ICICI Bank has rolled out new rules for maintaining minimum average balance in savings accounts across all branch categories.
The rules are effective from August 1, 2025 and include a significant increase in the minimum average amount requirements.
For customers in metro and urban areas, the minimum average balance has been raised to ₹50,000, up from the earlier ₹10,000.
In semi-urban branches, the new requirement is a minimum balance of ₹25,000, compared to the previous ₹5,000.
For rural branches, the minimum balance has increased to ₹10,000 from ₹2,500.
Only pensioners are exempt from these charges.
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Not only is the steep hike expected to affect a large number of account holders in rural and semi-urban areas, the bank also plans to charge penalty for failing to maintain the required balance, which would undoubtedly be an additional strain for low-income account holders.
According to the bank’s statement, customers who fail to maintain the required minimum monthly average balance (MAB) will be charged 6 per cent of the shortfall or ₹500, whichever is lower.
In the case of Family Banking, a family must collectively maintain 1.5 times the program’s eligibility criteria; failing which, non-maintenance charges will apply individually to members who do not meet their own MAB requirement.
However, the charges may be waived if the customer meets the criteria.
The bank’s move has come as an unpleasant surprise to consumers, many of whom have been forced to reconsider their banking choices. Many are expected to shift to banks with lower minimum balance requirements or opt for basic savings accounts that do not mandate such thresholds. Others may have to be careful about their financial planning to maintain the average amount.
Additionally, for any ECS/NACH debit returns due to financial reasons, the bank will charge ₹500 every time there is a return, with a cap of three charges per month for the same mandate.
For outward cheque returns (cheques deposited by the customer), a fee of ₹200 per instance will be charged, if returned for financial reasons. Inward cheque returns (cheques issued by the customer) will incur a charge of ₹500 per instance for returns that have financial reasons and ₹50 for non-financial reasons, excluding signature verification.
Additionally, if a transaction at another bank's ATM or at a point of sale (POS) terminal is declined due to insufficient balance, a fee of ₹25 per instance will be charged.
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