ATM WITHDRAWAL RULES AND BANK INTEREST RATES THAT HAVE CHANGED FROM JULY 1! HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced many financial relief measures and relaxations in view of the coronavirus outbreak on March 24, 2020. All of those relaxations will be ending from today and will be restored as it was before the pandemic. Here is a list of measures that are going to change from today: 

ATM Cash Withdrawal rules

Before the pandemic, all banks allowed a limited number of free cash withdrawals and then charge customers for transactions. However, in view of the pandemic, all the government waived off these charges and all the banks allowed customers to withdraw cash free of cost. However, since no new announcement has been made, previous ATM withdrawal rules will come into effect from Today. 

Most of the banks allow customers to have five free transactions per month and if it is from some other banks’ ATMs, the limit is mostly three. However, if the limit is exceeded, customers will have to pay somewhere between Rs 8 to Rs 20 per transaction depending upon the type of transaction and the bank.

Minimum balance non-maintenance penalty

The minimum balance which is required to be kept in bank accounts was suspended by the Finance Minister in view of the lockdown. Most banks set up a limit for minimum balance and upon failure to maintain that, the bank charges a penalty. 

The minimum balance can range from Rs 5,000 – 10,000 or could be higher for premium accounts depending upon the type of account and the ban. The waiver was in effect for a period of three months and ends today.

Lower interest rates on savings account

“Public sector bank PNB will lower interest rates on savings account deposits by 50 basis points, effective July 1. For deposits up to Rs 50 lakh, the new interest rate will be 3 per cent, down by 0.50 per cent from 3.50 per cent. Deposits of Rs 50 lakh and above will earn interest of 3.25 per cent as against 3.75 per cent currently,” Times Now cited in its report.

Partial EPF withdrawal facility due to COVID, ends 

In view of the pandemic, the Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) had allowed EPF account holders to make non-refundable advances from their EPF accounts in case of financial emergencies caused due to lockdown. 

The government had also eased the withdrawal rules of EPFO so that members can withdraw from their accounts. This facility too was into effect only till 30th June 2020.

Auto-debit of Atal Pension Yojana re-starts

From Today, all banks will restart auto-debiting monthly contributions from the accounts of Atal Pension Yojana (Government backed pension scheme targeted at the unorganized sector) subscribers. 

"As you are aware, vide its circular (Ref. No: PFRDA/2020/8/P&D-APY/1) dated April 11, 2020, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) had instructed Banks to stop auto-debit of APY contribution till 30th June 2020. Accordingly, auto-debit for APY contributions shall resume from 1st July 2020," PFRDA said.