A civil society forum has urged the Indian government to intervene in ICICI Bank’s decision to sharply raise minimum average balance (MAB) requirements for new savings accounts, calling the move “unjust and regressive.”
In a letter to the finance secretary, the Bank Bachao Desh Bachao Manch said the private lender’s decision was detrimental to the government’s vision of inclusive banking and growth. Effective Aug. 1, the bank increased the MAB for new savings accounts by five times to 50,000 rupees in metro and urban areas, from 10,000 rupees earlier, according to its website. MAB in semi-urban branches was raised to 25,000 rupees from 5,000, and in rural branches to 10,000 rupees from 2,000.
“This retrograde decision undermines the principle of inclusive banking,” forum conveners Biswaranjan Ray and Soumya Datta said in the letter, calling for an immediate withdrawal of the policy.
Public sector banks typically maintain lower minimum balance thresholds and have waived them entirely for Jan Dhan accounts, a government-backed financial inclusion programme. Several state-owned banks have removed penalties for customers failing to maintain minimum balances. ICICI Bank did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
