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Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said that minimum account balance rules do not apply to PM Jan Dhan and basic saving accounts.

“Minimum account balance rule does not apply to PM Jan Dhan accounts and basic savings accounts. It applies only to those bank accounts where customers are required to maintain a certain minimum balance in their accounts,” the Finance Minister said in response to a question in Rajya Sabha on the penalty of Rs 8,500 crore collected by public sector banks in the last five years for non-maintenance of minimum balance in bank accounts by customers.

The government banks that charged fines for not maintaining minimum balance include Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Punjab and Sind Bank, Union Bank of India Bank, UCO Bank, Indian Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and Central Bank of India.

Minister of State (MoS) for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary had told the Lok Sabha last month that public sector banks have collected a fine of Rs 2,331 crore in FY24 for not maintaining minimum balance. 

“This amount was 25 per cent more than the amount from last year,” the MoS said.

In the financial year 2023-24, a penalty of Rs 633 crore was collected by Punjab National Bank, Rs 386 crore by Bank of Baroda and Rs 369 crore by Indian Bank for non-maintenance of minimum balance.