Why you should always check your bank balance statement

If you have a savings/ current account with a bank you’re often required to maintain a minimum balance and here’s why you need to be watchful about your balance:

What happens:

Suppose you have a bank account in wihch you need to maintain a minimum balance. One day you realise Rs 26, 932 is missing for your account and you call the bank.It turns out that the minimum balance had been increased but you were never informed about it.

You’re informed that since you’ve not maintained the minimum balance, they have deducted the amount as a penalty.

True story:

It turns out there’s an RBI document that documents this incident when it took place.

The customer, in that case, after attempting to reason with the bankapproached the banking ombudsman (BO).

The bank agreed to refund Rs 24, 390, and did so, but refused to refund Rs 2,542, as it was deducted as service tax and was already credited to the government account.

The BO had a discussion with the bank’s nodal office and asked them to refund the service tax amount.

The RBI document says: “There was deficiency on the part of bank as it had not informed the complainant that his monthly average balance requirement had been increased."

Lessons :

While this case pertained to a current account, it doesn’t mean it can’t happen in the case of a savings bank account which requires a minimum balance.

So ensure you read your bank’s monthly account statement carefully and watch out for any discrepancies. If you don’t track your account regularly, there is a good possibility that any deductions or penalties could easily go unnoticed.

Bottom line: Always track and monitor your account, you never know when your bank might change a parameter that affects you.