BRPD Circular No. 11: Master Circular on Schedule of Charges

Ref: BRPD, Banking Regulation and Policy Department Bangladesh Bank Head Office Dhaka. 10 June 2021

BRPD Circular No. 11 Date: ---------------- 27 Joishtha 1428

Managing Director/Chief Executive All Scheduled Banks Operating in Bangladesh

Dear Sir,

Subject: Consolidation of Previous Circulars/Circular Letters on Determination of Amounts/Rates of Various Charges/Fees/Commissions, etc.

Reference is invited to BRPD Circular No. 19/2009, 09/2010, 19/2010, 30/2010, 02/2017, 09/2018, 07/2019 and BRPD Circular Letter No. 02/2020.

2. Necessary instructions have been issued from time to time through various circulars/circular letters to determine the amounts/rates of various charges/fees/commissions, etc., imposed by banks for the protection of depositors/investors/customers. Considering the long intervals and changing circumstances, there has been a need to unify the previous instructions to facilitate the re-examination and new determination of the aforementioned rates and their compliance.

3. In view of the subject matter, the following instructions are hereby issued regarding various charges/fees/commissions, etc., imposed by banks:

(a) Deposit Related

(1) Account Opening (Opening Account): In the case of opening a Savings Account, customers may open their own name bank accounts by depositing 500/- Taka, and in the case of opening a Current Account, by depositing 1,000/- Taka. However, in the case of opening accounts for Special Facilities, the minimum deposit requirement will be exempted.

(2) Account Maintenance Fee (Account Maintenance Fee): a) Savings Account: No account maintenance fee shall be charged for an average deposit balance up to 10,000/- Taka. For an average deposit balance exceeding 10,000/- Taka, the account maintenance fee shall be charged at the following rates per quarter: i) For an average deposit balance exceeding 10,000/- Taka but up to 25,000/- Taka: Maximum 100/- Taka; ii) For an average deposit balance exceeding 25,000/- Taka but up to 2.00 Lakh Taka: Maximum 200/- Taka; iii) For an average deposit balance exceeding 2.00 Lakh Taka but up to 10.00 Lakh Taka: Maximum 250/- Taka; iv) For an average deposit balance exceeding 10.00 Lakh Taka: Maximum 300/- Taka. b) For Current Accounts, a maximum of 300/- Taka per quarter and for NIDHI accounts, a maximum of 500/- Taka may be charged. c) No account maintenance fee shall be charged for accounts with Special Facilities.

(3) Transfer of Account to Another Branch: In the case of transferring an account to another branch of the same bank, a fee of maximum 50/- Taka may be charged within the same district and a maximum of 100/- Taka may be charged in other districts.

(4) Death of Account Holder: No charge/fee shall be charged for the closure of various types of Savings Accounts due to the death of the account holder.

(5) Premature Withdrawal Fee (Premature Withdrawal Fee): No withdrawal fee (Premature Withdrawal Fee) or similar fee shall be imposed for the premature withdrawal of various monthly Savings Accounts (Deposit Pension Scheme), FDR, or any other term deposit before maturity.

(6) Account Freezing Fee (Account Freezing Fee): For account freezing, a maximum of 200/- Taka may be charged for Savings Accounts, a maximum of 300/- Taka for Current Accounts, and a maximum of 300/- Taka for SND accounts as an account freezing charge. However, no fee shall be charged for account freezing for accounts with Special Facilities.

(7) Issuance of Cheque Book: For the issuance of cheque books against various types of accounts, charges shall be determined on the basis of actual cost. In case of loss of cheque books, no additional charge/processing fee shall be charged beyond the actual cost for issuing a new cheque book.

(8) Other Fees: No minimum balance fee, incidental charges, ledger fee, service charge, counter transaction fee, or similar fees imposed on various types of Savings and Current Accounts shall be charged.

