‘Early withdrawal of joint fixed deposit only if there is mandate’
The Hindu
Activist says banks have not created awareness about it among depositors
Banks will allow premature withdrawal by the surviving depositor in the case of joint fixed deposit and term deposit accounts in the event of the death of one of the two, only if there is a joint mandate from the depositors to do so as per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, which many customers are not aware of.
Consumer activist T. Sadagopan said there had been recent instances where the surviving depositors had approached banks for early withdrawal of fixed deposit accounts due to the death of the other account holder. Their requests had been rejected by banks citing the RBI guidelines.
In the case of joint fixed deposit and term deposit accounts, the joint holders choose between two mandates, “Either or Survivor” and “Former or Survivor”. In case of “Either or Survivor”, both the holders can operate the account while in the case of “Former or Survivor”, the former alone can operate the account when both are alive.
Amidst demand by the BJP for an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged unauthorised transfer of funds belonging to the Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation (MVSTDC), Home Minister G. Parameshwara on Friday said that the State government will not hand over the investigation to the CBI “voluntarily.”