State Bank of India has new rules of minimum account balance (MAB) of Rs. 5000 in metro cities. SBI claims to be the bank of all Indians and yet it fails to acknowledge the reality of this country. It is astonishing that in 21st century a small amount of 5000 still seems like a fortune for most of country’s population. This move by SBI can only be seen as a punishment to the common people. There are other rules as well which will have adverse effects on small and medium traders or businesses. These rules are only three cash transactions per month, only three free withdrawals from ATMs per month, fine if account balance falls below the MAB etc. Reportedly, SBI has around Rs. 93,000 crores worth of NPAs. The bank and the government is not going after big corporate houses and industrialists to recover their NPAs. But they have no trouble penalising common people for not earning enough to maintain minimum account balance.
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