The country’s largest bank State Bank of India has reduced charges by nearly 75 percent for non-maintenance of average monthly balance (AMB) in the savings account.

The new slab of charges will be applicable from 1 April 2018.

The charges for AMB non-maintenance in metro and urban centers have been reduced from Rs 50 per month plus GST to Rs 15 per month plus GST. For semi-urban and rural centers, the charges have been reduced from Rs 40 per month plus GST to Rs 12 and Rs 10 per month plus GST, respectively.

“We have reduced these charges taking into account the feedbacks and sentiments of our customers. The bank has always focused on keeping the interest of its customers first and this is one of our many efforts towards fulfilling customer expectations,” said P K Gupta, MD, Retail and Digital Banking, SBI.

The Bank also offers its customers the option of shifting from regular savings bank accounts to the Basic Savings Bank Deposit (BSBD) accounts on which no charges are levied, said Gupta.

This decision comes after the bank was criticized for earning an income of Rs 1,771 crore through AMB penalties in just eight months. This amount was more than SBI's July-September quarter net profit of Rs 1,581.55 crore.

SBI has 41 crore savings bank account holders, of which 16 crore accounts are under Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana, BSBD, pensioners, minors and social security beneficiaries, who are already exempted from AMB charges. In addition, students up to the age of 21 years are also exempted.

The revised AMB rates will benefit 25 crore customers, claims the bank.

Charges for non-maintenance of AMB across categories