'In Full Compliance...': SBI On Claims Of Unpaid Refunds To Jan Dhan Account Holders

"Bank is in full compliance with the Government and regulatory directives in this regard," State Bank of India said in a statement

New Delhi: In response to the report that the State Bank of India (SBI) is yet to return Rs 164 crore of the undue fee charged from the account holders of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) towards digital payments, the bank issued a clarification on Tuesday.

"There has been a news article that SBI is not refunding charges recovered from the customers on digital transactions. We confirm that Bank is in full compliance with the government and regulatory directives in this regard," SBI said in a statement.

“We reiterate that BSBD customers do not pay any charges for digital transactions including transactions using Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and RuPay debit cards," the bank said in a statement issued on Tuesday, according to news agency ANI.

 “SBI has been at the forefront of the Financial Inclusion (FI) initiative of the Government of India with a FI customer base of 13.76 crores. The services to these customers are provided by a strong network of 70,193 Bank Mitras. In the Bank Mitra or Business Correspondent channel, banking and micro-insurance services are provided to the customers in an assisted mode in rural and semi-urban areas," it said.

“SBI has made all digital transactions free to the FI customers w.e.f. 01.01.2020. Further, up to four cash withdrawals in a month are free. Fully free digital transactions and four free cash withdrawals are enabling these customers to meet all their banking requirements," the statement read.

The bank has responded to a report prepared by IIT-Mumbai over the undue fee charged from the account holders of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. 

"On directions from the government, SBI has returned just about Rs 90 crore, thereby withholding the bigger chunk of at least Rs164 crore with itself," said the report prepared by IIT-Mumbai, quoted in publication Mint.

The IIT-Mumbai report said that from April 2017 to September 2020, SBI had collected over Rs 254 crore towards at least 14 crore UPI/ RuPay transactions by charging Rs 17.70 per transaction on BSBDA (Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account) customers under PMJDY.

Since June 1, 2017, unlike any other bank in India, the report said, SBI charged Rs 17.70 for every debit transaction beyond four a month.