KARACHI: Over 135 percent increase has been observed in the number of complaints lodged with the Banking Mohtasib Pakistan during the first quarter of this calendar year (CY21).

By disposing of these complaints, the Banking Mohtasib Office has provided monetary relief of Rs 132.62 million to the banking customers during the first quarter of 2021.

Most of complaints were relate to alleged frauds, forgeries and other irregularities during the first January to March, 2021) of the current calendar year as compared to the same period of last year (2020).

According to statistics released by Banking Mohtasib Pakistan., almost 11,732 complaints were received by the Banking Mohtasib Secretariat from 1st January to 31st March, as against 4,994 complaints received in the same period of last year depicting an increase of 135 percent.

These also include some 7,595 complaints received on Prime Minister’s Portal relating to banking issues as compared to 1,411 complaints received during the first quarter of previous year i.e. 2020.

According to the first quarterly newsletter of the Banking Mohtasib Pakistan out of the total 11,732 complaints 5,375 were received in the month of March only, which is the highest figure of complaints recorded in a single month since the inception of Banking Mohtasib Pakistan Office in 2005.

The increase in the number of complaints indicates that the general public feels that their genuine grievances will be resolved amicably by the Banking Mohtasib Office.

The Banking Mohtasib Secretariat disposed of 4,672 complaints from 1st January to 31st March, out of which only 2 percent of complaints were resolved through formal orders while remaining 98 percent of complaints were resolved amicably.

The Banking Mohtasib Pakistan Muhammad Kamran Shehzad has urged the general public not to disclose their personal and financial credentials to any person in order to protect themselves from any fraud, forgeries etc.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021