open another a/c in same bank.
Shankar-You can open another account. But I suggest you better to reactivate the old account and use it. Otherwise, close the old account. Don’t keep it idle.
thanks for the reply sir,
If i open another a/c . will they charge my old negative balance in this new a/c
because i don’t want to pay my -2765 ,
or is there any way to get rid of my negative balance..
Please help sir
Shankar-NO, then can charge from your old account to new account.
sorry sir i can’t get you.
will my new a/c also show as negative balance
Shankar-No, it will not.
Hi,
I am holding salary account with HDFC bank from 2008. I resigned from organization in 2012 and left the country. i got email from bank that my account got converted in saving and i have to manage minimmum 10000 rs. balance. i replied on email that account converted without any notification and we are unable to continue with account. i send account closure form with one of my friend to submit to bank. he submitted same. after some time i again received email for acount statement. i ask bank about my closure application status and received replied that since i am holding demat account with bank i need to close demat first. still my account running with debit balance from 2012 till date. pls. advise further course of action from bank.
Thanks.
Khetubha-I think it is 3-in-1 account. In that case, you have to close demat and savings account too.
Hi,
i have not been using my hdfc salary account for 1 year as my salary account was changed and my account is running -5000 rupees. I no longer need that account. When I contacted the bank to close this account, they told me to pay the negative amount and then close. I don’t want to pay that amount as I didn’t use this account and I got few sms every month saying some rs. charged for non maintanance. But I didn’t check those SMS.
What happen if don’t pay the negative balance. Please Suggest how to close the account without paying the negative balance.
Swapna-It is better to pay and close. Nothing will happen if you leave like this also. But closing matters officially is best right?
Hi Raj,
I have opened a hdfc bank salary acccount based upon this account they offered me personal loan so i availed the same .
but now i have only loan account in hdfc i have changed my company as wll so salaryis crediting in diffrent banck.
also i have paid the emi clearly without any delay recently for past 6 months they deducting extra amount along with the emi where emi is boouncing every time i have paying extraa 800 rs along with emi amount .
can u gyide me what should i do i am n lower middle class category i cannot pay everymonth 8 hundred ruppes it is my half day salary.
guide me what i should i do.
Incase if they issuing a legal notice how to tackle it pls guide
Vimal-Whether you checked of why they are charging higher?
Hi Basu,
I am holding an HDFC saving acount 3years back. Since 2 years there is no single transaction of deposit is made also the account is running in negative balance. Usually its bank rule when there is no transaction of either debit or credit in an account they mark it to dormant .But in this case neither the account got dormant and continous charges are levied in the account per month .I dont want to continue this account niether want to pay minus balance.
Anshu-Inform this to bank and close it. Let them show of when they informed you about charges.
Can a savings account holder change his account to another another savings account available in the bank.
Dayanand-I am unable to understand your doubt. Please elaborate.
Hi Sir, I am Sam. On March 30, 2016, Rs.1400 was debited from my iob salary account. But I had only a balance of Rs. 350. So it became minus 1050. When salary was credited in the month of April, Rs.1050 was debited. Bank officials didn’t give me proper response. I made an online complaint to IOB. Till now no response. What may be the reason? Please help me in this regard.
Sam-Raise the issue with banking ombudsman.
Hi Basu,
I am holding an HDFC Salary acount 3years back. Since 3 years there is no single transaction of deposit is made also the account is running in negative balance. Usually its bank rule when there is no transaction of either debit or credit in an account they mark it to dormant .But in this case neither the account got dormant and continous charges are levied in the account per month .
Suggest me here.Also does this negative balance effect CIBIL score. ?
Keval-They have to inform about it. If they not informed about negative balance, then it is their fault. No, it will not impact your CIBIL.
Recently i deposited 6000 in my account. Then i took out 6000 in which the remaining was rs.32. Then after a week, my blnc got -49,973. If i deposit it with atleast 3000 then what will happen??
Toto-Negative balance of Rs.49,973?? Unbelievable, check with bank.
Sir today I found that my account deducted from rs.171. How to complain above it…
Mukesh-Raise the complaint with bank at first.
