Terms and Conditions – Current Account
Current Accounts are designed to suit to the daily business requirements of Entrepreneurs in terms of higher number of transactions, multi locational payments and deposits, cash management facilities, local and upcountry cheque collection facilities, Net Banking facilities etc.
1. Who can open a Current Account:
- Any person/ Entity competent to contract and produces the required KYC and other documents to the Bank may open an account in his/her/their own name. Accounts may be opened in the names of two or more persons and may be made payable to:
- any one or more of them or Survivors.
- either or anyone or more of them or the survivors jointly, or survivor.
- 'former or survivor' or 'latter or survivor', subject to the condition that the second (first in the case of former or survivor) named accountholder will be entitled to the balance lying in the account only on the death of the former (latter in the case of latter or survivor) accountholder.
- Accounts can be opened for Sole Proprietorship Firms, Partnership Firms, Private Limited and Public Limited Companies, Limited Liability Partnership Firms, Hindu Undivided Families, Trusts, Clubs, Associations etc. satisfactorily introduced to the Bank and on fulfilling laid down procedures and tendering required credentials.
2. How to open a Current Account
- Application to open an account must be made in Bank's prescribed account opening form. All signatories are required to come in person to the bank to sign the account opening form. Required credentials depending upon the type of constitution of the prospective accountholder are to be submitted to the bank.
- Each applicant will be required to sign a declaration to the effect that he has read and accepted Current Account Rules.
- A recent passport size photograph, KYC Details, PAN Card etc. of every accountholder, proprietor / partners / Directors of the company / office-bearers / trustees and other officials authorized to operate upon the account, are required to be given to the bank.
- While opening a Current account, the applicant will have to submit a declaration that he/she/the entity does not enjoy any credit facility with any other Bank. In the case of Prospective customers who have availed credit facilities from the Banking system, where the exposure of the Banking system is less than Rs.5 Crores, Current Accounts shall be opened subject to obtaining an undertaking from such borrowers that they shall inform the Bank, as and when the credit facilities availed by them from the Banking system reaches Rs.5 Crores or more. Current Accounts shall not be opened for applicants who have availed credit facilities from other banks, where the exposure of the Banking system is Rs.5 Crores or more.
3. Minimum Average Balances:
The minimum average amount that should be maintained in the account will be as below for different variants of Current Account, which will be calculated on a quarterly basis
No | Variant | Minimum Monthly Average Balance Stipulated |
1 | Current Account- Basic | Rs. 2500 |
2 | Current Account - Classic | Rs. 10000 |
3 | Current Account - Premium | Rs. 25000 |
4 | Current Account – Diamond | Rs. 50000 |
5 | Current Account - NRO | Rs. 5000 |
6 | Current Account - NRE | Rs. 5000 |
In the event of non-maintenance of minimum balance, the bank will notify the customer by SMS/e-mail/ letter etc. that in case the minimum balance is not restored in the account in the subsequent month, non-maintenance of minimum balance, charges will be applicable till such time the minimum balance is restored.
The Bank will notify the customer in the initial month only in case of non-maintenance of minimum balance and no further intimation will be given in consecutive months if minimum balance is not maintained. It will be the responsibility of the customer to ensure that his valid e-mail ID, mobile number and address is updated with the Bank at all times, failing which, customer may not receive the notification(s).
4. Maximum Balance:
There is no limit to the maximum balance in accounts
5. Statement of Account
- Computer generated statement of account showing a record of all sums paid in and all cheques drawn is issued to each accountholder on monthly/quarterly basis. On a statement of account being received by a customer the entries therein should be carefully examined and error or omission should immediately be brought to the notice of the Bank, otherwise rendering of the statement of the Account to the customer will be treated as settlement of the account and an acknowledgement of its correctness to date. The Bank will not be responsible for any loss arising from the negligence of customer in taking above precautions.
- It should be understood that although entries may have been made to the credit of an account and such entries initialled by an officer in the pass book, should such entries be made up of cheques which have to be collected, the amount they represent is not available for drawing, until the proceeds have been realized by the Bank.
6. Credits
- All payments made in the account should be accompanied by a paying-in-slip, which is supplied free of charge to customers. Separate paying-in-slip should be used for
- Cash
- Local cheques/DWs etc. drawn on our branches
- Local cheques D/W etc. drawn on other banks
- Outstation cheques, DWs, draft etc. drawn on outstation centres where the bank has no branches, will be collected at the responsibility of the constituents and the Bank will not be liable for any act, negligence or insolvency of any agent.
- Cheques etc. on clearing banks, if received after specified time will be cleared on the next working day. Local bills payable otherwise than on demand, should be sent one clear day at least before due date. Demand bills (hundies) should be lodged not later than specified time of presentation on the same day. Hundies lodged on Saturdays will be presented on the next working day.
