16 JUL 2019

According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, banks do not have any Minimum Balance requirement for Basic Savings Bank Deposit accounts (BSBD), including accounts opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan DhanYojana (PMJDY). As on March 2019, there were 57.3 crore BSBD accounts across the country including 35.27 crore (61.6%) Jan-Dhan accounts. Hence, for these accounts there are no charges for not maintaining minimum balance. BSBD accounts are considered normal banking services available to all and it offers certain basic minimum facilities free of charge.

For accounts other than BSBD accounts, as per RBI’s Master Circular on “Customer Service in Banks” dated July 1, 2015, banks are permitted to fix service charges on various services rendered by them, as per their Board approved policy, while ensuring that the charges are reasonable and not out of line with the average cost of providing these services. Further, banks have been advised to identify basic services and the principles to be adopted/ followed by them for ensuring reasonableness in fixing such charges. Banks are also advised to take steps to ensure that customers are made aware of the service charges upfront and changes in the service charges are implemented only with the prior notice to the customers.

This was stated by Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

PIB

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RESERVE BANK OF INDIA

RBI/2018-19/150
DBR.No.Leg.BC.30/09.07.005/2018-19

March 26, 2019

All Agency Banks

Dear Sir/ Madam

All Agency Banks to remain open for public on March 31, 2019 (Sunday)

The Government of India has advised that all Pay and Account Offices will remain open on March 31, 2019 (Sunday) to facilitate government receipt and payment transactions. Accordingly, all Agency Banks are advised to keep all their branches dealing with government business open on March 31, 2019 (Sunday).

Banks shall give due publicity about availability of above banking services on this day.

Yours faithfully
(Saurav Sinha)
Chief General Manager-in-Charge

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Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2018-19 (Series III) – Issue Price

02 NOV 2018

Government of India, in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India, Sovereign Gold Bonds 2018-19 (Series III) will be opened for the period November 05-09, 2018. The issue price of the Bond during this subscription period i.e. November 05-09, 2018, shall be Rs.3,183 (Rupees Three Thousand One Hundred Eighty Three only) – per gram with Settlement on November 13, 2018, as also published by RBI in their Press Release dated October 12, 2018.

Government of India in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India, has decided to allow discount of Rs.50 (Rupees Fifty) per gram from the issue price to those investors who apply online and the payment is made through digital mode. For such investors the issue price of Gold Bond will be Rs.3,133 (Rupees Three Thousand One Hundred Thirty Three only) per gram of gold.

PIB

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Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2018-19 (Series II) – Issue Price

12 OCT 2018

Government of India, in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India, Sovereign Gold Bonds 2018-19 (Series II) will be opened for the period October 15-19, 2018. The issue price of the Bond during this subscription period i.e. October 15-19, 2018, shall be Rs. 3,146 (Rupees Three Thousand One Hundred Forty Six only) – per gram with Settlement on October 23, 2018, as also published by RBI in their Press Release dated October 12, 2018.

Government of India in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India, has decided to allow discount of Rs.50 (Rupees Fifty) per gram from the issue price to those investors who apply online and the payment is made through digital mode. For such investors the issue price of Gold Bond will be Rs. 3,096 (Rupees Three Thousand Ninety  Six only) per gram of gold.

PIB

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“All agency banks should keep the counters of their designated branches conducting government banking open for government transactions up to 8.00 p.m. on March 31, 2018”

Annual Closing of Government Accounts – Transactions of Central / State Governments – Special Measures for the Current Financial Year (2017-18)

RBI/2017-18/144
DGBA.GBD.No.2388/42.01.029/2017-18

March 27, 2018

All agency banks

Dear Sir / Madam

Annual Closing of Government Accounts – Transactions of Central / State Governments – Special Measures for the Current Financial Year (2017-18)

The Government of India has desired that all government transactions with banks for Financial Year 2017-18 must be accounted for within the same financial year and has requested that, as in previous years, certain special arrangements be made for this purpose. Accordingly, all agency banks should keep the counters of their designated branches conducting government banking open for government transactions up to 8.00 p.m. on March 31, 2018. All electronic transactions, including RTGS and NEFT, will continue till midnight on March 31, 2018. Banks may give adequate publicity to the special arrangements made.

