Before you jump the gun, stop and read carefully.

SBI is not going to levy a charge of Rs 25 on every ATM transaction, from June 1, 2017.

Now that we have it sorted out, let’s see what the whole story is.

There have been a lot of rumours in the past hour than SBI is planning to charge every customer Rs 25, for each transaction they make on an ATM. That is absolutely false. Yes, SBI has introduced a new charge, and yes, that is of RS 25, and yes, it is for ATM transactions, but there is a fourth and a very essential bit to that report that people have either chosen to blatantly ignore, or have just missed out: the charge is only for the users of the users of SBI’s mobile wallet, Buddy.

Photo: DailyO

State Bank Buddy is SBI’s mobile wallet for smartphones – both Android and iOS. It is a semi-closed prepaid wallet which can be used to transfer money to other wallet users and bank accounts, anytime, anywhere.

According to a report in Business Today, an SBI official has expressly clarified that the bank will not charge Rs 25 per transaction on cash withdrawals contrary to a circular the bank had earlier issued. The official has said that the notification was specifically for.

“The service charge on cash withdrawal from ATMs has not been changed for normal savings accounts," SBI MD (national banking) Rajnish Kumar told PTI.

ATM charges are set by the RBI and are uniform for all banks. Rules mandate at least three fee transactions per month from ATMs of other banks and five from ATMs of own bank in metro cities. The Rs 25 charge, however, is applicable when a user of the Buddy app wishes to withdraw money from the e-wallet using an ATM – which is incidentally a new feature that they introduced.

"If a customer has money in SBI Buddy, our mobile wallet, he can now withdraw that money through ATMs. Also, now customer can deposit cash or withdraw cash through business correspondent from or into our mobile wallet. These facilities were not available earlier," said Rajnish Kumar.

The reason why people got confused about the ATM charges is because of a circular issued by SBI. Earlier today, an SBI circular announced a charge of Rs 25 per transaction on cash withdrawals. The circular titled "Revision in service charges additions/ modifications: wef 01/06/2017" said Rs 25 per transaction would apply on cash out through ATM.

The circular sparked an outrage.

“This is outrageous and the central government is cheating the people. Ever since the demonetisation began, the Centre has been bullying people. This is going to be taken up in and out of parliament very strongly,” said CPI-M Lok Sabha member MB Rajesh.

Even on social media, there was a lot of talk. Sadly, no one seemed to have the right information.

Mission "War on Cash" is moving forward smoothly. SBI to charge Rs 25 for every withdrawal from Jun 1.https://t.co/Zs3O3hZZnY — Meghnad (@Memeghnad) May 11, 2017

Someone who earns Rs 10-20,000 a month, like say a driver, is being told by SBI to not use ATMs. That's what Rs 25 withdrawal charge means. — Shivam Vij (@DilliDurAst) May 11, 2017

Ache dinnare here. Rs 25 per each transaction at atms. So what next? Charge 10rs every time we pass by a atm. That'll give more bucks to sbi — MegaHit KhaidiNo150 (@FanChiru) May 11, 2017

If SBI Charge for every transaction Rs 25, Then We have to Close our accounts from SBI. Bhaad me jaye inki Banking! 😈😈 #DigitalLoot pic.twitter.com/Ud7qjAgapX — Sara Ali Khan (@HelloPathak) May 11, 2017

So this is how #SBI is planning to retrieve the money loaned to Vijay mallaya , by charging us with Rs. 25 per ATM transaction . — Ramu (@dramu97) May 11, 2017

Post demonetisation, the public has been somewhat on the edge about charges being levied on cash transactions. It is no secret that the ruling government has encouraged and often shoved people towards digital transactions. The purge of the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations caused enormous amounts of difficulties for people across the country, especially the middle and the lower classes.

It is understandable that one would be outraged by the fact that something as exorbitant as Rs 25 could be levied upon every ATM transaction, but it is unwise to get mad at the government before all facts are straightened out.

Also read - How digital lending can be a game-changer in post-demonetisation India