- No cheques will be accepted for collection in newly opened accounts till the confirmation of introducer is received by the branch, in accounts where the introducer has not come in person to the branch for introducing the account.
7. Withdrawals by Cheque
- First cheque book is free and for subsequent cheque book charges will be levied per leaf for CTS/MICR/NON MICR cheque books. (Cheques must be drawn on the printed forms provided by the Bank. The Bank reserves to itself the right to refuse payment of cheques drawn otherwise. Application for cheque book must be made by the constituent personally or in writing. The printed Requisition Form inserted in the cheque book should be used when a new cheque book is required. To prevent forgeries, frauds, etc., constituents are particularly requested to
- Keep the cheque book under lock and key.
- Fill in the body of cheque before delivery.
- Fill in the amount in words, as near as possible, to the words "Rupees" and the amount in figures, as near as possible, to "Rs.".
- The writing of cheque should be clear and distinct and cheques must be drawn in such a way as to prevent any alteration or addition after issue.
- The amount in cheques must be stated both in words and figures.
- Alterations made in cheques must be authenticated by the drawers full signature, otherwise the cheques will not be paid. No alteration other than date revalidation is permitted in cheques to be cleared under the image-based Cheque Truncation System (CTS). It is not applicable for presentation outside CTS Clearing.
- Payments of cheques on which the signature does not exactly correspond with that on record at the Bank will be refused.
- The Bank has a right to ask for proper identification of the presenter for making cash payments of cheques.
- Cheques post-dated i.e. bearing a date subsequent to the date of presentation will not be paid.
- Constituents are requested to cross all cheques intended for collection before depositing them into their accounts.
- Payment of a cheque can be stopped by the drawer, by giving notice in writing to the Bank, mentioning full details of the cheque, before the cheque is presented for payment. The Bank will not pay this cheque after recording 'stop payment' in its books.
- Cheques must not be issued without providing funds in the account. If, cheques are presented without sufficient funds to meet them, payment will be refused and the cheque returned. Repeated disregard of these instructions will entail the summarily closing of the account.
- Account can be overdrawn only after previous arrangement with the Bank. In no case, overdrawing would be allowed in the accounts of minors.
- A cheque which is presented more than 3 months after the date of issue will be treated as "stale" and shall not be paid.
- To safeguard cheques from being collected by unauthorized persons, cheque payable to a firm or a limited company even though "Bearer" may not be accepted for credit of a personal account, unless it is specifically endorsed by the payee in favour of the individual collecting it. If the individual collecting the cheque is a partner of the payee firm or a director of the company, then the endorsement on behalf of the payee must be by the hand of a partner or director other than the partner or director collecting it.
- Positive Pay System for CTS: Under this system the issuer of high value cheques may submit electronically, through channels like SMS, Mobile app, Internet Banking, ATM etc, the minimum details of that cheque (like date, name of the payee/beneficiary, amount etc) to the drawee bank, the details of which will be cross checked with the presented cheque by CTS.
8. Interest
No interest is payable on credit balance in current account, including those of Bank's staff members as per RBI directives. However, simple interest at the rate of Savings Bank shall be paid on credit balance of deceased individual accountholders, from the date of his/her death till the date of payment to the legal heirs. In the case of death of a sole proprietor, interest will similarly be paid in the account of the sole proprietary firm.
9. Standing Instructions
Bank accepts Standing Instructions from accountholders for periodic remittances of Insurance premia etc. The charges as given in service charges section will be levied . If the transaction involves another bank at the same centre or an upcountry centre, remittance charges at the prescribed rates and the actual postages/courier charges shall be recovered additionally. Charges for inability to carry out standing instructions due to insufficient balance in the account shall be levied as given in service charges section.
10. Closing of an Account
- The accountholder must give in writing his/her intention to close the account. In case of partnership firm and joint account, the letter of request should be signed by all the partners and all the accountholders, respectively. In case of limited companies, a board resolution authorizing closure of the account is required.
- The unused cheque leaves, Debit Cards, if any, in the possession of the depositor should be returned to the Bank.
- Latest statement of account should also be presented.
- Bank shall recover charges as given in service charges section if an account is closed within a year.
11. Signature of the Depositor
- Every accountholder will be required to give specimen of his/her signature for record in the presence of an authorized officer of the Bank at the time of opening of the account.
- All withdrawal instructions, cheques and letters to the Bank must be signed strictly in accordance with the specimen signature recorded at the branch.
