New Delhi:  ICICI Bank has rolled back part of its recent hike in minimum average balance (MAB) requirements for new customers in urban areas, following widespread criticism both online and offline. The bank had faced strong pushback after increasing the MAB from ₹10,000 to ₹50,000 last week. Now, the MAB has been revised down to ₹15,000 which is still higher than the original, but significantly lower than the controversial hike.

In a statement released Wednesday, the bank acknowledged the pushback: “We had introduced new requirements for the monthly average balance for new savings accounts opened from August 1, 2025. Following valuable feedback from our customers, we have revised these requirements to better reflect their expectations and preferences.”

The revised minimum balance requirements stand as follows:

• Metro and urban locations: ₹15,000
   
• Semi-urban locations: ₹7,500
   
• Rural areas: ₹2,500
   

Pensioners below 60 and students from 1,200 select institutions will continue to be exempt from maintaining a minimum monthly average balance.

It was just last week, on August 9, ICICI Bank had announced a steep hike, raising the MAB for metro and urban customers from ₹10,000 to ₹50,000, semi-urban from ₹5,000 to ₹25,000, and rural areas from ₹2,500 to ₹10,000. Customers failing to meet these requirements faced penalties of ₹500 or 6% of the shortfall, whichever was lower.

The move was widely condemned as anti-consumer and disconnected from the realities of the average Indian saver. Indian National Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed called it “a blow to the middle class.”

RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra clarified that the central bank does not regulate minimum balance requirements for savings accounts. “It’s up to individual banks to decide. Some have set it at ₹10,000, some at ₹2,000, and others have waived it. It’s not within the RBI’s regulatory domain,” he said.

As a result of this change, the ICICI Bank’s stock value dipped slightly by 0.07% to ₹1,421.15 on the BSE, even as the benchmark Sensex climbed 0.38% to close at 80,539.91.

The partial rollback signals a course correction by the country’s second-largest private bank, which now aims to keep the rates in line to match the financial behavior and expectations of its new-age customers.