RBI New Circular: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a circular. In this circular the bank has explained about a new rule. According to this rule, banks can no longer impose any further penalty on minimum balance maintenance. This rule includes all those bank accounts which have not been active for the last 2 years.
This rule will be applicable from the next financial year 2024-25. This means that this rule will come into effect from April this year.
What is included in the new rules of RBI
Banks cannot classify accounts opened for scholarship or direct benefit transfer as in-active. Even if this account is not active for more than two years, it will not be deactivated.
The Central Bank has given instructions to the bank regarding in-active accounts. Following the instructions given in the RBI circular, the unclaimed deposits in the banking system will reduce and this amount will reach the rightful claimant.
For this, banks should contact these claimants. He can contact through SMS, mail or letter. In this, the bank will inform the customer or account holder that his account is in-active.
There will be no charge for activating the account
If any bank holder wants to restart his inactive account, he can easily get it activated. No active charge will have to be paid for this.
According to a single report released by RBI, there was an increase of 28 percent in unclaimed deposits last year till March 2023. The bank had said that there are approximately Rs 42,272 crore unclaimed deposits.
No one has made any claim on these unclaimed deposits for 10 years. All banks will transfer the amount of this deposit to the Depositor and Education Awareness Fund of RBI.