12. Death or Incompetence:
The Customer agrees to notify the Bank promptly if any of the joint Account holders or authorized signatory of the Account dies or is declared incompetent by a court. Bank may place a freeze on the Account and stop all operations when any of the joint Account holders or authorized signatories dies or is declared incompetent. Bank may retain the freeze on the Account until it establishes the identity and credentials of the successor/beneficiary to its satisfaction.
13. Sharing of Information:
- The Bank shall have the right to not return the application, the photographs, information and documents submitted by the customer. The Customer undertakes and authorises the Bank / its Group Companies to exchange, share or part with all the information, data or documents relating to his/its, without notice to or without any consent of the customer, be absolutely entitled and have full right, power and authority to make disclosure of any information relating to customer including personal information, details in relation to documents, products/services offered, defaults, security, obligations of customer, to the Credit Information Bureau of India (CIBIL) and/or any other governmental/regulatory/statutory or private agency/entity, credit bureau, RBI, the Banks other branches/subsidiaries/affiliates/rating agencies, service providers, other banks/financial institutions, any third parties, any assignees/potential assignees of transferees, who may need the information and may process the information, publish in such manner and through such medium as may be deemed necessary by the publisher/Bank/RBI, including publishing the name as part of willful defaulter’s list from time to time, as also use for KYC information verification, credit risk analysis, or for other related purposes. In this connection, the customer waives the privilege of privacy and privacy of contract.
- The Bank shall have the right, without notice to or without any consent of the customer, to approach, make enquiries, obtain information, from any person including other banks/finance entities/credit bureaus, customer’s employer/family members, any other person related to the customer, to obtain any information for assessing track record, credit risk, or for establishing contact with the customer or for the purpose of recovery of dues from the customer
14. Change of Terms
Bank shall have the absolute discretion to amend or supplement any of the Terms at any time relating to the Account and/or the Services provided for / in connection with the same. Bank may communicate the amended Terms by hosting the same on the Website or in any other manner as decided by the Bank. The Customer shall be responsible for regularly reviewing these Terms including amendments thereto as may be posted on the Website.
15. Nomination Facility
The individual accountholder/s and Sole Proprietorship concern will have the facility to make, vary or change nominations.
16. Service Charges
For applicable Service charges for various transactions and services, please visit the service charges link on our website.
17. Rules for Transactions
- Cash Transactions, both withdrawals and deposits, permitted at both Base branches (branch where customer is having account OR branches in the same center and out station Non Base branches.
- Cheque Collection Facilities will be available at base braches as well as non base branches.
- Bank reserves to verify the antecedents all the transactions in the account under the ambit of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 or any such regulation, and the customers are liable to produce proof of genuineness of transactions if the Bank desires so. \
- Inoperative/Dormant Status: Customers are informed to do transaction either debit or credit to avoid account becoming inoperative/dormant. As per RBIs guidelines, the account will be treated as inoperative if there are no customer induced transactions in the account for over a period of 12 months and dormant if it is not there for another 12 more months. For the purpose of classifying an account as inoperative both the type of transactions i.e. debit as well as credit transactions induced at the instance of customers as well as third party are considered. However, the service charges levied by the bank is not considered. Such accounts are maintained with the bank with status inactive. Only credit transactions are allowed once the account becomes inactive. For debit transactions, the account is required to be activated. To activate such accounts customer is required to submit application for activation of account, fresh KYC documents and do some credit transactions in the account.
- Standing Instructions (S.I.) are accepted in Current Accounts
For details of all Service charges, please visit our site www.esafbank.com
18. Non-Transferability
The Account and the Services provided to the Customer are not transferable under any circumstance and shall be used only by the Customer. However, the Bank shall have the right to transfer, assign or sell all its rights, benefits or obligations to any person and these Terms, shall continue to be in force and effect for the benefit of the successors and assigns of the Bank.
19. Force Majeure
Bank's obligations contained herein will be subject to any occurrence resulting in prevention from or delay or interruption in performing its obligations if such prevention, delay or interruption is due to Force Majeure event, [which would include any event beyond the reasonable control of the Bank, including, without limitation, unavailability of any communication system, sabotage, fire, flood, explosion, acts of God, civil commotion, strikes or industrial action of any kind , riots, insurrection, war or acts of government, changes in legislation and other allied acts of regulatory nature] then the Bank shall not be deemed to be in default so long as any such cause or the effect thereof persists (provided that this shall not prevent the accrual of interest on any outstanding amount which would have been payable but for this provision)and during a reasonable period thereafter within which any such obligations are not capable of being fulfilled. Bank shall not be liable for any action or claim, from any party, arising out of its inability to perform the obligations for the reasons stated herein.
