Kotak raises debit card fee to Rs 300, changes cash rules: Check details

Lender is tightening its fee structure from April 1, raising debit card charges and introducing higher penalties for repeated auto-debit failures

Kotak Mahindra Bank will revise various fees from April 1, impacting debit cards, failed auto-debit transactions and cash limits for certain customers.

 

The changes apply across several savings and salary account variants and are part of the bank’s updated general schedule of fees and charges.

 

Higher penalty for repeated auto-debit failures

 

The bank has increased charges for failed ECS and NACH mandates, commonly used for loan EMIs, SIPs and utility bill payments.

 

The first failed transaction will continue to attract a penalty of Rs 500 per instance.

 

The second and subsequent failures will be charged Rs 550 per instance.

 

 

Some categories such as basic savings accounts, institutional savings accounts and select NRE/NRO accounts will not be subject to this fee.

 

Customers with tight monthly cash flows should monitor account balances carefully to avoid repeated penalties, especially where multiple auto-debits are scheduled close together.

 

Debit card annual fees revised

 

Annual charges on select debit cards are also being raised:

 

EveryDay Debit Card: Fee increased from Rs 259 to Rs 300 per year.

 

Pay Shop More Debit Card:

 

For Sankalp, Sanman and BSS Microfinance accounts, the post first-year fee rises from Rs 199 to Rs 285.

 

For other variants, the annual fee moves from Rs 259 to Rs 285.

 

The revised pricing will apply across multiple card variants under these categories.

 

Free cash transaction limits tightened

 

Customers of the bank’s privilege programmes, such as Privy, Privy+, Neon, Platinum, Maxima, Black and Solitaire, must maintain a prescribed relationship value (RV) to retain benefits.

 

Those who do not meet the required RV will be allowed:

 

Three free cash transactions per month

 

A combined value limit of Rs 100,000.

 

Beyond this, charges may apply.

 

The RV is calculated at a group level and factors in average balances in savings and current accounts, term deposits, eligible mutual funds and insurance holdings, and a portion of loan sanctions and demat balances linked with the bank.

 

Charges on third-party cash deposits

 

The bank will also levy fees on third-party cash transactions. A monthly free limit of Rs 25,000 will apply for deposits or withdrawals made by someone other than the account holder.

 

Beyond this threshold, customers will be charged Rs 5 per Rs 1,000, subject to a minimum of Rs 150 per transaction.

 

Programme-level benefits, where applicable, will override product-level benefits, the bank said. Customers are advised to review the updated fee schedule to assess the potential impact on their banking costs.

 

Disclosure: Entities controlled by the Kotak family have a significant shareholding in Business Standard Ltd.