Atiur says govt should remove dishonest, unskilled directors from SoBs
Complaints lodged by clients with the Bangladesh Bank against scheduled banks and non-bank financial institutions increased by 4.18 per cent in the last financial year with the Sonali Bank topping the chart. A Bangladesh Bank report released on Monday showed that financial integrity and customer services department, a wing of the central bank, received a total of 4,476 complaints against the banks and NBFIs in the FY14. The figure was 4,296 in the FY13.
Clients filed most of the allegations about the general banking (49.82 per cent), loans and advances (10.71 per cent), trade bills (5.80 per cent), debit and credit cards (5.54 per cent) and remittance (1.70 per cent).
BB governor Atiur Rahman unveiled the report at the central bank headquarters in the capital.
Atiur said banks should improve their customer services.
‘The banks which do not give better services to their customers will fail to continue their business due to the existing competition in the sector,’ he said.
The BB report showed that the number of complaints against the private commercial banks was higher than that against the state-owned commercial banks as the number of the PCBs is more than that of the SCBs.
Clients lodged 55.52 per cent complaints against 39 PCBs, 25.97 per cent against four SCBs, 6.89 per cent against four state-run specialised banks and 4.09 per cent against nine foreign commercial banks in the FY14.
The BB received the highest number of complaints against Sonali Bank (291). Two other state-owned banks — Janata Bank and Agrani Bank — were in the second and third position as 186 and 185 complaints were lodged against them respectively in FY14.
Among the PCBs, the highest number of complaints was received against Islami Bank Bangladesh. The clients filed 152 complaints against the bank.
The other banks which faced significant number of complaints from clients are Prime Bank, BRAC Bank, Mercantile Bank, Bangladesh Krishi Bank, The Premier Bank and Shajalal Islami Bank.
The BB report, however, showed that the rate of clients’ complaint
resolved by the central bank increased to 95.87 per cent in the FY14 against 68.46 per cent in the FY13.
Atiur said, ‘The central bank will continue to take punitive measures against corrupt bankers. Action against corrupt bankers is playing a role in reducing complaints and corruption.’
The central bank has so far taken punitive measures against 184 officials of different banks due to their involvement in corruption since 2011 when the BB introduced its customer interest protection centre.
BB governor said, ‘I hope that the government will appoint honest and skilled directors in the state-owned banks that will ensure good governance in the banks.’
The government should remove dishonest and unskilled directors from the state-run banks, he said.
According to the BB report, a number of clients received services from the central bank after filing allegations against different banks.
For example, Shah Amir Ali and Abdul Md Mukit, depositors of First Security Islami Bank, Sylhet branch complained the BB that their maintained double benefit scheme of Tk 20 lakh and Tk 25 lakh respectively in the branch had liened against liabilities and debts of investment recipient M/S Silmon Consortium Ltd.
Former Sylhet branch manager of the FSIBL AZ Niaz Ahmed Chowdhury and his associates adjusted all the outstanding debts of the investment recipient by encashment of double benefit scheme illegally.
After receiving complaints, the BB conducted an inspection and instructed the bank to take punitive measures against the officials involved and refund the money to the concerned depositors.
Farah Sadeque is an US expatriate Bangladeshi who lodged a complaint to the BB against wage earners corporation branch of Sonali Bank saying that she applied for a RAJUK plot and got the allotment duly.
RAJUK asked Farah to send the value of the plot in two instalments to the account of its (RAJUK) chairman maintained with Sonali Bank.
She remitted the first instalment of Tk $1,750 through Rupali Exchange, New York via Uttara Bank on July 30, 2005 and the second instalment of $2,030 through Sonali Exchange, New York on June 4, 2011.
But, when she has recently checked it up with RAJUK, she has been informed that her remitted money was not credited to the account of RAJUK.
Against the backdrop, she lodged complaint with the BB and the central bank took initiative in this regard.
The BB unearthed that Sonali Bank did not credited the money, but later the bank credited the money to the account of RAJUK.
‘The BB is now thinking to appoint an ombudsman in the near future to resolve the central bank’s internal complaints,’ Atiur said at the report launching ceremony.
‘BB officials now have no scope for solving their allegations by lodging complaints. The ombudsman will resolve the complaints along with the central bank’s internal problems,’ he said.
Consumers Association of Bangladesh president Ghulam Rahman attended the report launching programme as special guest.
Rahman said that different types of corruption were now being perpetrated targeting the money required for implementing the government’s social safety net programme.
The BB should take initiative to transfer the money of social safety net programmes to the stakeholders of the programmes through bank accounts.
Association of Bankers, Bangladesh chairman Ali Reza Iftekhar and BB deputy governor SK Sur Chowdhury addressed, among others, the report launching programme.
-With New Age input
