President Dr Arif Alvi has provided relief to 6 different victims of bank fraud by upholding the decisions of the Banking Mohtasib ordering private banks to refund a collective sum of over Rs 827,000 to the accountholders.
The President rejected 05 different representations of Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and 01 representation of Meezan Bank Limited against the decisions of Banking Mohtasib directing them to make good the loss of the victims of bank fraud by crediting the lost money to their individual bank accounts.
As per the details of the cases, Muhammad Pervaiz Khan, Kashif Latif, Naimat Ali, Intezar Ahmed, Ms Asia Manzoor, and Mohsin Shabbir (the complainants) had been maintaining their individual bank accounts with HBL.
They received calls from unknown numbers and the callers posed as bank officials and asked them to share their personal credentials which they did. The callers managed to defraud Pervaiz Khan of Rs 333,300, Latif of Rs 140,000, Naimat of Rs 137,489, Intezar of Rs 119,848, Ms Asia of Rs 78,780 and Shabbir of Rs 20,108 by fraudulently transferring funds from their bank accounts.
Afterward, they received alerts about hefty amounts being withdrawn from their bank accounts. The complainants approached the bank to get their defrauded amounts refunded, however, they were not given any relief.
Later, the complainants approached the Banking Mohtasib individually to seek redressal of their complaints. The Banking Mohtasib in its decision wrote that the bank had activated fund transfer service i.e., IB/EFT channel by default without informing the complainants and had not divulged the pros and cons of the “fund transfer” facility in terms of Section 30 of Payment System and Electronic Fund Transfer Act-2007.
It noted that since the facility was unsolicited, therefore, any financial loss in this regard cannot be categorized as “customer liability”.
It further observed that had IB/EFT channel not been made operational by the bank, the complainants could have avoided the financial loss.
The Banking Mohtasib held that the bank could not produce any evidence to the effect that it had complied with the provisions of law, rules and regulations and ordered the bank to refund the defrauded money to the complainants.
Subsequently, the banks filed representations with the Honorable President against the decisions of the Mohtasib.
The President in his decision observed that the banks were given ample opportunity to defend and controvert the claims of the complainants, however, they failed to provide any justification to upset the orders of the Mohtasib.
“The Banks failed to discharge their duty and the legal responsibility cast upon them under the law”, the President noted while rejecting the appeals as being devoid of any merit.
ISLAMABAD: The government Tuesday decided to keep the prices of petroleum products unchanged for the next fortnight till December 15, 2021.
A notification said that the prices of petroleum products will be the same as notified on November 15, 2021.
Petrol would be sold at Rs145.82 per liter; High-Speed Diesel at Rs142.62 per liter; kerosene oil at Rs116.53 per liter and light diesel oil at Rs114.07 per liter, according to a press statement issued by the finance ministry here.
Tarin was addressing a virtual meeting of the Pay and Pension Commission.
The Commission is headed by Zafar Ahmed Khan and is composed of senior professionals from public and private sectors as well as serving Federal and Provincial Secretaries, AJK and GB and other senior officers of the governments also attended the meeting.
Speaking on the occasion, the Adviser underscored that current model for pay and pension is not sustainable and there is a need to rationalize the salaries, allowances, perks etc. on the basis of performance and quality work.
The performance of the employees may be assessed on the basis of setting targets and KPIs and simultaneously best performers may be compensated with rewards.
The Adviser stressed for removal of anomalies in basic pay structure and suggested a uniform basic pay structure for all the organizations. He suggested for the adoption of internationally accepted practices in the matter of pensions.
Tarin emphasized that there is a need to work out ranges for linking compensation with performance. This will ensure meritocracy in the recruitment and result in improved service delivery in the public sector.
The Adviser further extended his full support and cooperation to the Commission.
Chairman, Pay and Pension Commission thanked Adviser to the PM on Finance and Revenue for his keen interest and ownership of the work of the Pay and Pension Commission. He assured that the Commission will do its best to come up to the expectations of the Government and would present an actionable set of recommendations to the Government for rationalizing the pays of the public servants.
ISLAMABAD: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has signed an agreement to extend an oil facility of $100 million per month for one year to Pakistan on deferred payments.
Sultan bin Abdulrahman Al-Marshad, CEO of Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) exchanged the Financing Agreement with Omer Ayub Khan, Minister for Economic Affairs for the Import of Saudi Goods on Monday.
Talking on the occasion, Minister for Economic Affairs stated that Pakistan values the bilateral and brotherly relations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and thanked KSA for extending support for implementing the infrastructure and energy projects in Pakistan.
KSA helped Pakistan generously during the earthquake of 2005. Both the countries signed projects worth $500 million during the visit of the Prime Minister of Pakistan to the Kingdom in May this year. As per the Financing Agreement, the SFD will extend the financing facility up to $100 million per month for one year for the import of crude oil and petroleum products from Saudi Arabia, which will be extended for another year.