[The term 'Accounts with Special Facilities' refers to bank accounts of all types opened with 10/-, 50/-, and 100/- Taka, including school banking account holders, to bring the population recognized as economically disadvantaged under the ambit of banking services. This includes farmers, freedom fighters, the poor, selected workers of Dhaka North and Dhaka South City Corporations, street children and child laborers, beneficiaries of the National Social Security Strategy, garment industry workers, artisans of small factories producing footwear and leather goods, and similar accounts periodically directed by Bangladesh Bank.]

(b) Loan Related

(1) Loan Processing Fee: For loans up to 50.00 Lakh Taka, a maximum of 0.50% of the total approved loan amount may be charged as a loan processing fee; however, the amount shall not exceed 15,000/- Taka. For loans exceeding 50.00 Lakh Taka, this rate shall be a maximum of 0.30%; however, the amount shall not exceed 20,000/- Taka.

(2) No fee shall be charged under the name of Loan Application Fee.

(3) No fee/charge/commission shall be charged under the name of Loan Processing/Rescheduling/Restructuring Fee for loan rescheduling/restructuring in the Cottage, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) and Agriculture sectors. However, for loan rescheduling/restructuring in sectors other than CMSME and Agriculture, a maximum of 0.25% may be charged as a rescheduling/restructuring fee; however, the amount shall not exceed 10,000/- Taka.

(4) Documentation Fee, CIB Charge, Stamp Charge, and Legal and Collateral Valuation Fee in the case of loan disbursement shall be determined on the basis of actual expenditure.

(5) No additional service charge, loan management fee, monitoring/supervision charge, risk premium, or any other additional charge/fee/commission under any other name shall be imposed/charged in addition to the interest/profit rate for any type of loan, including export loans.

(6) In the case of prepayment of a loan taken by the customer before the specified period, a maximum of 0.50% of the outstanding loan amount may be charged as a prepayment fee or similar fee. However, for loans granted in the Cottage, Micro, and Small sectors, and for Current Loans or Demand Loans, no prepayment fee or similar fee shall be charged in the case of settlement before maturity.

(c) Local and Foreign Trade/Remittance Related

(1) The commission for opening 100% Cash Margin LC shall be determined at a maximum of 0.25% per quarter, the commission for opening Deferred/Usance LC at a maximum of 0.50% per quarter, and the commission for opening other LCs including Back-to-Back at a maximum of 0.40% per quarter.

(2) For LC Transmission, LC Amendment, Confirmation, Cancellation, Foreign Correspondent Charges, in cases of mailing, courier, telex, SWIFT, etc., charges shall be determined on the basis of actual expenditure.

(3) A maximum of 750/- Taka shall be determined for LC Advising Charges, LC Amendment Charges, and LC Transfer Charges.

(4) LC Acceptance Charges shall be determined at a maximum of 0.40% per quarter, and LC Confirmation Charges at a maximum of 0.20% per quarter.

(5) Foreign Correspondent Charges (Local Part), Data Max, Handling Charges, Copy Document Endorsement Charges, LC Cancellation or Expired Unused LC Charges shall not be charged.

(6) Export Bill Negotiation Commission and Export Bill Collection Commission shall be determined at a maximum of 0.15%. However, in cases of Export Bill Negotiation and Collection where foreign currency exchange is involved, no amount exceeding 500/- Taka shall be charged as commission.

(7) Charges for issuing Back-to-Back LC Confirmation, CN&F Confirmation, and Export Value Recovery Confirmation (Export Value Recovery Confirmation) shall not exceed 500/- Taka.

(8) For the provision of Bank Guarantees, a commission of a maximum of 0.50% per quarter and a minimum of 1,000/- Taka shall be determined.

(9) If an LC Opening/LC Acceptance/LC Confirmation/Bank Guarantee is granted for a period of one quarter or less, the bank may, at its own discretion, charge a maximum amount equivalent to one quarter's charge/commission. However, if the period is longer than one quarter, charges/commissions shall be charged only for the period up to the date the period is renewed.

