Savings Account: Now, the average minimum balance will have to be maintained every month in a savings account in Punjab National Bank (PNB). Apart from this, the bank has also changed the charges levied for many services.

Savings Account: Punjab National Bank (PNB) has announced changes in the charges levied on some services related to savings accounts. This change includes maintaining minimum average balance, issuing demand draft, making DD draft, cheque (including ECS), return cost and locker rent charges.

If any savings account does not have the minimum balance, the bank will now charge a fee on a monthly basis. The bank has started counting the average balance on a monthly basis instead of three months.

Minimum balance required every quarter-

Rural – Rs 500
Semi-Urban – Rs 1000
Urban and Metro cities – Rs 2000

Average balance requirement every month-

Rural – Rs 500
Semi-Urban – Rs 1000
Urban and Metro cities – Rs 2000

If there is a 50% reduction in the quarterly average balance, a fee of Rs 50 will be charged in rural areas, Rs 100 in semi-urban and Rs 150 in urban/metro. Similarly, if the minimum balance is reduced by more than 50%, a fee of Rs 100 will have to be paid in rural areas, Rs 150 in semi-urban and Rs 250 in urban/metro.

If the minimum average balance of any bankholder reduces even after 50%, the fee will increase in the same proportion. After a limit, if the average balance reduces by 6% more, then a minimum fee of Rs 1 and a maximum fee of Rs 30 will apply to the customers of rural areas. A minimum fee of Rs 1 and a maximum fee of Rs 60 will be charged in semi-urban areas. A minimum fee of Rs 1 and a maximum fee of Rs 100 will be charged only if the balance is reduced by 5% more in urban and metro areas.

Demand Draft

The current charges for issuing a Demand Draft (DD) are as follows: DDs up to ₹10,000 attract a fee of ₹50. DDs from ₹10,000 to ₹1,00,000 attract a fee of ₹4 per ₹1,000, with a minimum fee of ₹50. DDs above ₹1,00,000 attract a fee of ₹5 per ₹1,000, with a minimum fee of ₹600 and a maximum of ₹15,000. If an amount less than ₹50,000 is paid in cash, a fee of 50% above the normal fee will be charged.

As per the revised charges, now 0.40% of the DD amount will be charged, with a minimum of ₹50 and a maximum of ₹15,000. Depositing an amount less than ₹50,000 in cash will attract a fee of 50% more than the normal fee.

Change in Duplicate DD Charges

The existing charge for issuing duplicate DD is ₹150 per DD. There is a charge of ₹250 for any kind of fund transfer, for re-validation or cancellation of DD and for depositing cash amounts less than ₹50,000. As per the revised charges, now ₹200 per DD will be charged for issuing duplicate DD. There is also a charge of ₹200 per DD for re-validation and cancellation of DD and a charge of ₹250 for depositing cash amounts less than ₹50,000.

What changes in cheque return?

In the revised charges for cheque return, there is a charge of ₹300 per cheque for return of cheque due to insufficient funds in the savings account. For Current Account, Cash Loan (CC), and Overdraft (OD), a fee of ₹300 per cheque will be charged for the first three cheque returns in a financial year, and ₹1,000 per cheque from the fourth cheque return. A fee of ₹100 per cheque will be charged for returns other than insufficient funds. There will be no fee in case of technical issues or problems on the part of the bank and this will apply to all accounts. Additional interest will be charged at the applicable interest rate based on the number of days the bank is short of funds.

Outward returning charges (including ECS) and bill return charges through the clearing house will be ₹150 per cheque for cheques up to ₹1 lakh, ₹250 per cheque for ₹1 lakh to ₹10 lakh and ₹500 per cheque for amounts above ₹10 lakh. Outstation returning charges (inward/outward) will be ₹150 per cheque for cheques up to ₹1 lakh and above, ₹250 per cheque for ₹1 lakh to ₹10 lakh and above, and ₹500 per cheque for amounts above ₹10 lakh and above.

As per the revised charges, outward returning charges will now be ₹200 per cheque, irrespective of the amount, and outstation returning charges will be ₹200 per cheque, irrespective of the amount, and out-of-pocket charges will be applicable.

Locker rent

As per the revised locker rent charges, small lockers will be charged ₹1,000 in rural areas, ₹1,250 in semi-urban areas, and ₹2,000 in urban/metro areas. For medium lockers, the charges will be ₹2,200 in rural areas, ₹2,500 in semi-urban areas, and ₹3,500 in urban/metro areas. For large lockers, the charges will be ₹2,500 in rural areas, ₹3,000 in semi-urban areas, and ₹5,500 in urban/metro areas. For very large lockers, a fee of ₹6,000 will be charged in both rural and semi-urban areas, while in urban/metro areas, the fee will be ₹8,000. For an extra large locker, a fee of ₹10,000 will be charged across all areas.