Banks asked to offer basic services at all branches

Lenders nudged to cut charges and maintain uniformity

- MANOJIT SAHA

Commercial banks have been asked to offer basic services to customers from all branches, and not just home branches, said a senior banker aware of the development. Also, the lenders have been prodded to cut service charges levied by them and maintain uniformity, the banker added.

Currently, many services are not provided by branches if it is not a home branch of a customer. “In an age where there has been so much progress on the technology front, the regulator is baffled that a customer has to go to the home branch for certain services,” said the banker. “The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) now wants to identify services that should be mandatorily offered by all the branches to every customer,” the person added.