Non-Maintenance Of Minimum Balance: Penalty Charges Levied By Top Banks
Banks have mandated regular saving bank account users to maintain a certain average monthly balance (AMB) in their accounts, failing which they have to bear certain penalty charges. Average Monthly Balance (AMB) is the minimum average of deposits required by the customers in their savings bank accounts. Most of the leading banks of the nation such as State Bank of India (SBI), HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Axis Bank have fixed their AMB according to the location of a customer's account in urban, metro, semi-urban and rural areas and charge customers for non-maintenance of these minimum average balance (MAB) in their savings accounts. (Also read:Â Transaction Charges On ATM-Cum-Debit Cards Levied By Top Banks)
Given below are the AMB requirement and penalty charges levied for non-maintenance of AMB by select commercial banks :
State Bank of India (SBI)
SBI, country's largest lender, requires customers with accounts in metro and urban branches to maintain a minimum average balance of Rs 3,000 every month. Customers with accounts in semi-urban branches and rural branches are required to maintain an MAB of Rs 2,000 and Rs 1,000 respectively, according to the bank's website - sbi.co.in.
Customers failing to meet the MAB requirements have to bear the following penalty charges:
| Metro and urban branch (required MAB Rs 3,000) | Charges |
|---|---|
| Shortfall <= 50% | Rs. 10 + GST |
| Shortfall > 50-75% | Rs. 12 + GST |
| Shortfall > 75% | Rs. 15 + GST |
| Semi-urban branch (required MAB Rs 2,000) | Â |
| Shortfall <= 50% | Rs 7.50 + GST |
| Shortfall > 50-75% | Rs 10 + GST |
| Shortfall > 75% | Rs.12 + GST |
| Rural (required MAB Rs 1,000) | Â |
| Shortfall <= 50% | Rs 5 + GST |
| Shortfall > 50-75% | Rs. 7.50 + GST |
| Shortfall > 75% | Rs 10 + GST |
(As mentioned on SBI's official website)
HDFC Bank
HDFC Bank requires customers with accounts in metro and urban branches to maintain a monthly average balance of Rs 10,000. The monthly average required in semi-urban and rural locations is Rs. 5,000 and Rs 2,500 respectively, according to the bank's website - hdfcbank.com
Customers failing to meet the MAB requirements have to bear the following penalty charges:
| Description of Charges | Regular Savings Account | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Average Balance Requirements | Metro / Urban branches: AMB Rs.10,000/-, | ||
| Semi-Urban Branches: AMB Rs.5,000/- , | |||
| Rural Branches: AQB Rs.2,500/- or Fixed Deposit of Rs. 10,000 for minimum 1 year 1 day period | |||
| Charges applicable on non-maintenance | Balance Non-Maintenance Charges* | ||
| AMB Slabs | Metro & Urban | Semi Urban | |
| (in Rs.) | AMB Requirement -Rs 10,000/- | AMB Requirement –Rs. 5,000/- | |
| >=7,500 to < 10,000 | Rs. 150/- | NA | |
| >=5,000 to < 7,500 | Rs. 300/- | NA | |
| >=2,500 to < 5,000 | Rs. 450/- | Rs. 150/- | |
| 0 to < 2,500 | Rs. 600/- | Rs. 300/- | |
| * plus taxes as applicable | |||
| AMB – Average Monthly Balance | |||
| Â | |||
| AQB Slabs (in Rs.) | Balance Non-Maintenance Charges* (per quarter) - Rural Branches | ||
| >= 1000 < 2,500 | Rs. 270/- | ||
| 0 - <1000 | Rs. 450/- | ||
| *plus taxes as applicable | |||
| AQB – Average Quarterly Balance | |||
(As mentioned on HDFC Bank's official website)
ICICI Bank
ICICI Bank requires customers with accounts in metro and urban branches to maintain a MAB of Rs 10,000. The monthly average required in semi-urban and rural locations is Rs 5,000 and Rs 2,000 respectively, according to the bank's website - icicibank.com.
Customers failing to meet the MAB requirements have to bear the following penalty charges:
| Minimum monthly average balance (MAB)* | Metro and Urban locations - Rs.10,000 |
|---|---|
| Semi-urban locations - Rs.5,000 | |
| Rural locations - Rs 2,000 | |
| Gramin locations - Rs.1,000 | |
| Charges for non maintenance of minimum monthly average balance (NMMAB) | Metro/Urban/Semi-Urban/Rural locations : |
| Rs. 100 + 5% of the shortfall in required MAB | |
| Gramin locations : 5% of the shortfall in required MAB |
(As mentioned on ICICI Bank's official website)
Punjab National Bank (PNB):
PNB requires customers with accounts in metro and urban branches to maintain a MAB of Rs 2,000. The monthly average required in semi-urban and rural locations is Rs 2,000 and Rs 1,000 respectively, according to the bank's website - pnbindia.in.
Customers failing to meet the MAB requirements have to bear the following penalty charges:
| Minimum quarterly average balance (QAB) and charges for not maintaining of QAB | ||
|---|---|---|
| Area Of Branch | Minimum Quarterly Average Balance | Incidental Charges |
| Rural | Rs 1000 | From Rs. 25 to 250 as per location, category and deficit in QAB as per brackets in Rs 100s |
| Semi- Urban | Rs 2000 | |
| Urban | Rs 2000 | |
| Metropolitan | Rs 2000 | |
(As mentioned on PNBs official website)
Axis Bank:
Axis Bank requires customers to maintain a MAB of Rs 10,000, according to the bank's website - axisbank.com
Customers failing to meet the MAB requirements have to bear the following penalty charges:
| Monthly Average Balance | Rs 10,000 |
|---|---|
| If Monthly Average Balance is not maintained | Rs. 10 per Rs.100 of the shortfall from Average Monthly Balance Requirement or Rs 500, (plus GST) whichever is lower with a minimum charge of Rs 100 |
However, there are certain accounts where AMB rules are not applicable. These accounts are called as zero balance savings accounts.
-
Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era | Unhedged Position
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
-
Navigating Energy Crossroads: S Jaishankar's Call For Diversified Supply Chains At G20 Ministerial Meeting
As geopolitical fault lines continue to test maritime trade routes and commodity flows, Jaishankar's message remains pertinent: true economic resilience requires open markets, protected transit lines, and a genuine commitment to multilateral cooperation rather than coercion.
-
Indians Are Travelling, But Not Every Journey Is A Holiday | The Week In Whys
Pilgrims, patients and working women are the real travellers, and the system hasn't quite caught up with them.
-
Getting To Work Costs Women More | The Reason Why
It is not just about women paying more than men. It is about women paying much more in cities than in villages.
-
AI Bias In Investing Cannot Be Eliminated, But It Can Be Governed
Framing is a particularly important example as identical financial information presented in terms of gains rather than losses can lead an LLM to reach a different assessment.
-
Joining The Dots | Dark Skies, Steady Diya: Why Hope Holds This Diwali
With war, a weak rupee and foreign outflows weighing on sentiment, policymakers at the NDTV World Summit and market veterans at NDTV Profit Ignite: Diwali Edition offered the same advice: stay invested and filter out the noise.
-
The Curious Case of Equitas Small Finance Bank And A CEO Who Quit For Stock
PN Vasudevan believes persistent investor concerns over a perceived conflict of interest had become a governance overhang on Equitas Small Finance Bank's stock, even as the lender improved profitability and asset quality.
