Dozens of disputes have emerged between banks and customers after Chinese banks began charging for services that used to be free.

A shanghai woman sued China Unionpay and three other banks for charging her inquiry fees, and she asked the four defendants to compensate her 1.5 yuan (US$0.19) for "unjust" inquiry fees, according to Shanghai Morning Post.

Banks in China have introduced dozens of new charges over the past three years, such as ATM cross-bank cash advance fees, cross-bank enquiry fees, debit card annual fees and small account management fees. Industry insiders warn that customers can expect to pay even more in the future. But they also emphasize that it is important to make the fees transparent.

Figures show that 20 percent of the complaints submitted to the China Banking Association are about banking fees. And the government is grappling for a resolution. Li Xiangyu, Spokesman of China Banking Association said, "The government is now researching how to regulate banking fees. We hope we can balance the interests of both banks and common people and facilitate communications between the two sides. But first of all, banks should provide quality services, then talk about fees." ( XinHua Online, ChinaDaily )