Post Office Savings Bank account holders' alert! Your ATM cards may get blocked after 31st January; Here is why

Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) account holders are in danger of getting their ATM cards blocked! Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) account holders need to update their registered mobile number with their post office account and they should also replace their magnetic chip-based ATM cards by EMV chip-based ATM cards. Failing to this, the existing ATM cards may get clocked, says Department of Post. According to the latest notification issued by the India Post, the POSB account holders have been asked to update their ATM card and their mobile number by the end of January 2020, failing which their card will be blocked. The India Post notification further says that a POSB account holder can replace their ATM card by EMV cards and update their mobile number by visiting the post office home branch.

The Indian Post notification clearly says, "POSB customers are requested to replace their existing Magnetic ATM cards with more secure EMV chip-enabled ATM cards and get mobile number updated before 31/01/2020 by visiting your home branch to avoid blocking of your cards.”

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The India Post gives cheque and ATM facilities to its POSB customers. The daily cash withdrawal limit on Post office ATM card is Rs 25,000, while the maximum amount that can be withdrawn at once is Rs 10,000 only. No amount will be charged on transactions done at the ATMs of the Department of Post. As per the India Post website — indiapost.gov.in — three free transactions at other bank ATMs is allowed in metros and five free transactions in non-metros. After crossing the free transactions limit at other bank ATMs, Rs 20 per transaction is charged.

The Department of Post has recently enhanced the minimum balance in post office savings bank account from Rs 50 to Rs 500. So, one can open a POSB account with a minimum of Rs 500 and the account can be opened by paying through cash only. As per the new POSB account rules, minimum balance to be maintained in an account is Rs 500, if balance Rs 500 not maintained, a maintenance fee of Rs 100 shall be deducted from the account on the last working day of each financial year and after deduction of the account maintenance fee, if the balance in the account becomes nil, the account shall stand automatically closed.

A POSB account holder gets 4 per cent annual interest on post office savings bank account. Interest earned in the POSB account is Tax-Free up to Rs 10,000 per year from the financial year 2012-13.