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No charge for passbooks: RBI

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India has asked banks to "invariably" offer passbook facilities to individual savings account holders without charging them for the same.

In a notification issued here, the apex bank maintained that in case the bank offers the facility of sending a statement of account, it must do it on a monthly basis.

The order was in response to representations, including from senior citizens, received by the RBI, complaining that many banks had "unilaterally" discontinued issuing passbooks causing inconvenience to savings account holders.

"Non-issuance of passbooks to such customers would indirectly lead to their financial exclusion (from the banking system)," it observed. The apex bank also noted that some banks were issuing statement of account to savings account holders at quarterly intervals instead of monthly as stipulated in its circular.

The RBI stated that passbook is a ready reckoner of transactions and more convenient than a statement of account as it is handy and compact.

It pointed out the inherent difficulties in the account statement such as filing it regularly, tallying of opening balance with closing balance of last statement and possibility of loss during postal transit.— PTI

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No charge for passbooks: RBI

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