President Dr Arif Alvi has directed two private banks to return a collective sum of Rs 4.1 million to four customers, who were swindled out of their money by fraudsters.
The president gave these remarks while rejecting three representations filed by Muslim Commercial Bank (MCB) and one by Allied Bank Ltd (ABL) against the orders of the Banking Mohtasib directing these banks to refund the lost amount to victims of bank fraud.
The banks had activated the Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) without obtaining the consent of the customers and were found negligent in complying with the State Bank of Pakistan’s various regulations regarding online fund transfer facilities, disclosing the terms of fund transfer in a clear and simple language to customers, and assigning limits to fund transfer.
President Alvi said that the loss of money occurred due to the reason that the banks made EFT operational without the account holders’ request, therefore, the banks committed maladministration and were liable to make good the loss of the customers.
As per details, Sumera Allahditta, Afzal Abbas Kazmi, Farah Muhammad Khan, and Dr Kanwar Shakeel Ahmed (the complainants) lost Rs 1,558,700, Rs 985,000, Rs 960,000, and Rs 598,000 respectively when these amounts were transferred from their bank accounts without their consent.
Dr Kanwar received a call from a number resembling ABL’s helpline and asked for his personal banking information to update the bank account. After he shared his banking information, Rs 598,000 were transferred from his account.
Sumera, Afzal, and Farah found out that huge amounts were missing from their bank accounts even though they hadn’t shared their personal details with anyone.
