Rs1.65bn returned to bank customers as complaints rise: Banking Mohtasib

KARACHI: The Institution of Banking Mohtasib Pakistan (BMP) on Monday said it witnessed a significant rise in complaints in 2024 due to the increased use of digital and electronic platforms.

The growth of mobile and digital applications has also contributed to a higher incidence of fraud, it said.In 2024, the BMP provided relief amounting to Rs1.65 billion to banking customers by resolving 27,753 complaints against commercial banks. This is an increase from the Rs1.26 billion offered in relief in 2023 after the resolution of 25,493 complaints.

Banking Mohtasib Pakistan Sirajuddin Aziz told a press conference that during 2024, a major increase was seen in complaints of fraud and cases of account blockage by banks on one pretext or the other.

The other factor in the increase in complaints relates to the service inefficiency of banks. The attention of respective stakeholders and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has been drawn towards these drawbacks, Aziz added.

He said that recently launched digital banks have also been placed under the ambit of the Banking Mohtasib office, which requires the adoption of additional measures, besides more staff who should be fully equipped with fintech operations and related technologies.

Aziz, while releasing the BMP annual report for 2024, said that after the addition of leftover complaints from last year (2023) and those received during the year (2024), 41,546 complaints in total were dealt with during the year. Out of the 27,753 complaints disposed of during the year, 24,498 complaints were resolved amicably through reconciliation, while 1,330 (5.0 per cent) complaints were decided after record formal hearings held at various centres of the country, including Mirpur (AJK) where the Banking Mohtasib does not have a regular office, and 1,925 (7.0 per cent) complaints were disposed of / rejected being incomplete, frivolous or due to lack of jurisdiction of the Banking Mohtasib.

He pointed out that relief of around Rs8 billion was provided to the customers by the Banking Mohtasib office since its inception in 2005. He explained that there was an increase of 6.0 per cent in public complaints lodged with the BMP office against commercial banks during the year 2024 as compared to the year 2023.

Aziz added that complaints received through the prime minister’s portal during the year 2024 worked out to 7,193. “Efforts are made to dispose of complaints expeditiously; however, 3,283 complaints received during the last 45 days of the year, 2024, have resulted in an overall increase in complaints brought forward for next year (2025),” he added.

He said that the efforts of banks to meticulously educate people through electronic and print media to protect them from fraud and forgeries have failed to bring effective results. As such, these efforts are to be redoubled on a collective basis, and spreading messages to people, particularly in the country’s rural areas, is an urgent need of the hour to protect the customers from fraudsters. For the purpose, besides national languages, the messages should also be conveyed to people in regional languages to ensure substantive, meaningful and effective steps for foolproof security of the customers’ deposits.