As per new reports, people with a post office savings account will need to maintain a minimum balance in their accounts. If this minimum balance is not maintained, the account holders will have to pay extra maintenance charges.
Read on to find out all the details!
Post Office Savings Account Holders Will Be Required To Maintain Minimum Balance
Post Office Savings Account holders will have to maintain the minimum balance in their accounts so as to avoid paying any extra maintenance charges. The minimum balance for these accounts is Rs. 500. This new rule will be effective from December 11, 2020.
The tweet by the India Post office account says, “Now maintaining minimum balance in Post Office Savings Account is mandatory.”
They have also sent out a message regarding the same, “Maintain minimum balance of Rs 500 in your post office savings account by 11.12.2020 to avoid maintenance charge.”
As of now, the interest rate that is offered on an individual or joint Post Office Savings Account is 4 per cent. This interest is calculated on the basis of the minimum balance between the 10th of the month and the end of the month.
Also, no interest is allowed in the month if the account balance is less than Rs 500 between the 10th and the last day of the month.
Rs. 100 Will be Deducted For Not Maintaining The Minimum Balance
As per the official website of the India Post Office, if any savings account holder is unable to maintain the minimum balance of Rs. 500 at the end of the financial year, Rs. 100 will be deducted from their account as account maintenance fees.
Additionally, if the account balance becomes nil, the account will be closed automatically.
In August 2020, it was reported that the India Post office will be merged with regional rural banks or RRBs, and thereby created India’s 2nd biggest bank after SBI. They will become part of a holding company, which will be controlled by Govt.
As per reports, India Post reported losses of more than Rs 18000 crore last year, while rural regional banks incurred losses of Rs 2.8 lakh crore.