Over 2.5 lakh SBI employees to donate Rs 100 crore to PM-CARES Fund

In the fight against COVID-19, around 2,56,000 employees of State Bank of India (SBI) have decided to contribute two days' salary to the PM's National Relief Fund. With this, the employees of India's largest bank will contribute about Rs 100 crore to the PM-CARES Fund. "It is a matter of pride for State Bank of India that all our employees voluntarily came forward to pledge their two days' salary to the PM-CARES Fund. We at SBI would keep continuing our support to the government in all its endeavours to address the challenges of this pandemic," SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar said.

The bank added that at this time of crisis, SBI was committed to providing the best possible banking services to its customers. In addition to that, the state-owned lender last week committed 0.25 per cent of its 2019-20 annual profit as CSR initiative to fight COVID-19.

As the country grapples with the rising number of coronavirus cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set up a fund, PM-CARES Fund (Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund) on March 28. The PM said the fund was launched as people from all walks of life expressed desire to donate to India's war against COVID-19.

Apart from SBI, private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank and its Managing Director Uday Kotak also announced Rs 60-crore donation for the PM CARES fund. India on Monday reported the biggest single-day spike in new COVID-19 cases. It reported 227 new cases taking the total tally to 1,385. Out of this, 101 have been cured and discharged from hospitals. The death tally stood at 32  till March 30 morning, according to Health Ministry data.

Also read: L&T to donate Rs 150 crore to support India's fight against coronavirus

How to donate to PM CARES Fund

For those who want to make individual contributions to the PM CARES fund, they can do so by logging in on pmindia.gov.in and donate using the following details:

• Name of the Account: PM CARES        
• Account Number: 2121PM20202                                                                               
• IFSC Code: SBIN0000691                                                                       
• SWIFT Code: SBININBB104                                                                         
• Bank name and branch: State Bank of India, New Delhi Main Branch                                       
• UPI ID: pmcares@sbi

Modes of payments available

• Debit cards and credit cards
• Internet banking
• UPI (BHIM, PhonePe, Amazon Pay, Google Pay, PayTM, Mobikwik, etc.) RTGS/NEFT
• Notably, donations to this fund will be exempted from income tax under section 80(G)

Also read: Bharti Airtel pledges Rs 100 crore for India's battle against coronavirus