ISLAMABAD:
A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, chaired by Saleem Mandviwalla, on Wednesday expressed concern over consumer complaints over high charges levied by banks for courier services.
During the meeting, Mandviwalla noted that consumers have raised concerns about banks charging excessive fees for SMS alerts.
Pakistan Banks Association President Zafar Masud informed the committee that customers pay charges to both banks and telecom companies for courier services.
It claimed that banks cannot fully recover their costs despite these charges, collectively incurring expenses of about Rs 2 billion a year.
Masud added that mobile phone companies charge around 60 paise per SMS from consumers and impose significantly higher charges on banks.
“These charges are quite high,” he said, adding that digital banking apps do not charge consumers any fees for notifications.
State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Deputy Governor Inayat Hussain informed the committee that as per regulatory instructions, banks are required to send SMS alerts to their customers.
It revealed that banks collect around Rs 18.7 billion annually from consumers in SMS-related charges, while they pay around Rs 25.6 billion to telecom companies.
According to Hussain, telecom companies charge banks almost five times more than what they charge regular consumers. He further stated that banks contribute around Rs 7 billion annually from their own resources to cover these costs.
The committee directed banks to provide full details of charges related to regulatory and other messaging services.
Meanwhile, Senator Abdul Qadir pointed out that banks make profits of around Rs 400 billion annually, so paying Rs 7 billion in this regard should not be considered significant.
