Business Business: Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Monday said banks are free to fix minimum balance for savings accounts and it does not fall under RBI’s regulatory jurisdiction.
He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function on ‘Financial Inclusion Saturation Drive’ organised at Gozaria gram panchayat in Gujarat’s Mehsana district. When asked about a private bank raising the minimum balance required for savings accounts, Malhotra said, “RBI has left it to individual banks to decide how much minimum balance they want to fix.
Some banks have kept it at Rs 10,000, some at Rs 2,000 and some have given relaxation (to customers). It is not under (RBI’s) regulatory jurisdiction.” In a recent decision, private lender ICICI Bank has raised the minimum balance requirement for new savings account openers from August 1. According to the lender’s website, the minimum average monthly balance (MAB) on savings bank account has been increased five-fold from Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000.
