Reserve Bank of India is slowly losing focus on customer service aspects of Banking service. Acceding to a request from the Indian Bank’s association, RBI has imposed an ATM transaction limits of 3 withdrawals per month after which the customer would be charged Rs 20 per transaction. (Refer report)

Many of the Banks have already imposed a limit for direct withdrawals at the Bank counters and are charging fees for withdrawing cash at the counters. With the current notification customers are made to pay whether they withdraw cash at the counters or at the ATM. It appears that RBI wants customers to move back into the cash economy and withdraw all their monthly requirements in one go.

When technology was introduced in Banking, customers were promised of better services at lower costs. However over the years Banking transaction costs have only been on the increase and at a pace higher than the inflation. I would be happy if IBA releases data of “Weighted Average Banking Transactions Cost” in India and check how it has been increasing year after year say from 1980 when technology at higher levels was brought in to the system.

While the Government will start subsidizing the costs to select sections of privileged sectors for political reasons, other ordinary “Neglected Class of Bank Customers” will end up paying more than proportionate costs for the Banking services they may avail or even not avail.

Will the RBI Governor Mr Raghuraman Rajan respond?

Naavi