Senior citizens can avail doorstep banking facility during coronavirus lockdown

Senior citizens aged 70 or more can avail doorstep banking facilities even during coronavirus lockdown. As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, banks have to arrange pick up of cash or cheque and drop of demand drafts for senior citizens and differently-abled or infirm persons (having medically certified chronic illness or disability).

The central bank has advised banks to provide basic banking facilities, such as pick up of cash and instruments against receipt, delivery of cash against withdrawal from account, delivery of demand drafts, submission of Know Your Customer (KYC) documents and life certificate at the residence of such customers.

These instructions were issued way back in 2017 after the RBI observed that banks were discouraging or turning away senior citizens and differently-abled persons from availing banking facilities in branches.

Most of the leading banks, including SBI, PNB, Bank of Baroda, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, provide doorstep banking services facility to their customers.

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As per the information available on the country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI's) website, the lender offers doorstep banking (DBS) services to senior citizens and differently-abled customers who have completed KYC process and have registered address within a radius of 5 KMs from the home branch. The DSB service is available in savings bank/ current account of resident individual customer only.

Doorstep banking service offered by the SBI include cash pickup, cash delivery, cheque pickup, cheque requisition slip pickup, form 15H pickup, delivery of drafts, delivery of term deposit advice, life certificate pickup and KYC documents pickup.

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The customer can call up SBI toll free number 1800 111103 between 9 am to 4 pm on working days through doorstep banking tab in YONO app. Under DSB services, the maximum limit for cash transactions per day is Rs 20,000 for cash deposit and withdrawal, while minimum limit is Rs 1,000. The service charges per visit for non-financial transactions is Rs 60+GST and Rs 100+GST for financial transactions.