Yours faithfully

(Partha Choudhuri)
General Manager

Source: www.rbi.org.in

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Government of India, in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India, had floated Series III of Sovereign Gold Bonds 2017-18, for a period from October 09, 2017 to December 27, 2017 (with subscription period Monday to Wednesday every week). The Bonds will be issued on the succeeding Monday after each subscription period.

For the next subscription period i.e. December 18-20, 2017, the issue price shall be Rs.2,866 (Rupees Two Thousand Eight Hundred Sixty Six only) – per gram with Settlement on December 26, 2017, as also published by RBI in their Press Release dated December 15, 2017.

Government of India in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India, has decided to allow discount of Rs.50 (Rupees Fifty) per gram from the issue price to those investors who apply online and the payment is made through digital mode.

PIB

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The Government of India, in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), had floated Series III of Sovereign Gold Bonds 2017-18, for the period from October 09, 2017 to December 27, 2017 (with subscription period Monday to Wednesday every week). The Bonds will be issued on the succeeding Monday after each subscription period.

For the next subscription period i.e. October 23-25, 2017, the issue price shall be Rs. 2,971/ (Rupees Two thousand Nine hundred Seventy One only) – per gram with Settlement on October 30, 2017, as also published by RBI in their Press Release dated Oct.20, 2017.

The Government of India in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India, has decided to allow discount of Rs.50 (Rupees Fifty) per gram from the issue price to those investors who apply online and the payment is made through digital mode.

PIB

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is set to announce bi-monthly monetary policy review on Wednesday.

A lot of predictions have been done by the analysts and experts on whether the central bank should maintain a status quo or cut the interest rates.

In the last monthly policy, held on December 7, the central bank had kept key rates unchanged amid the then on-going demonetisation exercise, which had led the whole country in cash crisis. That time, the analysts were expecting a rate cut, but the RBI Governor Urjit Patel gave ‘surprise’ buy not reducing the rates.

A Reuters poll last week, conducted before the government presented its annual budget, showed 28 of 46 participants expected the RBI on Wednesday to cut the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.0%, its lowest since November 2010. Another two expected a 50 bps cut.

Here are the factors which will decide RBI’s decision

Inflation

Consumer Price Inflation fell to a two-year low of 3.41% in December, which is below the RBI’s end-March 2017 target of 5% and medium-term target of 4%.

The fall in inflation has given enough room for the RBI to cut the rates. Commenting on the expectation from the central bank, Rishi Mehra, Co-Founder and Director of Wishfin (earlier known as Deal4loans) said, “We are expecting a 25 basis points reduction in the key policy rate – the repo rate – to 6 % on February 8 when the Governor Urjit Patel will unveil his third policy review. Since the last RBI policy, the CPI inflation has been to the downside both in the month of November and December, giving possibilities of meeting the 5% March 2017 CPI target. Having said that, the RBI had made it quite clear that it will work towards the achievement of the consumer price index inflation.”

Having similar view, HSBC in its report said, “We hold on to our expectation of a 25 basis points rate cut in February, but caution that this would likely bring the easing cycle to an end, given the pressures in the horizon implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) bill, rising oil prices, implementation of government employees housing allowance, and the challenging 4% CPI target for the medium term.”

Moreover, Nomura in its report said, “On the monetary policy front, with the government sticking to fiscal consolidation and headline CPI likely to undershoot the RBI’s March 2017 target of 5%, we are pencilling in a final 25 bps repo rate cut to 6% on February 8.”

Raghu Kumar, Director, Upstox, said, “In our view, RBI is expected to cut repo rate by 0.25 per cent at its policy review on Wednesday. This rate cut would be supported by the modest CPI inflation, which is expected to undershoot the March 2017 target set by RBI and the continued fiscal consolidation attempted in the Union Budget for FY2018.”

Demonetisation

In the last policy meet, some experts were expecting RBI to look at the rate cut amid the demonetisation exercise to get a clear picture of the whole exercise.

