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PNB offers ATM fee relief for Chennai flood victims

The bank says its 81 branches and 82 ATMs in the city are fully operational in the wake of flooding judged to be the worst to occur anywhere in the world in 2015.

December 11, 2015

India's Punjab National Bank this week said it would waive ATM "off-us" fees for victims of the recent severe flooding in Chennai, India's fourth largest city.

PNB also will also offer credit for home repairs and suspend loan penalties of homeowners affected by the floods, according to a report by India's Economic Times.

The bank said that its 81 branches and 82 ATMs in the city are fully operational and ready to serve more than 58,000 flood-affected customers.

A Wall Street Journal blog said that the Chennai flooding would cost the Indian economy more than $3 billion, making it the world's worst such disaster during 2015.

WSJ cited figures from U.K. Insurance broker Aon Benfield, which said that 400 people died and more than 100,000 structures were damaged in torrential rains that engulfed the southern coast of India and parts of Sri Lanka during late November and early December.