A customer is suing the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) for six yuan (75 US cents), alleging the country's biggest bank charged unjustifiable fees for account management, the Beijing Times reported Wednesday.

 

The ICBC charged a management fee of three yuan (37.5 U.S. cents) on a quarterly basis for each current savings account with a daily average balance lower than 300 yuan.

 

But account holder Wang Yan is suing the bank and its Beijing branch for deducting allegedly unreasonable charges and is demanding a refund of six yuan -- twice the amount he was charged for the second quarter.

 

The people's court in Beijing's Xicheng District heard the case on Dec. 19, but has reserved judgment for a later date.

 

It was unreasonable for the bank to deduct the three yuan from the account as he had made no transactions nor used any services, said Wang, adding he had not been told about the management fees when opening the account.

 

"You are never charged extra fees for seat occupation in a restaurant if you just have a cheap dinner," Wang argued.

 

The legal representative of the Beijing branch said it charged management fees for small accounts in the hope that customers would consolidate their savings.

 

Two thirds of the ICBC's 300 million current saving accounts had a daily average balance of less than 300 yuan, which "tied up a lot of resources".

 

The bank also denied collecting fees arbitrarily, saying it posted the charges in "prominent places of every outlet" in March.

 

Responding to Wang's estimate that the ICBC could take in 2.4 billion yuan by imposing the charge, the bank said the charges did not apply to "a large proportion" of all the accounts, including social security accounts, salary accounts and nine other types.

 

Chinese banks started to collect small account management fees in recent years in order to reduce operating costs and encourage the opening of big accounts.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 21, 2006)