Delinquent Pakistani banks forced to refund Rs 132 mn to account holders

In line with the proverb ''Justice delayed, Justice denied, the office of banking mohtasib in Pakistan is gearing up to resolve complaints against banks in a 45 day period and an indication to this effect is the fact that the banks were made to pay over Rs132 million to the complainants against the banks in 2010.

According to annual reports, bank frauds have registered an alarming rise of 13 per cent as against fraud figures in 2009 with most complaints related to parallel banking and misappropriation of funds.

Mansur ur Rehman Khan, the banking mohtasib of Pakistan shared the 6th annual report for the year 2010 with the media in Karachi today.

The report said that a clean separation from bank services allows the delinquent employees take up a job in another bank and create a potential for further frauds there.

If a data base of such tainted ex-employees could be maintained it could help prevent repetition of frauds and help in promoting consumer confidence in the banking with the proviso that banks refer to it before making appointments.

Policies and procedures were reviewed internally in 2010 to identify opportunities and improve the complaints resolution process. Following this, the number of days taken to resolve a complaint was reduced from an average of 326 days in 2009 to 101 days in the year 2010.