The CEO, SFD stated that Saudi Arabia holds relations with Pakistan in the highest esteem and assured to extend full support for the implementation of development projects in Pakistan. Both sides expressed their strong commitment to enhancing bilateral economic relations in the future.
The Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Division (EAD) Omar Ayub Khan chaired the ECC meeting and took several important decisions.
Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar, Abdul Razak Dawood Advisor to Prime Minister on Commerce, Textile, Industries & Production and Investment, Federal Secretaries and other senior officers participated in the meeting.
The ECC considered the summary submitted by the Ministry of National Food Security & Research approved the proposal for the donation of 50,000 M. Tons of wheat to Afghanistan. ECC further directed the Finance Division to provide funds for the purpose on an actual cost basis.
The ECC also recommended relaxation of the ban on the export of wheat/wheat flour to Afghanistan to the extent of the instant proposal with the direction that the Ministry of National Food Security and Research may inform the Federal Cabinet of the ratio for mixing of local and imported wheat in case export of wheat flour is required.
On a Summary tabled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding “Extraordinary Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) in Pakistan” the ECC approved two Technical Supplementary Grants (TSGs) for the purpose during CFY 2021-22 i.e., (i) Rs.233.342 million in favor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and (i) Rs 64.2 million in favor of the Interior Division.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has banned foreign travel from six South African countries and Hong Kong due to the emergence of a new coronavirus variant namely ‘Omicron’.
Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar in his Tweet said: “Based on the emergence of the new Covid variant, notification has been issued restrict travel from 6 South African countries and Hong Kong.”
The minister who is also Chairman of the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said the emergence of new variant makes it even more urgent to vaccinate all eligible citizens 12 years and older.
ISLAMABAD: The talks between the government and Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association ended in a success which has led to the strike being called off.
“The talks between the government and petroleum dealers association have led to the strike being called off,” Hammad Azhar, Minister of Energy said in a Tweet on Thursday night.
The talks between the Govt and petroleum dealers association has led to the strike being called off. The govt will notify 0.99 paisa increase in their margins after due approval from cabinet as per existing summary. After 6 months we will move to % system up to 4.4% margin.
Earlier, the petroleum dealers association observed a shutdown strike on Thursday for raising profit margin on sale of petroleum products.
Most of the fuel pumps were remained closed during the day. Even those pumps owned by Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) which announced to open their outlets, were also closed for the shortage of stock.
The energy minister in his Tweet said that the government will notify 0.99 paisa increase in their margins after due approval from the cabinet as per the existing summary. “After six months we will move to % (per cent) system up to 4.4 per cent margin,” he added.
Earlier, PPDA Chairman Abdul Sami Khan said petroleum dealers had been in a difficult position due to the high cost of business and low margins. He said that the government guarantees a margin of only 2 per cent on sales of fuel oil in the face of rising electricity tariffs.
“We demand the government to cancel our petrol pumps licenses,” he said, adding that nearly 50 per cent of the petrol pumps will close down permanently with license cancellation as no one will reapply for acquisition.
“Immediate increase on ex-depot price in dealers’ margin for HSD and MS without burdening common people and without increasing prices of petroleum products, absorbing dealers’ margin increase by reducing Sales Tax and PDL,” he demanded.
A day earlier, Gas & Oil Pakistan Company Limited (GO), with the largest retail outlet network of 1,000 outlets in the private sector and the largest network of company-owned, company-operated (COCO) outlets in Pakistan assured the customers that all its outlets would remain open and continue to function normally.
“GO remains firm in its commitment to fulfilling the fueling needs of the nation come what may,” the company said in a tweet.
Shell Pakistan also announced to open its outlet to serve the nation. “Shell Pakistan announces that they will not participate in the strike on November 25, 2021,” according to the company. All the company-operated retail stations will be opened to serve the customers, it added.
Hascol, another OMC, assured that all its owned and company-operated (COCO) stations, including all service stations on the M2 Lahore-Islamabad Motorway will remain open and ready to serve them as per routine.
Pakistan State Oil (PSO) also showed its commitment that all COCO stations will remain open nationwide and continue to function normally. “PSO is committed to serving the nation during such challenging time,” it said.
KARACHI: Builders and developers have announced to stop construction work on all their projects from Friday, November 26, 2021 against the declaration of null and void to approved projects.
“Despite the approvals of the buildings and projects from all the government agencies they stand null and void,” he said.
He urged the government to tell the builders and developers, who are the final authority from the get approval.
Shekhani said that ABAD is against the illegal encroachments and illegal constructions. “Illegal projects if constructed it is a duty of government agencies to check and give NoC,” he added.
ABAD is following approvals strictly. But despite approvals and getting permission the moves to shatter the confidence of the people, he added.