Hi My name is Aman Sharma I have my new salary account opened in the month of Oct’15 I used only current account which is linked to my salary account and I was getting some part of my salary in that account from the 1st month itself now also my incentives for the month of Dec credited in Jan 21st now on 1st of Feb I recived 4 massages from kotak that for non maintaining of account for Oct, Nov,Dec,And Jan they deduct 520,687,687 and 687 rs from my account and I was not informed by bank that they will charge me for not maintaining my account I want to know is if correct deduction or not as bank personnel informed me they will reverse 3 deductions after 3 successfully transaction of my salary if they are reversing that amount that mean they have wrongly deducted and they should reverse all 4 deduction what is the right I have to take this to the upper level
Aman-Don’t believe on them. Check the cost of the savings accounts. They fight with them.
Dear KESHAV RAI,
We have noticed that your Corporate Salary Account has neither received salary credit nor maintained Average Monthly Balance (AMB) for JAN 16. We request you to please credit salary or maintain the required balance in FEB 16 to avoid application of Non Maintenance Charges (NMC) for JAN 16 and FEB 16. Suitable funding of the account as above may please be ensured within a month, else NMC charges will be applied.
To know the required AMB for your Account variant, the associated NMC charges and the NMC policy effective April 2015, please refer to the General Schedule of Features and Charges (GSFC) on http://www.kotak.com.
Sir i got this msg from kodak bank. Sir tell me What i have to do now.
Keshav-Either manage the minimum balance and continue account. If you don’t need it, then simply close it.
Hi Basavaraj,
I was having Kotak Bank salary account,later I switched to HDFC bank.Now Kotak bank Lien amount is reflecting as Lien Rs -5800.I also asked many times to them to close the account as I am not using the salary account since october,2015.But they countinously adding Lien amount monthly basis.Please sugget as I dont want to use the Kotak account neither as Salary account nor saving account.Is there any legal action id i dont want to pay Lien amont?
Shahid-There will not be any legal action against you.
Hi Sir,
I have the same issue with SBI bank. I had 24,000 in MOD account but suddenly they moved that amount to lien amount without any notification. Could you please guide me to get that money to be transferred to my balance \MOD account?
Murali-It is procedural matter, contact bank officials.
Sir i left my job last year. But i Forget to close my salery account due to that my account balance is negative due to non maintainance.
I dont want to pay this amount. But i want to close my account also.
When i go to bank then they told me that i have to pay this money after that they will close my account.
Sir tell me what i have to do now.
And one more thing i want to know that for how many months they will detect money for non maintainance charges.
Keshav-Usually for salary account all banks provide zero balance facility. I am not sure what went wrong with your bank. I am not sure for how long they deduct the penalty. If you no longer want to use this account, then simply fortget it.
My Hdfc back account is having negative balance of -6k. I don’t want to pay that much fine. What happens if I ignore it
Thilak-Nothing happens if you ignore. But if you deposit any amount into that account, then they first adjust it towards the due. Hence, decide yourself whether you need that account or not.
Hi Basu ,
Im having same issue regrding negative balance with kotak bank .
1. What if i dont pay anything … Does the bank close the a/c in future ?
2. As you say that its better to close the a/c, but in this case we have to pay the negative balance right? to close it??
3. Suppose we dont pay anything and bank does not close the a/c and keeps sending the maintence fee email .. for how long they charge it ? Is there any legal actions ? What type are we have to go behind the bars ? 🙂
Thanks.
Kushal-1) I am not sure of what they do at END.
2) Yes, you have to close. But if you are sure that no transaction will happen in future, then forget it.
3) Ideally they must stop the account once the account balance turns to negative. But sadly no banks follow it.
Thilak-It is due to continues penalty they charged on your account. You can raise the complaint that they must inform you or else they must close the account but can’t put the account in negative balance.
Basavaraj- I m using HDFC salary account. Yesterday on 29 Jan 2016 I withdrew cash from this account after which the available balance was INR 2500 (approx), then on 30 Jan 2016 when I logged in to netbanking to make an online transaction it says insufficient funds. Upon going to account summary page it says available balance INR – 60,000/- (debit or negative balance overnight). When I check the mini statement it is showing now transaction like inward cheque clearing or anything, still the last transaction shown is the ATM cash withdrawal done on 29 Jan. Now customer service not responding nor any revert on my emails sent to the bank.
Shamin-Visit the nearest branch at the earliest to know the exact cause.
Sir,
How banks pay interest on our savings account balance?
When should we deposite money in our savings account (On/before any specific date)?
When should we withdraw money (On/before any specific date)?
Thank you.
Vinod
Any update
Vinod-Interest on savings account is calculated on closing balance of the DAY. So there is no such trick which you can say as when to deposit to earn more or when withdraw. You use savings account to keep your emergency fund but not to earn on it. Also, do you feel 3% to 4% a good return on your INVESTMENT (if you feel keeping cash in savings account as an investment).
