Transaction charge only for State Bank Buddy, says SBI

A reported move by the State Bank of India (SBI) to charge Rs 25 for every transaction made through the bank’s ATMs triggered protests in Kerala on Thursday, before the bank clarified that the revision in service charges was applicable only to customers of State Bank Buddy, the bank’s mobile wallet service.

Malayalam news channels, quoting a circular posted on the bank’s website, said with revision of service charges coming into effect on June 1, ATM withdrawals would be charged Rs 25 each. Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac called the revision absurd and equated the move to measures taken up by private banks. Even as confusion prevailed on the revision, protests were staged near SBI branches in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi.
By evening, the bank posted a fresh circular on its website, specifically mentioning that the Rs 25-per-transaction service charge was applicable only to State Bank Buddy customers.
“The transaction is cash withdrawal from State Bank Buddy using ATM. Rs 25 per transaction is charged for withdrawing from State Bank Buddy through ATMs.  Charges are applicable only for State Bank Buddy using ATM,” clarified an SBI spokesperson.
He also added that the limit of four ATM withdrawals in a month only applies to the Basic Savings Banks deposit account. “All normal saving bank accounts will continue to get eight free ATM transactions (five SBI ATMs and three from other bank ATMs) in metros and 10 free transactions in non-metros (five SBI ATM and five other bank ATMs) free apart from the bank transaction,” he added.
The bank said four withdrawals in a month including ATM withdrawals would be free for customers with Basic Savings Bank Deposit accounts. After the fourth withdrawal, the service charge will be Rs 50 plus service tax per transaction at the branch, Rs 20 plus service tax per transaction at other banks’ ATMs and Rs 10 plus service tax per transaction at SBI ATMs.