Businessmen seek relief from Banking Mohtasib

PESHAWAR: Traders here on Tuesday urged the Federal Banking Mohtasib (Ombudsman) to reduce the duration of complaint registration to 10 days, which is currently 45 days to ensure swift disposal of cases against various commercial banks.

Members of the business community made these demands during a meeting chaired by Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI’s) President Hasnain Khurshid Ahmad during the visit of Federal Banking Mohtasib (Ombudsman) Kamran Shehzad.

A press release said that Banking Mohtasib should take notice of the discriminatory attitude of commercial banks, which has caused huge financial losses on the head of the penalty and additional charges. The traders complained about declaring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa a ‘red zone’ by commercial banks, because of which, the lending ratio is less than 2 per cent against the swelling deposits in the province.

Hasnain Khurshid suggested the linking of SCCI’s web portal with Federal Banking Mohtasib of Pakistan, saying that the portal has already directly linked with more than 600 public sector institutions, which has played a pivotal role in amicable redressal of business community complaints by taking them with the department concerned in an efficient manner.

He also raised the issue of letters of credit related to commercial banks, saying that the business community has faced enormous difficulties owing to a shortage of dollars in the market.

Therefore, he urged the banking ombudsman to play its due role in resolving this issue.