The largest bank in the country, the State Bank of India (SBI) has over 42 crore customers spread across rural and urban areas. Earlier, the bank had a minimum account balance limit of Rs 1000 for saving account holders. However, SBI has not only increased the minimum balance limit but also revised its charges for Non-maintenance of monthly average balance. SBI has also changed the requirement from monthly average balance to quarterly average balance. 

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So, if you are an SBI customer, here's what you need to know to save yourself from paying penalties or even worse, getting your account frozen; check according to the city you reside in: 

1. How much minimum balance you should have in your Savings account?

If you are a Saving Bank account holder then the minimum balance limit is previously Rs 5,000 in Metro Centre branches and for Urban Centre branches it is Rs 3000 and For  Semi-Urban Centre branches it is Rs 2000 and for Rural Centre branches the minimum amount is Rs 1000.

2. Charges for Non – Maintenance of Monthly Average Balance (MAB) of Savings account in regions is mentioned below:

For citizens in metro and urban region, if the account has a shortfall of more than or equal to 50% minimum balance, then the proposed penalty charged will be Rs 10 plus  GST compared to existing charge of Rs 30 + GST. Furthermore, if the minimum balance is in between 50% to 75% shortfall then the penalty will be Rs 12 + GST as against the existing charge of Rs 40 + GST. Subsequently, if shortfall is more then 75% the account will be charged with Rs 15 from existing charge of Rs 50 + GST on a monthly basis. Now a customer will have to maintain a minimum balance of only Rs 3000 in metro and urban region, which means along with penalties SBI has also reduced the average monthly balance. 

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Whereas in semi-Urban areas, accounts minimum balance should be Rs 2000. However, if the account has a shortfall of more than or equal to 50% minimum balance then the penalty charged will be Rs 7.50+ GST compared to an existing charge of Rs 20 plus GST. Going ahead if the shortfall is in between 50% to 75% then the penalty will be Rs 10 + GST as against existing charges of Rs 30 + GST. Similarly, if shortfall is more than  75% the account will be charged with Rs 12 plus versus existing charges of  Rs 40 + GST fine on monthly basis.

However, there is a relief to customers in rural region, as the minimum balance should be just Rs 1000. For customers in this area, if the account holder's accounts has a shortfall of more than or equal to 50% minimum balance then the penalty charged will be Rs 5 + GST as against existing charge of Rs 20 + GST. Likely, if shortfall is in between 50% to 75% then the penalty will be Rs 7.50 + GST and compared to existing charge of Rs 30 + GST. Hence, if shortfall is more then 75% the account will be charged with Rs 10 + GST in comparison to existing charge of Rs 40 + GST on monthly basis.

3. How much minimum balance you should have in your current account? 
 
Minimum account balance for a Current account in all Segments is Rs 10,000.
 
Charges for Non – Maintenance of Monthly Average Balance (MAB) of Current account in metro cities is mentioned below:

For metro cities, the MAB is Rs 10,000. For current account variants products like Power Pack, Power gain, Power POS, Power Jyoti and Surabhi finalised MAB is Rs 5,00,000, Rs 2,00,000 , Rs 5,000 , Rs 50,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively.

If the customers of above-mentioned variants of current account fail to maintain the minimum balance will be penalised Rs 2500, Rs 1500, Rs 500, Rs 1000 and Rs 500 plus GST, respectively.