Business

Online scams: Banks directed to refund Rs2.74 million to fraud victims

Published

3 months ago

Farwa

As part of his efforts to provide justice to bank fraud victims, President Dr Arif Alvi Sunday asked Banking Mohtasib to take measures to refund Rs2.74 million to those who fell prey to the online scams.

President Alvi asked Banking Mohtasib to take up the matter of banking frauds with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to get the essential standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued, so that the proven fraudulent persons’ CNICs could be blacklisted, placed at the central negative list, besides ensuring that no banking facility could be extended to them by the banking industry.

The president issued these directions while rejecting two separate representations filed by two private banks directing them to pay Rs1.9 million and Rs0.744 million respectively to their customers who fell victim to online banking fraud at the hands of fraudsters, President Secretariat Press Wing said in a statement.

As per the details, Qaiser Mehmood who was holding an account with a private bank received a call from a number resembling the bank’s helpline and the caller advised him to activate his disabled digital banking app.

Mehmood activated his app, after which Rs2 million were transferred from his account through multiple transactions. Similarly, Brigadier (retd) Muhammad Arif Shaikh received a call from fraudsters asking him for his banking credentials to remove some technical flaws from his account.

Later, an amount of Rs 994,000 was transferred from his account through 19 transactions. They had asked their respective banks to refund their money but to no avail. Feeling aggrieved, they separately approached the Banking Ombudsman to get relief.

The Ombudsman directed the banks to refund the lost amounts to the customers. The banks, then, separately filed representations against the Ombudsman’s decisions with the President.

The president held personal hearing of the cases, and having listened to the parties and going through the available record, decided the cases in the complainants’ favour.

He observed that the banks were found non-compliant with the SBP’s directives regarding the implementation of monitoring systems to detect fraudulent transactions. He said that multiple consecutive transactions were conducted but it did not raise alerts and allowed the money to pass through the system.

He noted that the banks also failed to establish the legitimacy of transactions in terms of Section 41 of the Payment System and Electronic Fund Transfers Act, 2007.

The president said that the banks failed to submit any proof of compliance with the directions of SBP despite being given ample opportunity and concluded that malpractice and maladministration stood established on the part of the banks and they were liable to make good the financial loss of the complainants.

President Alvi, therefore, rejected the representations of the private banks and directed them to pay Rs1,998,500 and Rs744,000 to the complainants.

Business

There are US$13,280.5 million in foreign exchange reserves in Pakistan.

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

According to a representative for the central bank, as of April 19, 2024, the nation’s total liquid foreign reserves were valued at US$ 13,280.5 million. A loss of US$74 million left the State Bank of Pakistan’s foreign reserves at US$7,981.2 million.

Commercial banks have $5,299.3 million in reserves for Pakistan.

In the week that concluded on April 12, the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) foreign exchange reserves increased by $14.4 million to $8.055 billion.

“In a weekly statement, SBP stated that it has repaid US$ 1 billion in principal and interest on Pakistan’s International Bond, which matures this week.”

But at $13.374 billion, the nation’s total reserves decreased by $68 million. In the same way, commercial banks’ reserves dropped to $5.319 billion, a reduction of $82 million.

Business

NIMA seminar to increase Pakistan’s ship recycling industry’s capacity

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

According to a release, important players from a range of maritime industries attended the conference to discuss issues facing the shipping sector.

It further stated that the symposium cleared the path for the resurgence of a sustainable future in ship recycling.

Participants in the conference included representatives of the Gadani Ship Breaking Labour Union, PSBA, KS&EW, KPT, PMSA, GEMS, and the federal and Balochistani governments.

Furthermore, global perspectives and ideas were offered by international specialists such as Rabia Razzaque from UN-ILO and Professor Raphael Baumler from the World Maritime University.

The seminar emphasized Pakistan’s capacity to emerge as a pioneer in the field of environmentally friendly ship recycling.

In order to protect the environment and the safety of employees, the participants emphasized the importance of following international standards and regulations.

During his speech, Chief Guest Senator Nisar Ahmed Khoro emphasized the importance of the maritime industry’s resurgence and the crucial necessity for coordinated efforts from all parties involved.

A new age of economic prosperity, worker safety, and environmental responsibility for Pakistan’s maritime industry was called for as he urged the stakeholders to work together on a comprehensive SENSREC program.

Vice Admiral Ahmed Saeed (Retd), the president of NIMA, emphasized the significance of environmental stewardship and safety in ship recycling procedures.

Business

Inflows into the Roshan Digital Account surged to $7.660 billion on March 24.

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

According to the data, remittance inflows for the month of March totaled US$ 182 million, whereas they were US$ 141 million in February and US$ 142 million in January 2024.

Millions of Non-Resident Pakistanis (NRPs), including those who own Non-Resident Pakistan Origin Cards (POCs), can now engage in banking, payment, and investing activities in Pakistan with the help of these accounts, which offer cutting-edge banking solutions.

According to a statement from the State Bank of Pakistan, the number of accounts registered under the program increased by 11,091 from 668,701 accounts in February 2024 to 679,792 accounts in March 2024.

As of March 2024, the central bank reported that foreign nationals of Pakistan have invested US $312 million in Naya Pakistan Certificates, US $528 million in Naya Pakistan Islamic Certificates, and US $31 million in Roshan Equity Investment.

It is important to note that former prime minister Imran Khan introduced the Roshan Digital Account initiative in September 2020 with the goal of giving Pakistanis living abroad access to digital banking services for the first time.