When I get older

The government of Pakistan established the Employees Old-Age Benefit Institution (EOBI) for the welfare of senior citizens. Under this programme, retired citizens get a fixed amount on a monthly basis. Over the years, however, the institution has introduced tedious procedures that every EOBI pensioner has to follow to withdraw his/her monthly pension. Recently, the EOBI issued new ATM cards to all its registered members. For their activation, members are supposed to call at the given UAN number. However, calling on this number means wasting precious time and incurring additional phone charges. Callers usually have to wait for an hour to talk to a bank representative. I visited the bank to get my card activated and was told to send a message to the EOBI helpline number. I received a text message that said that the EOBI’s “dedicated agent” would contact me within 48 hours. I received no response.

Also, time after time, the EOBI asks pensioners to get their biometric verification done. For this purpose, they can go to any Easypaisa shop or to any branch of the dedicated bank. However, Easypaisa outlets don’t offer this service any more. Also, this service is not available at ‘every branch’ of the bank. Senior citizens run from pillar to post to get done with the verification process. And when they finally reach the branch which offers these services, they have to deal with another problem – the machine doesn’t work for those whose fingerprints have faded. Pensioners have to wait for hours for their turn as the bank staff tries to solve the problem. There is no doubt that bank officers talk politely and are willing to help senior citizens. The EOBI needs to look into these problems and upgrade its system.

Aamir Aqil

Lahore