SBI to charge customers Rs 60 per year for SMS alerts
State Bank of India (SBI) customers will
have to pay Rs 60 per year for getting SMS alerts, a move which is likely to be
followed by other public sector lenders.
"With effect from quarter ending June
2013, SMS charges of Rs 15 inclusive of service tax per quarter will be
recovered," SBI said in an announcement. The country's largest bank, which
has about 18.5 crore customers, did not specify whether the charges are for
special alerts only or even debit or credit card transaction alerts sent as per
regulatory guidelines will also come under this.
Private sector banks ICICI and HDFC are
already charging Rs 60 per year, excluding service tax, for sending special
SMSes other than withdrawal and deposit alerts to its customers.
At present, service tax rate is 12 per cent
and education cess is 3 per cent of the service tax amount. Kotak Mahindra Bank
charges Rs 25 per quarter for SMS alerts and updates.
SBI's fee income during the fourth quarter
of 2012-13 declined by 8.13 per cent to Rs 3,873 crore as compared to Rs 4,216
crore in the corresponding quarter. On an annual basis, the fee income fell by
5.02 per cent to Rs 11,484 crore as against Rs 12,091 crore in 2011-12.
Last month, Canara Bank announced a levy of
about Rs 112 as annual fee on its ATM debit cards from July 1.
The bank, which currently issues the cards
free of cost, said in a circular that a need has been felt to offer the
services at competitive rates in tune with "market trends".
"It has been decided to charge a
nominal fee of Rs 100 per card plus applicable service tax on completion of one
year from the date of issue/renewal of the card and thereafter to be charged
yearly," it said.
Several other banks, including SBI, also
charge an annual fee in the same range.
Canara Bank further said the annual fee
will not apply to debit cards issued to customers with Canara Small Savings
Account, Basic Savings Bank Account and Financial Savings Bank Account.
0 comments:
Post a Comment