Hi,
My salary account turned into savings accounts and now it was in minus(-) balance.as we need to maintain min balance of 10000/- so, now i have deposited 15000/- in my account they have deducted the minus balance and they were showing the balance amount .
Now i want to know the money deducted by HDFC will be get back to my account or not. pleaase suggest me
Vamsy-No, but whether they communicated about expenses with you? They can’t live negative balance account.
Hello,
I want your advice on HDFC Salary Account non-maintenance deduction.
I was operating this salary account during the period 2008-2009. However after switching my job this account has been non-operative. Now, I sold off my shares in the market and as my demat account was linked with this account the amount got credited in this account. I got a big surprise when I went to close this account as I had been debited with Rs.5,500/- from Sept’14 onward for non-maintenance of this account.
On inquiring I was told that this charges are for non-maintenance, I asked to show me any proof if they have intimated me on this via letters, email or phone, they failed to do so and was replied its mentioned in the fine print at the time of opening such account.
My question to you is, is this the right way to deduct any such amount from my account without informing me, how far can I go in this fight. Can Consumers forum can help me in this.
Awaiting you reply.
Thank you.
Hitesh.
Email : [email protected]
hi basu,
i am rahul an icici bank customer. i was not using account from 1 year. currently it is showing 0 balance in account not negative. i don’t remeber when i leave my account i had any balance or not.
i want to reuse that account but scare if they chrage penalty for non maintenance bal. or if they charge it i.e rs 500/month
they will charge it for 12 month? 12*500 or just for 1 month?
Rahul-If you want to re-operate this account, then first visit the branch and ask for the dues. Pay it and reactivate it. I think they will not show any leniency on it.
Hi basavraj
First of all I would like to thank you for spreading awareness regarding the guidelines. I went through the RBI posting it clearly says that the account balance should not turn negative due to non maintenance, but my balance is now -2500 rs in my kotak account in Delhi (6 months back it was a salaried account). I will talk to them and i believe they will not accept and close the account without my paying up the “dues”. My concern is that can we file a PIL or take some other legal action to stop this sort of unscrupulous behaviour? After all this scam is being done on a national level, and the consumer is harassed to pay money for closing or reactivating an account.
Kulraj-A true thinking and big initiative if you do so. Because it is not a one bank issue, but all banks do such wrong things and harass customers. I support your initiative.
HI, the same thing is with me. I asked them to close my old salary account and they said I have to pay 2600 as my salary account had been changed to saving account without my knowledge and they said I have not maintained that minimum balance for saving account. What to do. Should I pay the fine or not for closing.
Tenin-Let them prove that they informed you before charing it.
Hi Basu,
I faced the same issue in hdfc my friend transferred amount of 5000 on Oct 30 2015 now amount is 60rs and I was informed before October some month that 399 was charged as penalty….I need clarification as per RBI rule amount can’t be in negative if it is levied from October to Jan it is 1600 can I ask/argue to credit my money back… Now I have planned to make this account active in my current company…please suggest your idea on this
Kumar-RBI rules is clear on this issue. Account balance must not be negative. You can show the RBI rule and fight.
Dear Sir,
HDFC is charging for non maintaining the minimum balance in savings account. I would like to know will it affect in future if i dnt repay the penalty or i will have any notice to my address. plzzzz suggest me some ideas to escape from this situation…
Noor-At first, if you don’t need this account at al, then simply close it. Yes, they charge penalty and they will not send notice to address.
hir sir,
I have a HDFC account right now i am not using that…they have converted to savings account…and they began to charge be me every month my balance is in negative..ie is -4000 RS . I dont have any creditcards…. any loans should i need to pay the amount… or wil they send any legal notice… plz suggest me soon
Anusha-They will not send any legal notice. But if you don’t this account then why can’t simply close it?
Hi,
I have faced the same issue with HDFC bank, My account balance is negative “-5000”. When I ask them to close the account, they are not closing until I repay the amount. If I leave this account like this, will it have any impact on my CIBIL score.
Is there any other way to close the account without paying the amount. I have told the above RBI rules. They are not in mind to listen.
Please help me sir
Thanks,
Anwar
Mohideen-It will not impact your CIBIL. But show them the rule and let them act on this.
Dear Sir,
I had an EMI with Bajaj Capital for household goods, which I had some missed payment dates (which I settled eventually and closed the loan). Would that affect my CIBIL Score? Also I had a StanChart Credit Card which I cancelled due to bad service. Would that also affect my CIBIL Score?