20. Indemnity:
Customer agree that Customer shall indemnify and hold the Bank harmless against all actions, claims, demands, proceedings, losses, damages, costs, charges and expenses whatsoever which the Bank may at any time incur, sustain, suffer or be put to as a consequence of or by reason of or arising out of providing any of the services or due to any negligence/mistake/misconduct on my part or breach or non-compliance by me of any of the Terms and Conditions relating to any of the services or by reason of the Bank in good faith taking or refusing to take action on any instruction given by the Customer.
21. Bank’s Right of “General lien and Set Off”
The Bank, at its discretion, in exercise of its rights of “General lien and Set Off” , shall have the right to appropriate the proceeds of any deposits(including Fixed Deposit) standing to the credit of the customer, towards the satisfaction of any outstanding dues , whatsoever, arising as a result :
- of any Credit facilities extended/to be extended to the customer either as principal borrower or co borrower or guarantor;
- and/or any of the Bank' services extended/to be extended to and/or used by the Customer(s)
22. Grievance Redressal Cell
Should I have any complaint relating to the features of any of the products/services of the Bank that I hold/avail of, I am aware that I can approach the Grievance Redressal Cell within the Bank at customercare@esafbank.com for a resolution and if I do not get a satisfactory response within 30 days of lodging the complaint, then, under the Banking Ombudsman Scheme 2006,I can approach the Ombudsman appointed by the Reserve Bank of India, in charge of the region where I hold my account, details of which are available at www.bankingombudsman.rbi.org.in
23. Voluntary Consent for Aadhaar:
"I hereby submit voluntarily at my own discretion, my Aadhaar number as issued by Govt. of India, to ESAF small Finance Bank and voluntarily give my consent to open account with ESAF small Finance Bank in my individual capacity using my Aadhaar number and / or as an authorized signatory in non-individual accounts and; to use my Aadhaar details for authentication with UIDAI. The consent and purpose of collecting Aadhaar has been explained to me in local language. ESAF small Finance Bank has informed me that my information submitted to the bank herewith shall not be used for any purpose other than mentioned above, or as per requirements of law."
24. Voluntary Consent for Aadhaar Authentication:
- I hereby submit voluntarily at my own discretion my Aadhaar number issued by UIDAI, to the Bank and voluntarily give my consent to use my Aadhaar number for e-KYC authentication with UIDAI as per Aadhaar Act, 2016; for the purpose of Account opening and Aadhaar linking and/or specified instructions on my ESAF small Finance Bank account in my individual capacity and / or as an authorized signatory in non-individual accounts.
- I, holder of the Aadhaar number, hereby voluntarily give my consent to ESAF small Finance Bank to obtain and use my Aadhaar number, Name and Fingerprint/Iris and my Aadhaar details for authentication with UIDAI as per Aadhaar Act, 2016 and all other applicable laws.
- ESAF small Finance Bank has informed me that basis the voluntary consent given by me while submitting my Aadhaar number to the Bank, my Aadhaar details and identity information would only be used for e-KYC purpose, demographic authentication, validation, OTP authentication including; for availing banking services, operation of my accounts / relationships and for delivery of subsidies, benefits and services and / or any other facility relating to banking operations.
- ESAF small Finance Bank has informed that my biometrics will not be stored / shared and; will be submitted to Central Identities Data Repository (CIDR) only for the purpose of authentication. ESAF small Finance Bank has informed me that this consent given by me voluntarily and my Aadhaar number will be stored along with my account details within the bank. I have been explained about the nature of information that may be shared upon authentication.
- I also authorize ESAF small Finance Bank to link and authenticate my Aadhaar number to all my accounts / relationships with the Bank as may be opened in future.
- I have been given to understand that my information submitted to the bank herewith shall not be used for any purpose other than mentioned above, or as per requirements of law. I hereby declare that all the information voluntarily furnished by me is true, correct and complete. I will not hold ESAF small Finance Bank or any of its officials responsible in case of any incorrect information provided by me.
- The above consent given by me voluntarily and purpose of collecting Aadhaar has been explained to me in my local language.
25. Governing Law
All claims, matters and disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts in Mumbai only. These Terms and Conditions and/or the operations in the accounts of the customer maintained by the Bank and/or the use of the services provided by the Bank shall be governed by the laws of the Republic of India and no other nation. The customer and the Bank agree to submit to the exclusive Jurisdiction of the Courts located at Thrissur, Kerala, India as regards any claims or matters arising under these Terms and Conditions. The Bank accepts no liability whatsoever, direct or indirect, for non-compliance with the laws of any country other than the Republic of India.
26. Additions and alterations to the Rules
The Bank reserves the right to alter or add to these rules at any time without notice.
27. The above rules are not exhaustive.
For further details, please contact the our Branch nearest to you