From 1 April 2026, every Basic Savings Bank Deposit (BSBD) account, the zero-balance account that crores of Indians hold, becomes entitled to a bundle of free services that your bank can no longer charge for or refuse. Under RBI amendment directions dated 4 December 2025, a BSBD account must carry a free debit card with no annual fee, a cheque book of at least 25 leaves a year, free internet and mobile banking on request, free passbook or statements, and at least four free withdrawals a month, all with no minimum balance. This is the new-rules position, not a guide to opening a new account.
Tick this list against what your bank actually gives you. From 1 April 2026 each of these is a right on a BSBD account, not an add-on you pay for.
The old BSBD rules already promised a zero-balance account and four free withdrawals, but banks routinely charged for cheque books, debit-card renewals and statements, and many counted UPI or NEFT payments against the monthly withdrawal cap. The 4 December 2025 amendments close those gaps.
The directions take effect on 1 April 2026. There is no single consumer-facing circular number to quote; the change rests on the seven amendment directions dated 4 December 2025.
If from 1 April 2026 your bank still charges for these services or denies them, the recourse is the banking grievance system, not an RTI to the bank. Most banks are not public authorities under the RTI Act, so an RTI will not force a private or commercial bank to comply.
Where a public-sector bank or a government scheme is involved, an RTI can still be useful to ask for the policy circular or the basis of a charge.
Take Kashvi Pathak, a domestic worker in Pune who runs a BSBD account and receives wages by UPI. Through 2025 her bank charged ₹150 a year for the debit card and counted her UPI receipts against the four free withdrawals, so she paid cash-handling fees by month-end. From 1 April 2026 the card fee is barred and her UPI credits no longer touch the withdrawal count, leaving all four free withdrawals available for her branch cash needs.
No. A BSBD account is a zero-balance account. From 1 April 2026 the bank cannot require a minimum average balance and cannot levy a penalty for a low or nil balance.
No. Under the amendment directions, UPI, NEFT, RTGS, IMPS and Point of Sale transactions are not counted as withdrawals. Your four free withdrawals a month stay reserved for ATM and branch withdrawals and transfers.
No. The BSBD rules require a free ATM card or ATM-cum-debit card with no annual fee, at issue and at renewal. If you are charged, raise it with the bank and then the RBI Ombudsman.
At least 25 cheque leaves a year, provided on request. The cheque book is one of the named free facilities under the amendment directions effective 1 April 2026.
RBI issued seven amendment directions covering commercial banks, small finance banks, payments banks, local area banks, regional rural banks, and urban and rural co-operative banks, so the same standard applies across these categories.
Ask in writing and quote the RBI directions effective 1 April 2026, then escalate to the bank's grievance officer. If unresolved within 30 days, complain to the RBI Ombudsman through cms.rbi.org.in.