Banking service is going to be expensive for customers from the new year. From January 1, you will have to pay a higher fee for withdrawing money from ATMs. In June itself, the Reserve Bank had allowed banks to increase the fee after the free limit, which will be effective from the new year.
According to the RBI, every bank sets a free limit every month for cash and other financial services to its customers. Banks charge a fee for using the service more than this.
The Reserve Bank had said that banks are allowed to increase ATM withdrawal charges due to higher interchange charges and cost escalation. Now more charges will have to be paid on withdrawal of money from other public and private banks including Axis, HDFC.
Eight free transactions per month
Banks currently offer eight free transactions per month to customers. This includes both financial and non-financial transactions. Every month five free transactions are available from the ATM of the bank where the customer has an account. Apart from this, one can also do three free transactions from ATMs of other banks in metro cities and five from other bank ATMs in non-metro cities. At present, ATM charges Rs 20 per withdrawal, which will be increased to Rs 21 from January 1. GST will also have to be paid on this in the form of service tax.
Increased interchange fee applicable from August
The Reserve Bank has implemented the increased rates of interchange fee on ATMs between banks from August itself. Banks now have to pay Rs 17 per transaction instead of Rs 15 for interchange fee. This fee is applicable on all financial transactions, while the interchange fee for non-financial transactions has gone up to Rs 6, from Rs 5 earlier.
Interchange fee means that a bank allows its customer to use the ATM of another bank, for which he has to pay a fee to the bank with the concerned ATM. Banks reimburse this fee from their customers only.
Maruti will increase the price again next month, for the fourth time in a year
Under the pressure of rising cost of production, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) is going to increase the prices of vehicles again from January. This will be the company’s fourth hike in a year.
Maruti’s senior executive director Shashank Srivastava said on Thursday that the prices of all commodities including steel, aluminum, copper, plastic are increasing continuously. Their cost in making a vehicle is 75-80%. In April-May, the price of steel was Rs 38 per kg, which has now reached Rs 77.
Aluminum was also selling at $2,700-2,800 per tonne from $1,700-1,800 per tonne. To reduce this cost pressure, we will have to raise prices once again. Earlier, prices were raised by 1.4 per cent in January, 1.6 per cent in April and 1.9 per cent in September.
Audi is also three percent expensive
German luxury carmaker Audi said on Thursday that it will increase the prices of all models by three per cent from January. Audi India Head Balbir Singh Dhillon said that commodity prices are rising in the global market, which is putting pressure on our cost of production. So we are compelled to increase the prices even without wanting to.
Post office bank rules changed
Cash deposit in Basic Savings Account is free and no charge is levied on it. No change has been made in this rule. If you withdraw money from any other savings account and current account other than the basic savings account, then up to Rs 25,000 per month is free. But after that 0.50 percent per transaction or minimum 25 rupees per transaction may have to be charged. The rules regarding cash deposits have also been changed. If you deposit cash in a savings or current account other than the basic savings account, then it is free up to Rs 10,000 per month. But on depositing more than that, 0.50 percent or minimum 25 rupees will have to be paid per transaction.
ICICI Bank increased the charge
Talking about private banks, ICICI Bank has also announced to increase the service charge. Its new rule on savings accounts will be applicable from January 1, 2022. The bank has also said that from January 1, ATM transaction charges will also be affected. After change in ATM transaction charge, first 5 transactions in a month will be free of cost; Thereafter, Rs 21 will be charged per financial transaction. A separate charge will be levied after 5 free transactions. After the change in rules, Rs 21 per financial transaction and Rs 8.50 per non-financial transaction will be charged as ATM transaction fee.
HDFC and Axis Bank also changed the rules
HDFC Bank customers get the facility to do 5 transactions in a month for free. This rule is for all cities. The first 3 transactions per month (Financial + Non-Financial) done at ATMs of Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad are free. According to HDFC Bank, there will be a charge on transactions above the free limit. After crossing the limit, Rs 21 plus tax will have to be paid per financial transaction. In case of non-financial transactions (such as balance check, statement withdrawal etc.), then an additional Rs 8.5 will have to be paid at ATMs of banks other than HDFC Bank. This rule is effective from 1 January 2022.
Axis Bank has also implemented almost the same rule. In addition to the free limit, you have to pay Rs 20 plus tax for withdrawing money from Axis Bank ATMs. On the same non-financial transaction, this fee is Rs 10. There will be no change in the charges for non-financial transactions, but if financial transactions exceed the 5 free limit, then Rs 21 plus tax will be paid per transaction. The new rule of Axis Bank will also be applicable from January 1, 2022.
