Mumbai, Aug. 22: Bank customers who do not operate their accounts regularly will continue to earn an interest rate of 3.5 per cent on savings bank accounts as well as on fixed deposits after the maturity of the deposits.

“Interest on savings bank account should be credited on a regular basis whether the account is operative or not. If a fixed deposit matures and proceeds are unpaid, the amount left unclaimed with the bank will attract a savings bank rate of interest,” the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a notification today.

At present, banks pay an interest rate of 3.5 per cent on savings bank deposits.

The RBI has also barred banks from charging any fee on the activation of inoperative accounts.

Asking the banks to play a more proactive role in dealing with inoperative accounts, the RBI said they should launch a special drive to find out the whereabouts of the account holders or their legal heirs.

It further said savings as well as current account should be treated as inoperative/dormant if there was no transaction in the account for over two years.

The RBI further said debit as well as credit transactions should be considered for classifying a bank account operative or inoperative. Service charges levied by banks, however, will not make an inoperative account operative.

Banks have also been advised to ensure that amounts lying in inoperative account ledgers are properly audited by their internal auditors as well as by statutory auditors.