“On the instructions of the government, SBI has returned about Rs 90 crore, thereby retaining a substantial part of at least Rs 164 crore,” said the report prepared by. IIT-Mumbai,
It said that during April 2017 to September 2020, SBI charged Rs 17.70 per transaction to BSBDA (Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account) customers under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana for at least 14 crore UPI/RuPay transactions by charging Rs 254 crore. Had collected Rs. PMJDY).
Queries to the country’s largest lender on refund of charges levied on debit transactions done by such account holders during the said period of 33 months did not elicit any response.
From June 1, 2017, unlike any other bank in India, the report said, SBI charged Rs 17.70 for more than four debit transactions every month.
Debit transaction means any withdrawal transaction involving cash withdrawal, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT), Real-time Gross Settlement (RTGS) pre-authorized standing instructions, Checks are included. ,
This has had an adverse impact on SBI’s BSBDA customers, who switched to digital means of financial transactions at the call of the government and RBI.
“Due to this attitude of SBI and after RBI remained unrestricted, in mid-August 2020, the Finance Ministry was approached to address the concern.
“The Ministry was prompt in its actions and by the end of August 2020, the CBDT advised SBI to refund the fees collected on transactions done using the prescribed digital payment mode from January 1, 2020,” it said.
On August 30, 2020, The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) advised banks to refund the fee collected from January 1, 2020 on transactions done using prescribed digital payment modes, including UPI and RuPay debit cards. including, and not levying charges on future transactions made through such methods.
The report prepared by Professor of Statistics Ashish Das said that in pursuance of the CBDT directive, by February 17, 2021, SBI introduced refund of Rs 17.70 to BSBDA customers for UPI and RuPay debit card digital transactions.
The levy of charge on BSBDA is guided by RBI guidelines dated September 2013. As per the directive, these account holders are allowed ‘more than four withdrawals’ in a month at the discretion of the bank, provided the bank does not charge any fee for the same.