SBI yet to give bank Rs. 164 crore of digital fees to Jan Dhan A/Cs’

State Bank of India (SBI) is yet to return Rs 164 crore of undue fee charged from the account holders of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) towards digital payments during April 2017 and December 2019, a report said.

“On directions from the government, SBI has returned just about Rs 90 crore, thereby withholding the bigger chunk of at least Rs 164 crore with itself,” said the report prepared by IIT-Mumbai.

It said that during April 2017 to September 2020, SBI had collected over Rs 254 crore towards at least 14 crore UPI/ RuPay transactions by charging Rs 17.70 per transactions on BSBDA (Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account) customers under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY).

Queries sent to the country’s largest lender on return of charges levied on debit transactions done by such account holders during the said period of 33 months did not elicit any response.

Since June 1, 2017, unlike any other bank in India, the report said, SBI charged Rs 17.70 for every debit transaction beyond four a month.

Debit transaction means any withdrawal transaction that includes cash withdrawal, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT), Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) pre-authorised standing instruction, cheque, etc.

This has adversely impacted the BSBDA customers of SBI who, on the call of the government and RBI, embraced digital means of financial transactions.