(10) For the issuance of instruments such as Demand Draft (DD), Telegraphic Transfer (TT), Mail Transfer (MT) in foreign currency, a charge/fee of maximum 100/- Taka may be charged for foreign currency amounts up to 1,00,000/- Taka; maximum 200/- Taka for amounts from 1,00,001/- up to 5,00,000/- Taka; maximum 300/- Taka for amounts from 5,00,001/- up to 10,00,000/- Taka; and maximum 500/- Taka for foreign currency amounts exceeding 10,00,000/- Taka. In the case of cancellation of instruments, a charge/fee of maximum 200/- Taka may be charged per instance.

(d) Account Related and Others

(1) Account Status Certificate Fee: No charge/fee shall be charged for providing an Account Status Certificate (including account statement) twice a year (on a semi-annual and annual basis) to each customer of the bank's deposit and loan accounts. However, if a customer wishes to receive this certificate (including account statement) more than twice a year, a charge/fee of maximum 100/- Taka may be charged per instance.

(2) Solvency Certificate: For the provision of a Solvency Certificate, a charge/fee of maximum 200/- Taka may be charged per instance.

(3) For cheque return, a charge of maximum 50/- Taka may be charged per instance.

(4) BO Certificate: For the opening of a BO Account, a charge of maximum 100/- Taka may be charged for the provision of a BO Certificate.

(5) Stop Payment Instruction: For the stop payment instruction (Stop Payment Instruction) provided by the customer on the account/cheque, a charge of maximum 100/- Taka may be charged per request, and for the cancellation of the stop payment instruction, a charge of maximum 50/- Taka may be charged per request.

(6) For the issuance of Pay Order (PO), a charge/fee of maximum 20/- Taka may be charged for amounts up to 1,000/- Taka; maximum 50/- Taka for amounts from 1,001/- up to 1,00,000/- Taka; and maximum 100/- Taka for amounts exceeding 1,00,000/- Taka. In the case of cancellation of Pay Order, a charge/fee of maximum 50/- Taka may be charged per instance.

(7) For the issuance of instruments such as Demand Draft (DD), Telegraphic Transfer (TT), Mail Transfer (MT), etc., a charge/fee of maximum 20/- Taka may be charged for amounts up to 1,000/- Taka; maximum 50/- Taka for amounts from 1,001/- up to 1,00,000/- Taka; maximum 100/- Taka for amounts from 1,00,001/- up to 5,00,000/- Taka; maximum 200/- Taka for amounts from 5,00,001/- up to 10,00,000/- Taka; and maximum 300/- Taka for amounts exceeding 10,00,000/- Taka. In the case of cancellation of instruments, a charge/fee of maximum 50/- Taka may be charged per instance.

4. The latest updated list of the Schedule of Charges shall be displayed in prominent places/notices at the Head Office, all branches, sub-branches, and agent banking outlets of respective banks, and on the home page of the bank's website.

5. No charge/fee/commission other than the declared/published list shall be imposed.

6. The list of declared charges/fees/commissions for the next six months (July-December and January-June) shall be sent to Bangladesh Bank semi-annually (between June 30 and December 31 of each year).

7. In case of any change in charges/fees/commissions, it is mandatory to display the changes in prominent places/notices at the Head Office, all branches, sub-branches, and agent banking outlets of respective banks, publish them on the website, and inform the Banking Regulation and Policy Department of Bangladesh Bank.

8. BRPD Circular No. 19/2009, 09/2010, 19/2010, 30/2010, 02/2017, 09/2018, 07/2019 and BRPD Circular Letter No. 02/2020 issued earlier are hereby rescinded by this circular. However, the instructions of BRPD Circular Letter No. 21/2021 regarding the collection of Savings Account Maintenance Fee for the calendar year 2021 shall remain in force.

9. These instructions are issued under the powers conferred by Section 45 of the Bank Company Act, 1991.

These instructions shall come into force immediately.

Yours faithfully,

(Mohammad Jamal Uddin) General Manager Phone: 9530252