[nareshov]

Originally Posted by hserus

No - that is only if they award those units to you for free as a joining offer, then you'd have to pay tax on that amount like on any bonus that you get.

If they're offering you an option to BUY those shares then no, you aren't going to be taxed on that. You will be taxed once you unload those shares and have to pay long or short term capital gains tax at applicable rates.

Hmm. Not quite. In the latter case, if you're exercising said stock options at the initial offer value and not the current fair market value, then you're taxed on the gains right away.

[hserus]

Didn't he say something about those shares not being listed anywhere public yet? So what fair market value?

There's the book value and there's whatever discounted value he is buying these stocks at.

[sourav9385]

OK folks, here's a pickle for y'all!

I started working in 2006. My first salary account was opened in ICICI Bank, Hyderabad.

2008 onward, my company switched banks & salaried accounts to HDFC. Since then I've switched companies thrice, but have always used my HDFC account as my salaried account. Really stupid me, I did not close the ICICI account at that time. So it went into limbo, and has remained in the same state since.

Now, just 5 weeks ago, I joined another company. Joy of joys, it turns out that they use ICICI bank! But, they are unable to activate the account they opened for me here in Chennai. Reason? The old ICICI account that was opened in Hyderabad is still active! After knowing this, I submitted a request at a local ICICI branch in Chennai to close that account. But the account has still not been closed.

A call to the customer care revealed that the old account is indeed still active, and the new account is debit frozen.
So, what am I supposed to do now? Specifically, what are my choices here?

1. Pursue closure of old account by any means necessary. Apart from submitting a request at the branch, which I have already done, what else can I do?

2. Let go of the new account, and use the old account. Challenges with this choice are updating the mobile number and address. I've changed numbers since then, and I don't even have the old debit card. So how do I go about updating those?

Any help will be deeply appreciated folks. Thanks in advance!

[Kumar R]

Originally Posted by sourav9385

I did not close the ICICI account at that time. So it went into limbo, and has remained in the same state since.

The old ICICI account that was opened in Hyderabad is still active! After knowing this, I submitted a request at a local ICICI branch in Chennai to close that account. But the account has still not been closed.

A call to the customer care revealed that the old account is indeed still active, and the new account is debit frozen.
So, what am I supposed to do now? Specifically, what are my choices here?

1. Pursue closure of old account by any means necessary. Apart from submitting a request at the branch, which I have already done, what else can I do?

2. Let go of the new account, and use the old account. Challenges with this choice are updating the mobile number and address. I've changed numbers since then, and I don't even have the old debit card. So how do I go about updating those?

It seems as though the old ICICI account has been classified as 'dormant' due to no transactions for a period of time (1/2 years). This is a common occurrence with 'extra' bank accounts that are not used and can be rectified by making a credit of a small sum into it or by filling up a form at a branch.

Once the old account is no longer dormant you can decide whether to continue with it for your new job or whether to close it and let the office open a new salary account for you. I would prefer the latter. In case you go with the former, updating of mobile would be a simple visit to a branch and for the debit card you'll have to make a request and wait a week.

One item to watch out for is the minimum average balance requirement -- while unlikely to be applicable in your case (since original ICICI salary account was most probably a zero balance account), there is a chance they observed no salary being credited and sent you a letter intimating change of account to regular (minimum balance) account that you ignored earlier. If this is the case expect some non-maintenance fees to have piled up also.

Please see these links also

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-12-20/news/27622880_1_bank-account-due-diligence-cheque-book

http://www.icicibank.com/Personal-Ba...onditions.page

[hellmet]

Can I close a bank account with a tax saving FD in it? I'm looking to reduce the number of accounts I own in various banks.

[adrian]

I am using a bank security locker (small size) for the past 8 years and had paid Rs.1500/- as security deposit at the time of availing the facility. I use the locker in the frequency of once or twice per three months. Now I have received a letter from the bank that the security deposit of the locker facility has been raised to Rs.15000/- with immediate effect and that I should deposit the amount or give consent to draw it from my account.

When I referred to the rules of RBI regarding the bank lockers, I found the following :

https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/Notif...Id=3422&Mode=0

1.2 Fixed Deposit as Security for Lockers

Banks may face situations where the locker-hirer neither operates the locker nor pays rent. To ensure prompt payment of locker rent, banks may at the time of allotment, obtain a Fixed Deposit which would cover 3 years rent and the charges for breaking open the locker in case of an eventuality. However, banks should not insist on such Fixed Deposit from the existing locker-hirers.

If this is the rule in force, then the bank cannot demand revised security deposit from me and even if they can, they cannot demand it for more than 3 years. The rent for my locker with tax is around Rs.1500/- which is automatically deducted from my bank account yearly. So a security deposit for 3 years would make it Rs.4500/-. The current demand is for Rs.15000/-.
Is there any revised rules or should I suspect fraud ? The bank in question is Canara.
Sorry for the lengthy post. Kindly advise.

