CPI general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy today urged Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to intervene immediately and make the banks not to fleece the common man and withdraw “anti-customer” decisions.
In letter to the Union Finance Minister on Thursday, the CPI leader stated the State Bank of India and other banks recently announced introducing new things about the use of ATMs by common people so as to discourage them for more usage of cash for day-to-day purchases for family’s requirements. He stated that the imposition of tax or fine after three plus withdrawals will make people to draw more cash for use and discourage banking, particularly small traders, housewives, students and others.
The CPI leader further stated that imposing fresh restrictions on the account-holders will undoubtedly discourage honest depositors to bear the so-imposed fines. The government formulated various schemes and made people in the rural and urban sectors to open accounts in banks like Jan-Dhan Yojana and State Bank of India was ingenuously introducing decision to have minimum balance in Current or Savings Bank accounts of Rs 5,000 and Rs 2,000 respectively. Je added.
Sudhakar Reddy pointed out that the State Bank of India chief claimed that the new penalties are to cover the losses of Jan-Dhan Yojana accounts. “That is not banks initiative. That is the brainchild of Prime Minister and your government. Why the regular customers should be fined for the schemes introduced by the government? This is not fair”, he stated, adding that “We see the banks’ decision as an effort to safeguard and protect the corrupt and loan defaulters, big money bag holders like Vijay Mallya, Lalit Modi and so on and put heavy burden on the honest depositors. Let the banks first recover Rs 14 lakh crores bad loans to cover the losses”. (NSS)