Banks charging undue fees & fines, say customers

[LRE]

Banks charging undue fees & fines, say customers

By Nauman Tasleem

LAHORE: Customers have accused that the banks are socialising the costs while privatizing profits by charging fines and penalties from customers over their own gaffes, Daily Times learnt Saturday.

A number of local and foreign banks have imposed different types of fines on their credit card customers and people have complaints about the lethargic attitude of banks and the complaint process.

Though the banks have established customer-care and complaint departments in order to facilitate the customers, but in majority of the cases the customers are found guilty while the officials declare their bank on the right.

The customers have also criticised the slow and long process of complaints. They said if banks fine them, then it is mandatory to pay the fine first and only after that a complaint can be lodged.

After lodging complain the process is so lengthy that most of the customers avoid using the option. Even if they chose to file complain, the tiring and mind boggling process forces them to withdraw it.

The credit card customers are the worst victims of this, as often they have to pay ‘late payment’, ‘check bounce’ and ‘over limit’ fines. The minimum fine is Rs 600 and in some cases it is more than that.

There are around six million credit card users exists in the country who are charged counter fees for their credit and debit card. Some four years back, a number of banks started issuing credit cards to the customers without any such fee.

But now almost all the banks are charging Rs 100 to Rs 300 as counter charges. “All the credit card customers are bound to pay counter charges if they choose to make the payments in cash,” said a banking official. Such measures are taken to discourage rush and congestion in the banks.

Most of times the customers have to pay the fines that are totally due to the negligence of the banks, said Saeed Ather, a credit card user. He said normally he pays credit card bill through cheque and drop the cheque at least four days before the due date, but even then he has to pay fine once only because of the staffs’ negligence.

“I dropped cheque in drop box of the bank but no one picked up the cheque,” he said. In his next credit card bill he was fined Rs 600 for not paying the bill. “I was shocked to see the bill and immediately contacted the help line of the bank and lodged my complaint,” Ather said. “It was bank’s fault but even then I was held responsible for the late payment,” he lamented.

After following the complaint for around four week he finally gave up. Every time he called the help line he was told “the inquiry is under process.”

It was not only Saeed Ather who was penalised by the banks; there are a large number of customers who have such types of complaints. “I have availed loan from a bank some three years ago and the loan installment was deducted automatically from my account,” said a businessman Tariq Mehmood. At the maturity of loan, he was fined about Rs 3,000 for delaying payments. “I always made the payments in time but even then i was fined.” However, I lodged complaint and after a process of three weeks I was finally declared innocent. Tariq had to run to three branches located at different areas in the process. “Who is to pay the psychological and financial costs I had to bear to get myself absolved,” he questioned.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...008_pg5_12