SBP bars banks from taking service charges on flood donations State Bank of Pakistan

SBP bars banks from taking service charges on flood donations

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday barred commercial banks from taking service charges on donations under PM Flood Relief Fund 2022.

Earlier, the central bank on August 24 regarding the Prime Minister Relief fund, 2022 and advised the bank to collect funds for helping our fellow citizens devasted by ongoing rains and floods across the country.

The SBP said it has been decided that all issuing and acquiring banks/microfinance banks/payment schemes operating in Pakistan shall not charge any transaction related charges like Interchange Reimbursement Fee (IRF), Merchant Discount Rate (MDR), Merchant ID Fee, Scheme Fee, Inter Bank Fund Transfer (IBFT) Fee, or any other payment related fee that may be applicable on transactions made for donations / payments to Prime Minister Relief Fund 2022.

READ MORE: Complaints against banks for refusing flood donations

The issuing and acquiring banks/microfinance banks/payment schemes are advised to meticulously comply with these instructions.

According to instructions issued on August 24, the SBP stated that with a view to raise awareness among the potential donors and facilitate them in contributing to the PM’s Flood Relief Fund 2022, banks are advised to undertake following measures on immediate priority and submit compliance by August 30, 2022:

a) Banks shall prominently display banners at all their branches bearing the description “DONATIONS TO THE PRIME MINISTER’S (PM) FLOOD RELIEF FUND ARE ACCEPTED HERE”.

b) Banks shall highlight the IBAN of the Fund at their websites and ATMs screens enabling their clients to donate to the fund digitally.

READ MORE: SBP issues IBAN list for donations to PM flood relief fund

c) Banks shall also send SMS alerts to all their clients informing them about the establishment of the Prime Minister Flood Relief Fund and its IBAN.

d) To facilitate the walk-in customers in making cash deposits in the fund “pre-printed deposit slips” shall be available at the banks’ counters.

e) The banks offering Roshan Digital Account (RDA) shall make the “PM Flood Relief Fund” available on their Roshan Samaji Khidmat page/portal enabling RDA holders to contribute to the Fund in hassle free manner. The donations received through RDA shall be transmitted to SBP along with donations received through other sources on a daily-basis through RTGS as advised earlier.

The Banks are also encouraged to advertise the PM Flood Relief Fund through their social media pages including their webpages, Facebook pages, twitter accounts etc. to create maximum awareness about the fund and the mechanism to make the donations in the fund.

The banks shall ensure that their branch staff has full awareness and understanding of establishment of the fund and the mechanism to collect the donations in the fund account.