Letters: State Bank of India's minimum balance penalty is an unfair move

It is not a matter of pride to SBI to earn Rs 17.72 billion by way of penalty

This is with reference to State Bank of India increasing its maintenance of monthly average balance (MAB) to Rs 5,000 for branches in six metros, Rs 3,000 for urban, Rs 2,000 for semi-urban and Rs 1,000 for rural branches from April 1, 2017. Non-maintenance of MAB invited heavy penalty. Consequent to large-scale protests and appeals by the public, requirement of MABs and penalty charges were marginally reduced from October 2017. The bank defended the rise in MAB limit and penalty to compensate the cost of maintaining the Prime Minister’s Jan Dhan Yojana accounts. Now, the SBI has come out with