“We are backstabbing the overseas Pakistani and local investors who have invested millions of rupees,” he said. Confidence of Overseas and local investors would be perturbed, he added.
From Friday work at projects in Karachi, Hyderabad and other cities will be halted, he announced.
Slowly the work in other parts of the countries will also be stopped, Shekhani added.
The incentive program namely Sohni Dharti Remittance Program (SDRP) offered jointly by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Ministry of Finance and financial institutions.
SDRP is an innovative program designed to incentivize Pakistani workers abroad to send remittances to Pakistan through banks and exchange companies and earn reward points.
These reward points could then be used to avail of different benefits offered by partner organizations. SDRP can be accessed conveniently from anywhere in the world through a mobile application.
In his address as the Chief Guest, the Prime Minister thanked the overseas Pakistanis for posing confidence in the bright future of their homeland by sending record high remittances of over $29 billion in the last fiscal year 2020/2021 and continuing the trend in FY22.
The Prime Minister noted that his Government has always encouraged and appreciated the efforts of Overseas Pakistanis through various initiatives and programs.
He especially mentioned the incentives like making remittances transfer free of cost, providing free airtime for remittances received through mobile wallets and covering the marketing cost of remittance service providers.
The Prime Minister congratulated the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Ministry of Finance (MoF), financial institutions, participating public sector entities (PSEs) and all other stakeholders as without their efforts the launch of this remittance incentive program would not have been possible.
He termed the launch of SDRP as a tribute to the Pakistani workers abroad who have been contributing in the development of the country by sending their hard-earned money back to Pakistan.
He also appreciated the concept of giving incentives through a digital application for sending remittances via official channels.
Governor SBP, Dr. Reza Baqir in his welcome address expressed heartfelt gratitude to the Prime Minister for his continuous interest and guidance in developing ways to facilitate the Overseas Pakistanis and workers abroad.
Dr. Baqir elaborated that SohniDharti Remittance Program is another outcome of the PM’s vision. Referring to earlier initiatives, he said that Roshan Digital Account and the Naya PakistanCertificates have been huge successes and the PM’s support has played an instrumental role in it.
Adding further, he said that another initiative like the Mera Pakistan MeraGhar scheme providing low-cost housing finance for first-time homeowners is another example where the PM’s vision and support have led to a significant takeoff of housing finance in the country, which had otherwise been negligible.
Dr. Reza Baqirsaid that he was delighted and privileged to announce the launch of SDRP, which is an excellent combined effort of the Government of Pakistan, SBP, financial institutions and other organizations.
Divulging the details, he disclosed that all home remittances sent from anywhere in the world through legal channels are eligible for inclusion in the SDRP. Besides, funds received in Roshan Digital Accounts which are consumed locally through conversion, and thus become non-repatriable, also qualify for inclusion in the program.
The Governor termed the launch of SDRP another step towards digitalization and financial inclusion that would play a significant role in the digital onboarding of Overseas Pakistanis and their beneficiaries in Pakistan. The mobile application of SDRPis available at both Google android and Apple IOS platforms. He took the opportunity to appreciate the participating banks, PSEsand other stakeholders in this regard as it was due to their hard work that this initiative finally saw the light of the day.
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Mr. Shaukat Tareen congratulated SBP, PSEs and other relevant stakeholders for implementing the SDRP as a technology-based solution. He observed that the establishment of Pakistan Remittance Initiative in 2009 was a decision that has worked quite effectively to integrate country’s financial institutions with the ones abroad to help the Pakistani diaspora in sending remittance to their families in Pakistan in a very efficient and cost-effective manner.
Under the SDRP, if an individual sends remittance to the limit of USD10,000 or equivalent in one fiscal year, then he/she will be awarded one percent as a reward and allotted a green card category. Similarly, for remittances sent by an individual between USD10,000 and USD30,000 or equivalent, the remitter would be given 1.25 percent as reward and classified into gold card category. Lastly, for remittances of more than USD30,000 or equivalent, he/she will be awarded 1.5 percent as reward and allotted a platinum card category.
The reward points can be redeemed by remitters and their beneficiaries for availing free of cost services from eight (08) participating PSEs at the moment. The services offered include international tickets by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and the provision to pay for extra luggage on international flights of PIA.
Along with this, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has allowed Overseas Pakistanis to pay duty on import of mobile phone and vehicles. The National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA) will provide services related to the renewal of CNIC/NICOP and along with this, they can renew their passports without any hassle. Overseas Pakistanis can avail life insurance premium payment through state life insurance services and a facility to pay schools’ fee of Overseas Pakistanis Foundation schools.
Moreover, overseas Pakistanis will be able to make purchases through a network of utility stores across the country. Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) will provide preferential services to overseas Pakistanis under the umbrella of this program by installing separate counters and provide priority clearance whereas Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) will ensure the placement of standees and banners for the promotion of this initiative.
