SBI decision to hike minimum balance raises the hackles of Opposition

The Opposition in the Rajya Sabha questioned State Bank of India’s decision to increase the minimum account balance to be maintained by account-holders and the move to charge depositors if it is not maintained.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour on Monday, CPI(M) MP KK Ragesh said SBI was penalising the poor for opening accounts after prodding by the government.

Ragesh urged the Centre to intervene in the matter and asked SBI to reverse its decision. He said other banks may follow SBI unless the Finance Ministry corrects the bank, and added that the decision to resolve the “deep crisis” faced by banks was at the “expense of the poor”.

The MP said the move to impose penalty for not maintaining minimum balance, which was “increased from ₹500 to ₹5,000”, will impact around 31 crore depositors.

“SBI being the largest bank in the country, other banks would also impose such charges and that would affect depositors. This is not going to affect the rich... The poor have opened accounts, they are doing digital transactions after the government said so. You are penalising them for obeying the government,” he said.

Citing the non-performing assets of banks, Ragesh said public sector banks were in “deep crisis”. “The crisis is mainly due to corporate lending. This is responsible for NPAs,” he said, asking what the banks and other authorities did to reclaim it.

“You are not acting against corporates. You are actually waiving their loans. You are trying to resolve the crisis at the expense of the poor,” he said.

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