Ramesh-Cancelling the credit card will not effect your CIBIL. However, the bad history with Bajaj Capital will definitely impact you.
Hi Basu,
I would like to share my bad experience with HDFC bank in this group.
in late 2013 I took HDFC Credit card.
While applying, the agent ensured me to get min credit limit of Rs.1,00,000 with zero maintenance / Annual (hidden) charges. As my salary was Rs. 55,000 at that time.
Once I received my credit card I noticed it is with the limit of Rs.40,000.
immediately I called Customer care and asked them to cancel my Credit card as I was not satisfied with the credit limit provided. They said it is cancelled (Note that they have blocked the card temporarily which they have not disclosed at that time).
One month back (after one year) I have received an email from HDFC bank with statement attached with Rs.600 as annual charges.
(Note that till today I have not used that Credit card for single transaction). I called Customer care for clarification on maintenance charges and how they have reactivated the cancelled card . Then executive was saying “the card might have temporarily blocked not permanently at that time (one year back)”. I was shocked how they have reactivated the cancelled card with out intimation. Then I asked for the procedure to cancel the card permanently.
She said you will receive an SMS right after this call with the Chennai address where you have to send a letter through Courier. till now I have not received that SMS.
Thanks
Sravan.
Sravan-Thanks for sharing your bad experience.
Hi Raj,
I have two HDFC bank salary accounts. I am not using one account now, it has been converted into saving account 1 year back. Now it is showing a -ve balance of 3500. Will it impact me in future while taking Hoam, car loans. Do i need to close this account by paying Rs. 3500 or is any alternative to escape from paying this money? Can you please suggest me the right way to handle this.
Thanks
Srinivas P
Srinivas-How they imposed the penalty without informing you about this?
Even I have the same problem. They are sending msgs every month that they are charging 250 rs . at the time of opening salary account it was zero balance account.now my balance in – 3762. I am not going to pay this. will it affect cibil rating??
Ganes-It will not affect CIBIL. But I suggest you to close the account if you are not at all using this.
Hi Sir,
I have opened an current account in Kotak Mahindra in 2013, and at the end of the financial year {2015}, I am being levied a penalty for non-maintenance of the account, without prior intimation over emails or monthly statements.
Have made no transaction till date with Kotak Mahindra. Would non-payment of the penalty affect my credit score?
Is there any official link which can confirm this?
Thanks.
Ashish-I don’t think this will impact your credit rating. But, whether the bank shared with you the non-maintenance of account leads to penalty? I think they might have included while opening the account. But you might missed that.
Hi! Sir can u tell me why an IBA charge sum amount from a CA
Naland-Current account is all together a different account. We can’t compare that with Savings Account.
Hi Basu, I have opened a PPF a/c with SBI, for which they asked me to open a SB account as well with a minimum balance of 500/- But i am not really transacting in the SB account. But recently i see they have deducted some money from my 500/- saying they are charges for using my debit card and also for email / sms facility. I asked them to stop the SMS facility. but my question is whether such services are really chargeable as per the bank / government rules ? please clarify.
Achchu-For operating PPF account it is not mandatory to open savings account. So if savings account not use for you then simply close it. Regarding charges, it will be listed either in branch or on site. Check it and if they are charging irregularly then you can raise the issue.
Sir,
I had a salary account with hdfc bank. In Dec’12 I transfered my salary a/c to SBI and since then I have not operated the HDFC bank a/c. Last year they intimated me that your a/c had been converted to savings a/c and showing negative balance of Rs. 842/-. But now negative balance of Rs. 1615/- is showing in that a/c. Pls suggest sir whether I have to pay that amount or not as because the negative balance is increasing day by day.
Hrishi-Please show them the above rule and discuss what they have to say.
Dear sir
I have opened a account with hdfc bank in which i have to maintain Rs5000. But last week i have transferred the total amount to another bank. so if now i don’t pay anything in that account and keep it the way it is now than will it affect my cibil.
Thnaks
Prab-It will not affect your CIBIL. But bank may penalize you. Check with your bank.
I would like to know more about Forex trading How it can be done legally and succeed as professional trader
Thanks
Lokeshwaran
Chennai
Lokeshwaran-Forex trading in India without rupee as it’s another currency is banned. Same is explained in my earlier post. Please read “What is Forex Trading in India? Legal or not?“.
Hi Basu,
Nice article.
