Private banks are going to hate this new directive by RBI! Passbook is mandatory

[Sushubh]

"It has come to our notice that some banks are not issuing pass books to their savings banks account holders (individuals) and only issue a computer generated account statement even when the customer desires pass book facility.

"Banks are, therefore, advised to strictly adhere to the instructions...," the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a notification.

In case banks offer the facility of sending statement of account and the customer chooses it, banks must issue that on monthly basis.



All banks must issue savings account pass book - Readability

Another directive?

RBI asks banks not to honor cheques beyond 3 mths

 

[Jaymin]

But, i dont see the need for it, until u r getting timely statements in ur email! Just reducing the paper work & manual efforts of updating pass book. What do u reckon?

 

[Sushubh]

well. this does not apply to all banks. but standard chartered for example... has very shitty policies.

they let you pick from two options:
1. either you order paper statements
or
2. you get them on email

this is a problem because?

you need paper statements for address proof etc etc. and if you pick this one you do not get them on emails.
if you get them on email, you do not get printed statements at all.

also.

standard chartered online banking only provide access to last 90 days of data. if you opt for email statements, you get last 12 months worth of data through PDF files.

in other words, if you are someone like me who is careless with paper statements, you would have no way to get access to old statements unless you are ok with paying 100-150 rupee per page of statements.

passbooks are old fashioned. but they are somewhat better than paper statements. you can go to the bank anytime and force them to update it for you for free (i would imagine that regulations would stop them from charging for this process).

i understand that this applies to people like me who are careless with paper statements. that is the reason why i switched to email statements. at least they arrive (paper statements can get lost in mail).

(icici bank for example does not have this problem, their online system provides access to enough data from the past).

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i had actually like this to be enforced. so that i can force standard chartered to give me a passbook that is updated thoroughly!

 

[Jaymin]

For us its lot different. Account is at DB......internal employees afterall! It has just 2 branches across Mumbai. They say that we do the maximum possible jobs thru Online Banking. For the few dealings to be done personally, they have 2 branches.

So we get statements in email every month, all transaction alerts with balance details as well in email & sms, plus quarterly statements delivered to me......not received any as yet, since i have not been thru any quarter end!

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But with email statements, cant u just take a print of it for Address proof?

 

[Sushubh]

some companies do not accept printouts or even photocopies. airtel actually asked me to give them originals if i remember correctly. funny enough, they themselves pushed for e-statements of their bills claiming that it saved trees and what not. mega double standards on their part.

 

[devx101]

weren't passbooks made mandatory quite sometimes back ...? i had seen similar directives in the past years too...

 

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[Sushubh]

the article states that it is indeed mandatory. i think it is more of a reminder to the banks and the people of course. i wonder if i should call standard chartered or contact them on email and get it in writing that they do not issue passbooks (at all). and then file a complaint with RBI?

 

[Jaymin]

I think that for these kind of reasons we have been given the facility of quarterly statements......i think that shud suffice for proofs & all!

 

[Sushubh]

banks have no reason to charge for previous statements no matter how old they are especially if they make it impossible to access them online.internet banking was supposed to make accessing your own data easier. but they use lame excuses to restrict access to just 3 months. i mean holy freaking F. gmail can let me access emails from many years ago. these banks cannot let me access bank statements from last year.

 

[Jaymin]

Well said! But, I have no idea on the policy around my account, in this aspect. They had given quite a few booklets, i read most of them and didnt read 1.....was fat and had small print. I didnt have the patience to do that!

 

[Sushubh]

what bank? someone on the forum might have an account there and might tell you the policies.

 

[Jaymin]

Deutsche Bank....i did mention it before!

 

[amitnsonu]

why to open account in private bank ?I have accounts in Bank of BAroda, Union bank, andhra bank. (I dont have private bank account)getting All facilites (net banking, mobile banking, mobile alerts, cheque books, debit cards,pass books) without any extra cost.In fact at union bank I am not levied any fine when balance goes below 1000.

 

[devx101]

^ u have to really open an accn. in pvt. bank to how much difference it has with PSU banks. I have dealt with SBI and UCO bank, sbi exp. has been good no doubt but it takes time to do jobs there;uco bank is much much worse.But yes to get that extra efficiency frm pvt banks u have to pay a bit more, i mean more AQB which can be 10x-25x.

 

[amitnsonu]

the current satisfaction level is enough for me. dont need more than what I am getting, and dont want to get highly charged for small services.