Guwahati, April 1: The Congress in Assam today used the Centre's zero-balance Jan Dhan Yojana scheme to tear into the State Bank of India's minimum-balance regime that kicked in today.

Assam PCC senior spokesperson Apurba Bhattacharjee told The Telegraph that the "anti-people" step to maintain a minimum balance defeated the very purpose for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had introduced the scheme.

"What will happen to a daily wager living in a city like Guwahati? Will he be able to maintain a minimum balance of Rs 5,000? Why did the government first ask to open an account with zero balance and now we have the bank coming out with slabs depending on the area in which it operates," Bhattacharjee said.

The government-run banking major has started charging penalty on non-maintenance of minimum balance from today - a move which, it said, was done to offset the burden of managing the zero balance Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana accounts introduced on August 15, 2014 for financial inclusion in an affordable manner.

The bank has clarified that the government did not ask it to reconsider its decision and the penalty will not apply to Jan Dhan accounts.

The minimum balance is Rs 5,000 in the metros while in urban, semi-urban and rural areas, it will be Rs 3,000, Rs 2,000 and Rs 1,000, respectively. The fine for non-maintenance will be Rs 100 plus service tax.

More than SBI, Bhattacharjee targeted Modi, asserting that the minimum-balance regime is a fallout of the Centre's demonetisation move which saw Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes becoming invalid on November 8 last year.

"Modi ji was pushing for a cashless/digital society, but now we have to pay tax if we use our ATM cards for more than five times a month. What justification is there for such moves in a welfare state like ours? These are all fallout of demonetisation. We believe the minimum balance will be used to provide loan to the corporate sector," Bhattacharjee alleged.