There is an important update for crores of customers of State Bank of India (SBI). If you transact money through mobile banking or internet banking, then now you may have to loosen your purse strings a little. The country’s largest government bank has changed the rules for transferring money through Immediate Payment Service i.e. IMPS. According to the information released by the bank, the revised IMPS charges will become effective from February 15.
Now additional fee will have to be paid for transferring more than Rs 25 thousand
Till now SBI customers were either availing the benefit of IMPS service for free or they had to pay a very nominal fee for it. But under the new system, now customers will have to pay extra charges for sending amounts of more than Rs 25,000. The bank has clarified that this change has been made in view of maintaining the quality of service and increasing operating costs. However, it is a matter of relief that there has been no significant increase in the fee for sending small amounts up to Rs 25,000, which will reduce the burden on customers doing small transactions.
Fixed charge and GST will be levied on transactions between Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh.
According to the revised rules, the fee slab will also increase as the transaction amount increases. If a customer transfers an amount ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 1 lakh, he will have to pay a fixed additional fee. However, if the amount to be transferred is between Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh, then this fee will be higher. In case of large transactions, the bank will also levy Goods and Services Tax (GST) along with the fixed charge. Therefore, now while sending large amounts, customers should calculate in advance the total amount to be deducted from the account.
The decision was taken due to the technical infrastructure and cost of real-time fund transfer.
The bank has cited technical reasons behind this increase in fees. IMPS is a real-time fund transfer system, through which money is transferred from one account to another instantly. The bank has to bear huge expenses to run this system smoothly 24 hours, maintain its technical maintenance and strong security framework. With the aim of managing this cost, the bank has made this amendment in the charges.
Merchants and customers who send money multiple times a day will be most affected.
The direct impact of this decision will be seen on those customers who use IMPS very frequently. Especially those traders or business people who transfer large amounts of money several times a day to pay their vendors will now have to spend extra money on every transaction. This change may prove to be a bit costly for those doing commercial transactions as compared to normal savings account holders.
Customers can use NEFT and UPI to avoid extra charges
Banking experts believe that if customers want to avoid increased charges, they also have other options. Customers can use NEFT for money transactions, which is now available 24×7 and with no or very low charges. Additionally, UPI is the best option for small amounts as there are currently no charges on it. The bank has also advised customers to check the information about the new charge slab applicable to their account before sending money, so that any inconvenience can be avoided later.
