According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, banks do not have any Minimum Balance requirement for Basic Savings Bank Deposit accounts (BSBD), including accounts opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY).  As on March 2019, there were 57.3 crore BSBD accounts across the country, including 35.27 crore Jan-Dhan accounts.  Hence, for these accounts there are no charges for not maintaining minimum balance. BSBD accounts provide certain basic minimum facilities free of charge.

For accounts other than BSBD accounts, as per RBI’s Master Circular on “Customer Service in Banks” dated July 1, 2015, banks are permitted to fix service charges on various services rendered by them, as per their Board approved policy, while ensuring that the charges are reasonable and not out of line with the average cost of providing these services.

As apprised by eighteen Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and four major private sector banks, the amount collected through the levy of charges for non-maintenance of minimum balance in Savings Bank account, during the last three financial years, are as under: 

Year	Major four Private Sector Banks (Amount in Rs. crore)	All eighteen Public Sector Banks (Amount in Rs. crore)
2016-17	1115.44	790.22
2017-18	1138.42	3368.42
2018-19	1312.98	1996.46

The reduction in the amount collected through levy of charges by PSBs, inter-alia, include reduction in charges for non-maintenance of minimum balance by State Bank of India, with effect from 1.10.2017.

This was stated by Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

No minimum balance for basic savings accounts; banks may charge non BSBD savings per Board approved service charge policy. Banks must not charge minimum balance penalties on Basic Savings Bank Deposit (BSBD) accounts, which are entitled to certain free basic facilities. For other savings accounts, banks may impose service charges for non maintenance of minimum balance under their Board approved policy and the customer service master circular. Reported collections from such penalties by selected public and private banks are presented for recent financial years, with noted reductions partly due to fee changes by a major bank.