KOCHI:
State Bank of India (SBI) has made a humble commitment of Rs. 2 crore to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) for the flood affected regions in Kerala.
In addition to this, Bank is encouraging its 2.7 lakh employees to make contributions to the best of their capacities. To support this initiative further, the Bank will match an equivalent amount collected by its employees and donate the same to CMDRF. SBI stands by the citizens of Kerala in this time of distress and to support them.
All efforts are being made to restore flood effected ATMs and branches to make them operational at the earliest. Bank is also working on the possibility of starting operations through temporary premises after taking stock of the overall situation.
The bank has also announced waiver of various charges and fee on banking transactions in Kerala state for a period of time. Waiver of fees and charges will be on:
1. Processing fee for any loan relating to flood relief measure.
2. Charges for issuing duplicate passbook, ATM card, Cheque books
3. On late payment fee on EMI
4. All charges on remittance to CMDRF (including NEFT / RTGS remittance from other banks)
5. Charges on non-maintenance of minimum balance from proceeds of relief fund provided by Govt. and agencies to be put on hold. If any such charges is recovered, the same would be refunded.
Apart from the above, bank has also taken below relief measures to support the flood affected people:
1. Xpress Credit to the existing account holders with relaxed norms (for one month’s consumption)
2. Bank has deployed Cash @ PoS to meet the daily cash requirement across the state. This will be available for customers to avail Rs. 2,000/- to meet expenses for basic needs.
3. Individuals who have displaced and lost personal documents can open small accounts with only photograph and signature / thumb impression.
4. Employees of SBI are deployed to address requirement of customers and ensure best possible service at this juncture.