[nowwhat?]

Originally Posted by adrian

Is there any revised rules or should I suspect fraud ? The bank in question is Canara.
Sorry for the lengthy post. Kindly advise.

Why would you suspect fraud if your branch has sent you a letter?

This is nonsense, RBI has clearly stated that no deposit can be taken for lockers.

Assuming the letter is genuine, I suggest you send an email in the following order stating the aforementioned RBI directive to 1) your branch, 2) the Canara Bank ombudsman for your region, maybe Kerala.

Usually they will take care of it at that level, otherwise escalate to Canara Bank Chief Ombudsman in Bangalore and then if all else fails, the RBI ombudsman for your region though I doubt it will ever come to that. Give a week or so for a reply after each escalation.

I had an FD linked to my locker with another nationalized bank and I was able to get my money back following the above process though I never went to RBI. The bank HQ directed the branch to return my FD even though the Branch Manager tried to guilt me to the very end. Now I only pay annual fees.

PS: Since you actually haven't paid anything, I just realized that you can simply wait and see what they are up to.

[adrian]

Originally Posted by nowwhat?

Why would you suspect fraud if your branch has sent you a letter?..........., I just realized that you can simply wait and see what they are up to.

Thank you for the suggestion nowwhat, will send a mail to them with the RBI circular as an attachment and see how they responds.

By 'fraud', I meant an intentional act from the part of bank personnel to raise fund for the bank by means of deposits (overlooking rules in force), from unsuspecting customers.

regards adrian

[nowwhat?]

Originally Posted by adrian

By 'fraud', I meant an intentional act from the part of bank personnel to raise fund for the bank by means of deposits (overlooking rules in force), from unsuspecting customers.

Yep, the branch is trying to scam you. Please CC the Canara Bank ombudsman for your region (it will be there on the bank's website), otherwise those in banking will try to confuse you. Before going to the ombudsman, I tried escalating within the business side of the bank, but they all said the deposit was at the discretion of individual branches.

[nowwhat?]

My wife used her Citibank salary account these past 20 odd years.

The new company she works for has only Axis bank or ICICI bank. She opened a salary account with Axis bank and at her pay level, she got into their Burgundy program which comes with some benefits that I am yet to understand.

For the first time, I went to the Axis bank online banking portal yesterday, did an NEFT and was hit with a charge for some ₹5.60 which is free with Citibank. All the automated bill payment that I used in Citibank for all these years do not seem to exist.

Today, I received an email from Citibank stating that I need to keep ₹1 lakh average quarterly balance since they are converting the salary account into a retail account.

I wrote this post to find out:

1. Should I persist with Citibank?
2. Which one is better these days, Axis or ICICI?

[rki2007]

Guys how is Lakshmi Vilas bank. Was looking in for a SB account. Just logged into their portal last week and filled in online request for account opening. But till now no response!!!

[praveen_v]

Originally Posted by nowwhat?

My wife used her Citibank salary account these past 20 odd years.

The new company she works for has only Axis bank or ICICI bank. She opened a salary account with Axis bank and at her pay level, she got into their Burgundy program which comes with some benefits that I am yet to understand.

For the first time, I went to the Axis bank online banking portal yesterday, did an NEFT and was hit with a charge for some ₹5.60 which is free with Citibank. All the automated bill payment that I used in Citibank for all these years do not seem to exist.

Today, I received an email from Citibank stating that I need to keep ₹1 lakh average quarterly balance since they are converting the salary account into a retail account.

I wrote this post to find out:

1. Should I persist with Citibank?
2. Which one is better these days, Axis or ICICI?

I use Axis bank for salary account and dont have any such charges levied. Infact it is a zero balance account with free sms alerts and fund transfers. In most cases there will be a contact person who will take care of all queries for that company/location. If not You should probably talk to customer care or visit the branch if possible and sort this out.

[hellmet]

Is there a facility available that allows you to close Tax Saving FDs before they mature? I've had enough with ICICI and want to move my funds elsewhere, but these FDs keep me from doing so until 2019!!

[nowwhat?]

Originally Posted by praveen_v

I use Axis bank for salary account and dont have any such charges levied. Infact it is a zero balance account with free sms alerts and fund transfers.

Thanks for your post. They charge for IMPS, but not for NEFT.

Originally Posted by hellmet

I've had enough with ICICI and want to move my funds elsewhere, but these FDs keep me from doing so until 2019!!

AFAIK, you can close the bank account and give them a mandate to transfer the FD funds by NEFT/RTGS to some other bank when they eventually mature.

This reminds me that closing anything with ICICI is a pain. You will have to be very insistent.

[nareshov]

@nowwhat?
They refused to NEFT my savings account balance when I was closing their account last year. Eventually they let me draw the cash out right there because my cheques were over and debit card expired.