Economy Desk: The rate of complaints from customers of banks and financial institutions is increasing. According to the annual report of the central bank for the years 2022–2023, 10 thousand 542 complaints have been received by the Bangladesh Bank due to obstruction of the bank’s services. Of these, 8,682 complaints have been settled or resolved by the organization.
That is, 82.36 percent of the total complaints have been settled. In the previous financial year (2021-2022), the complaint disposal rate was 91.42 percent. In the previous financial year, too, the complaint resolution rate was 100 percent. That is, the number of complaints has increased over the years, but the settlement rate has decreased.
Those concerned said that transactions through cards are increasing day by day. Mobile banking is now a very popular transaction medium. Therefore, along with the increase in banking service users, the service scope of the bank is gradually increasing. The entire banking sector is growing in tandem with the economy. So the number of complaints is also increasing. According to Bangladesh Bank’s report, victims can report to the Central Bank’s Financial Integrity and Customer Service Department (FICSD) if they are harassed or have any other complaint about banking and financial services. The Vigilance and Anti-Fraud Division of FICSD keeps a close watch on the banking sector through special inspections to prevent and reduce irregularities, corruption, and fraud in the banking sector.
According to Bangladesh Bank’s Financial Integrity and Customer Services Department (FICSD), there are usually 13 types of complaints made by customers. These include general banking interruptions, bank guarantee issues, note and coin issues, customer service dissatisfaction, legal notices, loans and advances, fees and charges, local trade bills, foreign trade bills, check forgery, remittances, cards, mobile banking, etc.
Complaints are increasing with time, but settlement rates are decreasing. In this context, the bank affiliates say that the visit of the special team of the central bank to the banks has been reduced due to the election year. In 2020, several private banks laid off workers during the Corona pandemic. There are also allegations of forcing many to resign. In such a situation, Bangladesh Bank was ordered to stop the retrenchment of bank employees and reinstate the bank employees who were fired or forced to resign during the Corona virus. But the banks did not follow this instruction. So the dismissed people approached the court without finding a way.
Taking into account the issue of dismissal, the High Court issued a rule in favor of the bankers. At the same time, Bangladesh Bank was asked to apply for reinstatement. In view of that order, the bankers also wrote to the governor to get their jobs back. All these unemployed bankers have complained to the central bank. Due to this, the number of complaints to the central bank is believed to have increased.
