In a bid to encourage cashless transactions banks will now start charging a cash transaction fee after a certain threshold of transactions is reached. A minimum of Rs. 150 per transaction will be charged after allowing 4 free transactions in a month. ICICI, Axis and HDFC Bank have already announced the revised charges while other private and public sector banks are expected to follow suit soon.
Leading private sector player HDFC Bank announced in a circular that these charges will be effective for both salary and savings accounts starting today. For other private sector lenders such as Axis Bank and ICICI Bank these charges were effective since early January and are same as the charges that were applicable before demonetization.
For both HDFC and ICICI, charges at the rate of Rs. 5 per thousand will be charged after first four free transactions in a month. These charges are however subject to a minimum of Rs. 150. At Axis Bank, transactions up to Rs. 10 lakhs or first 5 transactions will be free, thereafter Rs. 5 per thousand subject to a minimum of Rs. 150 will be charged.
Banks have also placed a cap on third-party transactions; the limit is Rs. 25,000 for HDFC and Axis Bank and Rs. 50,000 for ICICI Bank.