Kakinada: A resentment is building up in the general people against the transaction fees being collected by banks such as State Bank of India (SBI). Some account holders have even terminated their accounts with those banks.
The general opinion is that, since the government is encouraging digital transactions, people should not be punished for cash transactions. They also said that it is not right to insist on minimum balance of Rs 5,000.
The BJP state council member Duvvuri Subrahmanyam terminated his account from SBI in protest against the bank’s move to levy charges on withdrawals and even on deposits beyond permitted number as well as banks’ move to impose fine on zero balance accounts.
He surrendered his Saving Bank’s pass book, ATM card, and cheque book to the bank officials here. He wrote a letter to the chairperson of SBI in this matter. “Levying of such penalty like charges distances common man from banking against will and wish of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi who, of late, has taken some initiative to take banking to common man by launching schemes such as ‘Jandhan’. For nationalised banks, priority should be on service rather than on commercial aspects. Putting the very purpose and objective of nationalisation at stake is unacceptable and regrettable,”Mr Subrahmanyam said.
He appealed to the SBI to back out from its unjust decisions before mass withdrawals of cash from banks and cancellations of accounts start as a movement. He said common sense and wisdom should prevail over senselessness and foolishness.
The Kakinada Rate Payers Association President YD Ramarao said that levy charges on minimum deposits in savings bank accounts should not be accepted as common man would suffer.
Meanwhile, there is a strong protest in social media in different ways. They appealed to people to withdraw their amounts from their bank accounts before March 31. As the bankers are showing more deposits for their performance. Withdrawal of entire money from the bank accounts is a fitting reply to the banks who want to levy charges on deposits and withdrawals, they said.
