Imran’s telethons: Expats give only Rs1,580m for flood victims

PESHAWAR: In response to PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s three telethons, only Rs1580 million could be collected from abroad for the flood victims.

Domestic receipts were higher than foreign transactions, which also included donations from the government employees. Out of the total pledges of Rs4605 million, Rs3024m were collected domestically. Almost $18 million in pledges were declined by the account holders or the banks concerned. Three owners of the credit card did not authorise transactions of $10.5 million.

Imran Khan held three telethons at different times to collect funds for the flood victims, in which Rs15 billion were claimed to have been collected, but only Rs4605 million were actually received in the accounts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab chief ministers.

According to data available to this scribe, 66pc of domestic and 34pc of international funds had been matured in the flood relief accounts of the chief ministers of KP and Punjab. The total collection of Rs4605 million included Rs1580 million (34%) international collections, and Rs3024 million (66%) domestic collections. That included international transactions of 20,540 (17%) and domestic transactions of 96,958 (83%).

Around Rs4345 million credit card transactions could not be translated into donations for the victims. Despite pledges, three owners of credit cards did not authorise transactions of $10.5 million. Around $2.7 million pledges were not matured because the owners keyed in incorrectly. Similarly, US$3.7 million was declined by the issuer bank due to insufficient credit card limit, the card may have a “do not honour” mark.

The Bank of Khyber received Rs1213 million including Rs155.40 million in foreign remittances. This includes 34,596 numbers of transactions. The Bank of Khyber received 12.7pc foreign donations while 87pc were deposited domestically. As many as 117,498 people from inside the country and abroad deposited donations in the Bank of Khyber.

The Bank of Punjab and Punjab Information Technology Board received donations of Rs2327.8 million and Rs1061.7 million, respectively. This included Rs1425 million in foreign remittances, while Rs1964 million were collected domestically. The Bank of Punjab received 42pc in the form of foreign remittances while the remaining 58pc was collected locally.