Alvi censures banks for careless attitude

President Dr Arif Alvi has strongly objected to the careless attitude of some commercial banks in resolving the complaints of customers. While rejecting two separate representations of different banks against the decisions of Banking Mohtasib of Pakistan (BMP) on Friday, he advised the financial institutions to pay the required amounts to the respective accountholders.

He expressed surprise that routine matters were being inflated to absurd levels and cases involving small amounts, such as Rs5,000, were not being settled on compassionate grounds by the banks. “Different institutions are being unnecessarily burdened with senseless representations, which are causing delays and inconvenience to customers,” he said. As per details, Asad Abbas, an accountholder of a stateowned bank, had used his ATM card to withdraw cash on July 3, 2019 in Khanewal. While the transaction was not carried out successfully, Rs40,000 was debited from his account.

READ Banks reluctant to open LCs for oil import

He approached the bank to reverse the amount but no relief was granted. Abbas then approached the Banking Mohtasib to seek justice, which asked the bank to credit Rs40,000 to his account. In another case, Muhammad Afzaal, an accountholder of a private bank, shared his personal financial details after receiving a call from the bank’s helpline on June 19, 2020.

Later, a sum of Rs5,000 was transferred from his account and he registered a complaint with the bank. When the bank failed to provide him relief, Afzaal also approached the Banking Mohtasib to seek justice. The Mohtasib asked the bank to credit the lost amount to his account and report compliance. Instead of implementing the decisions in the two cases, both banks challenged the verdicts and filed separate representations with the president.

Subsequently, the president held personal hearings of both the cases on March 29, 2022. During the hearing, he expressed dissatisfaction over the arguments of banks’ representatives. He cited that no justifications had been provided by the banks to controvert the claims of complainants and reverse the orders of the Mohtasib.

He rejected the representations and stated that both matters could have been resolved on compassionate grounds by the banks, but they dragged the issues for two years. Expressing displeasure over the attitude of the banks, the president regretted that routine matters had been taken to absurd levels. He stressed that he would not have censured the banks had those been matters of principle. “Pakistan is a rising nation and it cannot afford to waste the precious time of its institutions,” he stressed.