RBI has instructed banks to provide adequate transaction details in passbooks.

All bank passbooks must now have complete transaction details and also statement of accounts so that customers can cross-check and verify them. Earlier, Reserve Bank of India had advised banks to avoid inscrutable entries in passbooks and statements of account and ensure that brief, intelligible particulars are invariably entered with a view to avoiding inconvenience to depositors.

RBI said that many lenders still do not give appropriate details of the transactions. “In the interest of better customer service, it has been decided that banks shall at a minimum provide the relevant details in respect of entries in the accounts,” the Central Bank said while prescribing a list of details to be provided. “Banks shall also incorporate information about ‘deposit insurance cover’ along with the limit of coverage, subject to change from time to time, upfront in the passbooks.”

“The details to be provided by banks in passbooks, include name of the payee, mode of transaction, nature of the charges (like fee/ commission/ fine/ penalty), and loan account number. The RBI advised banks that cheque books should be delivered over the counters on request of the depositor.

(Relevant inputs from economictimes.com and businessstandard.com)