Punjab National Bank, in response to an application filed under the Right to Information Act (RTI), 2005, informed that India’s second largest PSU lender has collected around Rs 268 crore as ATM transaction charges and annual maintenance fee on debit cards during 2019-20 fiscal.
The RTI was filed by Madhya Pradesh-based RTI activist Chandra Shekhar Gaur.
The bank in its reply said that it collected Rs 152.88 crore from customers by levying annual maintenance charges (AMC) on debit cards. An amount of Rs 115.21 crore was garnered by way of levying a fee on ATM transactions, the bank added.
In response to a query about the AMC on debit cards, New Delhi-based PNB said, “AMC for Punjab National Bank is Rs 150 per year plus taxes (for classic, platinum and international debit cards). AMC for Kisan Credit Cards, Mudra, PMJDY and cards issued under other government schemes is nil.”
To a query about the amount that was collected in 2019-20 from customers for not maintaining minimum average balance, the lender said that there is no provision for charging penalty on the non-maintenance monthly average balance in PNB.
However, the bank denied any information on the positions vacant and how many positions were sanctioned as on April-end 2020.
“The information sought is not specific which does not come under the definition of ‘information’ as provided u/s 2 (f) of RTI Act, 2005,” PNB said.