RBI fines Yes Bank over ‘zero a/c balance’ charges

RBI has imposed penalties on ICICI Bank and Yes Bank of Rs 1 crore and Rs.91 lakh, respectively, for violation of norms. Yes Bank violated RBI norms by imposing charges on bank accounts where the balance had run down to zero. It had also opened and operated internal accounts in customers’ names for unauthorised purposes such as parking funds and routing transactions.

RBI norms prescribe that customers can be charged for banking services only if they have a balance in their accounts.

If the balance in an account falls to zero, the bank is required to suspend its services. The 2014 guidelines say that banks must ensure that the balance in the savings account does not turn negative solely on account of levy of charges for non-maintenance of minimum balance.

The penalty on ICICI Bank is for irregularities in sanction of a project loan. Both banks’ violations were detected following a statutory inspection of their books during RBI’s supervisory evaluation for FY22.

RBI found that ICICI Bank sanctioned term loans to entities to replace budgetary resources for certain projects. The bank had approved the loans without due diligence on the projects’ viability and bankability. It also allowed repayment/servicing of loans from budgetary resources. The loans were approved without ensuring they were for specific, monitorable projects.