Mumbai, Oct. 4: The RBI today clamped down on banks that do not issue passbooks to its savings account holders.
A notification of the apex bank makes it mandatory for all banks to either issue passbooks against savings accounts or provide monthly statement of accounts if the customer desires so.
This order is a response to complaints from senior citizens about banks having “unilaterally” discontinued issuing of passbooks thereby inconveniencing the savings account holders.
Sources said that most public sector banks issue passbooks, but few private banks do so, preferring quarterly statements that enables them to cut costs.
The RBI notification issued today said that a passbook was a ready reckoner of transactions, is handy and compact and as such is far more convenient to the small customer than a statement of account.
Though statements are as foolproof as passbooks — they are filed regularly, and the opening balance tallied with closing balance of the last statement — they may get lost in postal transit; obtaining a duplicate is inconvenient and involves money.
The Reserve Bank said the ATM slips as a proof of transactions between the period of two statements were inadequate as these do not have the full details of the transactions.
Besides, many small customers have no access to the Internet that would allow them to keep track of their transactions through the Net banking facility.
“As such, non-issuance of passbooks to such small customers would indirectly lead to their financial exclusion,” the Reserve Bank said.
Taking cognisance of these problems, the central bank has asked banks to “invariably offer passbook facility to all its savings bank account holders (individuals).”
If the customer prefers statements then this must be issued monthly in terms of a circular of April 2004.
“The cost of providing such passbooks or statements should not be charged to the customer,” the apex bank added.