No Minimum Balance Required for Jan Dhan and Basic Savings Accounts: Finance Minister

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that no minimum balance is required for Jan Dhan and basic savings accounts. Public sector banks collected Rs 8,500 crore in penalties for minimum balance violations over five years. Only specific accounts outside these categories are subject to penalties.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Tuesday that there is no requirement to maintain a minimum balance in Jan Dhan and basic savings accounts. These statements came as she addressed the Rajya Sabha during Question Hour.

Responding to queries, Sitharaman clarified that penalties imposed by banks for not maintaining a requisite amount in accounts do not apply to these categories. Instead, the penalties are levied only on customers whose account types expect a certain minimum balance.

A written reply revealed that public sector banks collected approximately Rs 8,500 crore in penalties over five years starting from FY 2019-20. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary also reported that state-owned banks imposed Rs 2,331 crore in penalties during FY24 alone for average monthly minimum balance violations.

(With inputs from agencies.)