CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president B Manickam Tagore on Saturday (August 22) condemned the reported move to levy charges on cash withdrawals from basic savings bank accounts, alleging that the Modi government was placing an additional financial burden on poor and ordinary people.

The move is an extension of the bid to charge UPI transactions, he added.

In a statement, Tagore said the basic banking account was introduced in 2005 during former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's tenure as a "no-frills account" to provide banking access to economically weaker sections. The BJP-led government later renamed the scheme the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, he said.

Tagore claimed that the State Bank of India had decided to levy a Rs 15 charge, plus 18% GST, on every cash withdrawal beyond four per month, effective October 1. This would take the total charge to Rs 17.70 per transaction, he said.

He alleged that other banks could follow SBI and impose similar charges on basic account holders. He also criticised the Centre over its reported move to impose charges on UPI transactions, saying such measures could push people back towards cash.

Referring to the rise in currency in circulation from around Rs 9 lakh crore in January 2017 to Rs 43 lakh crore now, Tagore said it showed that a significant section of the population continued to depend on cash.

Calling the proposed levy a "fee burden" on the poor, Tagore urged the Centre to withdraw the charges immediately.