In the last three years, public sector banks have collected a penalty of around Rs 8,000 crore from customers not maintaining minimum balance. Punjab National Bank has collected the highest penalty, and banks have also charged thousands of crores for SMS services.
New Delhi: Amidst efforts to provide banking services to the common people, it has come to light that in the last three years, public sector banks have collected huge fines from customers. 12 big banks of the country have recovered about Rs 8,000 crore for not maintaining minimum balance in the savings account. According to the data presented in Parliament by the Central Government, Punjab National Bank (PNB) is at the forefront in collecting minimum balance penalty. This bank alone has collected Rs 1,500 crore as penalty from customers in the last three years. This is the highest recovery in government banks.
Figures of other big banks
After PNB, other big banks are also included in the list. Bank of Baroda recovered Rs 1,272 crore, while Indian Bank took Rs 1,166 crore as penalty. Karnataka’s Canara Bank has collected Rs 1,027 crore and the country’s largest bank, State Bank of India (SBI), has collected Rs 932 crore from customers.
Recovery on SMS service also: Charge of Rs 3,388 crore
Not only the minimum balance, but customers have also paid a heavy price for the SMS alert facility of banks. The government has informed that except SBI, all other public sector banks together have collected Rs 3,388 crore from customers for SMS facility in the last three years.