Can you please share link to these RBI guidelines which we can show to Bank in case such things happens?
Thanks and Regards,
Deepali
Deepali-It is already available in above post. Please click on clickable words.
Thanks Mr. Basavaraj for sharing the info on Banks flouting RBI Rules on min-bal in Savings a/c. Besides this, private sector Banks are very creative in levying charges on frivolous grounds (e.g. HDFC Bank charges Rs. 250 for no-transaction in S.B. A/c for a period). If A/c holder maintains healthy balance why should Banks force customers to transact compulsorily ?
Also, the recent RBI guidelines making Banks free to charge for ATM usage is bizarre, to say the least. If Banks charge AMC for Debit Cards, why should they charge customers using their own ATMs too ? Atleast Banks should raise ATM usage to a reasonable limit, say 20 per month, while they are free to charge other customers differently.
It’s a shame RBI doesn’t consider consumer impact and address their grievances. It often cows down to IBA and such organizations which will affect increasing reach of Banking system further.
Ramesh-Even I too surprise with a move like transact compulsory or charges on ATM usage. On one way Govt pushing for banking by issuing ATM cards and in opposite banks charging for each additional usage. This proves that there is no co-ordination.
Hi,
I would like to know
When penalty calculations will starts for an account?
What is the tenor to check minimum balance check for a Bank and penalty rules are same for all banks in India?
7 years ago I had ICICI Bank salary account and later when I joined another company, there again a new salary account with other Bank. I haven’t checked balance/logged in to my previous salary account from past 7 years, once i tried but access denied.
Is there any affect on CIBIL score when we get such penalty?
Many thanks Basu for bringing this article.
Regards,
Kirthan
Kirthan-Hard part is, there is no such regulation like how much banks need to penalize and till what period. It is all left with banks. So they do it according to their business module. But they must inform this to customers. No, there will be any impact on CIBIL score.
Hi, Basu
One of my uncle 65 + years old. He have 1.25 cr.He want to invest this money in safe custody with good return. what is your advice?
Sandy-It is difficult to guide by your two to three lines of information. He I go by your word of SAFETY then I may suggest you to go for simple products like MIPs or Postal SCSS and if I go by your word of GOOD RETURN then there are other products. So how can I guide without knowing what do you mean by SAFETY and GOOD RETURN in your uncle’s mind?
Thanks Basu,
I understand your problem very well.
Can you suggest on the part of GOOD RETURN.
Once again thanks Basu.
Sandy-Once again GOOD RETURN will come with time horizon. So can you elaborate about your time horizon?
Hi,
Basu,
I want good returns within 4 to 6 years tenure.
thanks.
Sandy-Please let me know what is meaning of GOOD RETURNS according to you.
According to me, good returns means 10 to 12% p.a. from investment.
Thanks for reply.
Sandy-Your return expectation is too high. Also tenure being 4-6 years, I suggest not to take risk and be in safe by investing in Bank FDs or Debt Funds.
Hi Basu,
I had similar salaried account in RBS (ABN -AMRO) who had been charging me some penalty fo rlast few months (again no notification). I was just planning to take on to them when I saw this. This really helps. Thank you!
Ankit-You just show the the RBI guideline and covert it to basic account.
Hi Basu,
I am victim of this unfortunately 🙁
I was having Citibank suvidha account (Salaried account) so no limit.Bad part is i have left the company and unaware of minimum balance.Even i didnt check the balance also.
One day i just checked thru online banking and got shocked noticing rs 500 deduction monthly.I visited Citi bank branch and argued with them that i have not got any notice about this. They said we have sent to your permanent address. I even went ahead and told them when we deduct even penny message will come then when you (Bank) deducts rs 500 why message was not sent to mobile.
Anyways atlast i felt waste of arguing with them and later degraded it to basic.
My suggestion to all users of this blog is,
When we switch over from company to company please check about your account type and charges involved unless you maintain same as salaried in other company.
Thank you Basu
Chandra-Thanks for sharing your experience 🙂
Sir if i keep 5000 mab Everytime then can axis bank charge me
This is the limit for semi urban
Dear Mohd,
NO.
hello sir,
my father have a bank account in axis, he was unable to maintain the account due to corona lockdown, and account have 1500rupee but due to non-maintenance they charge, and its okay becuase for not maintaining account was my fathers fault . but they didnt stop they charge more consolidated chargees and my fathers account goes to -2445 (negative) and we are unable to pay, sir please help.
Dear Shahan,
Apply for the closure.