Today, Bank of America Merill Lynch said to reverse the impact of the demonetisation drive to growth prospects, the Reserve Bank will cut rates tomorrow as well as in the April policy review.

“We continue to expect the RBI-MPC (monetary policy committee) to cut the rates by 0.25%t and in April with demonetisation hurting growth,” it said.

However, having the opposite view, Kavita Chacko, Senior Economist, said, “We do not expect a rate cut in this policy as the banks have already lowered interest rates following the inflow of deposits into the banking system following demonetisation.”

Fiscal Deficit

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during his Union Budget 2017 speech stated that the fiscal deficit aim for the next fiscal would be 3.2% instead of 3.%. Analysts believe that disinvestment targets is key if the government has to achieve this fiscal deficit target.

“The better than feared deficit target and commitment to fiscal consolidation will keep hopes of a RBI rate cut alive,” the Citigroup report said adding “the Budget reinforces our view of another 25 bps cut in repo rate”.

In the very beginning of the year, the banks had slashed its marginal cost of funds based lending rate in the range of 90 basis points – 75 basis points across all maturities.

The banks’ decision came in after they were flooded with liquidity post demonetisation. According to a Bloomberg report, this behaviour of banks has made it clear that they respond to liquidity triggers far more quickly than policy rate triggers.

So, for tomorrow like the analysts say it will be a “close call” for RBI on whether to hold the rates or reduce them.

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RBI Circular: No Limit for Cash Withdrawal from ATMs from February 1

Limits on Cash withdrawals from Bank accounts and ATMs – Restoration of status quo ante

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RBI/2016-17/145
DCM (Plg) No.1320/10.27.00/2016-17

November 21, 2016

The Chairman / Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer,
Public Sector Banks / Private Sector Banks/ Private Sector Banks/ Foreign Banks
Regional Rural Banks / Urban Co-operative Banks / State Co-operative Banks

Dear Sir,
Withdrawal of Legal Tender Character of existing Rs. 500/- and Rs. 1000/- Specified Bank Notes (SBNs) – Cash withdrawal for purpose of celebration of wedding

Please refer to our Circular No. DCM (Plg) No.1226/10.27.00/2016-17 dated November 08, 2016 on the captioned subject.

2. With a view to enable members of the public to perform and celebrate weddings of their wards it has been decided to allow higher limits of cash withdrawals from their bank deposit accounts to meet wedding related expenses. Yet, banks should encourage families to incur wedding expenses through non-cash means viz. cheques /drafts, credit/debit cards, prepaid cards, mobile transfers, internet banking channels, NEFT/RTGS, etc. Therefore, members of the public should be advised, while granting cash withdrawals, to use cash to meet expenses which have to be met only through cash mode. Cash withdrawals shall be subject to the following conditions:

i. A maximum of Rs.250000/- is allowed to be withdrawn from the bank deposit accounts till December 30, 2016 out of the balances at credit in the account as at close of business on November 08, 2016.

ii. Withdrawals are permitted only from accounts which are fully KYC compliant.

iii. The amounts can be withdrawn only if the date of marriage is on or before December 30, 2016.

iv. Withdrawals can be made by either of the parents or the person getting married. (Only one of them will be permitted to withdraw).

v. Since the amount proposed to be withdrawn is meant to be used for cash disbursements, it has to be established that the persons for whom the payment is proposed to be made do not have a bank account.

vi. The application for withdrawal shall be accompanied by following documents:

• An application as per Annex
• Evidence of the wedding, including the invitation card, copies of receipts for advance payments already made, such as Marriage hall booking, advance payments to caterers, etc.
• A detailed list of persons to whom the cash withdrawn is proposed to be paid, together with a declaration from such persons that they do not have a bank account. The list should indicate the purpose for which the proposed payments are being made

3. Banks shall keep a proper record of the evidence and produce them for verification by the authorities in case of need. The scheme will be reviewed based on authenticity/ bona fide use thereof.

Yours faithfully,
(P Vijaya Kumar)
Chief General Manager

Encl: As above

Authority: www.rbi.org.in
Click to view and download the Application Form

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