The Madurai Bench of the High Court of Madras has barred Banks from collecting ‘commission’ from old-age pensioners.

Old-Age Pension scheme and other monetary benefits given by the Govt. of Tamil Nadu are benefitting lakhs across the State. Banks collect as penalty a specified sum from the old-age pensioners as most of them don’t maintain the ‘minimum required balance’ in their respective bank accounts.

A person receiving Rs.1000 as monthly pension has to pay Rs.350 (35%) to the Bank for not keeping minimum balance in his account. This pushes the pensioners into a huge financial crisis as most of them depend heavily on this amount for their survival. A pensioner Goyal had earlier filed a case with the Madurai Bench of the High Court of Madras requesting for a ban on collection of such ‘penalties’ by Banks.

Taking up Goyal’s petition, the Bench passed an order barring collection of ‘commission’ or ‘penalty’ from old-age pensioners by Banks in the State. It further directed the RBI in a notice issued to respond on the issue within three weeks.