The decision to levy a minimum of Rs 150 for deposits and withdrawals after four transactions in a month by three major private players—HDFC, ICICI and Axis banks—has received mixed reactions from the common man. The fee is aimed to discourage cash transactions and is widely seen as a move to boost Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s digital payment drive. The charges, which would be applicable on saving and salary accounts, have come into effect starting March 1.
Notedly, the banks had removed the cap on transactions after Prime Minister Narendra Modi scrapped the high-value notes from the economy. InUth talked to a few people outside private banks and they seemed to be pretty unhappy with their decision.
Sharnik, a techie at a leading software company, was critical of the move. “We need cash and charging money after four transactions is not right”. Questioning the move, he further said, “Why these three banks are levying transaction fees when others don’t?”
“We have already been through too much (demonetisation), why are they imposing transaction fees on us. We do visit banks for deposits and withdrawals, said a customer of HDFC bank at Noida Sector 16,” he added.
Meanwhile, Bharat, an employee at a private bank hailed the imposition of the transaction fee. He said, “We often see people coming more than one time for cash deposits with small amounts but one can easily deposit cash in one go, at least in a month. So if we take bank’s perspective into account, I think it is a good move.”
