ISLAMABAD, Aug 8: Almost all Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) installed by the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) in Rawalpindi and Islamabad are out-of-order these days landing the account- holders in serious trouble.

According to the account-holders, the bank’s ATMs mostly remain out-of-order and repeated complaints in this regard have cut no ice with the bank management.

The most serious fault in these ATMs is that the required sum of money is shown debited from the account but it is not released which, in most cases, shocks the account-holder. This is particularly the worst trial for someone needing money immediately.

“When this situation arises, the complainants are asked to submit an application for crediting of the debited sum into the account. One has to wait for one or two days to get the money back,” they said.

The account-holders say either the bank should rectify these machines or close them down because they are more a nuisance than a comfort.

“I needed money to admit my daughter to a hospital for surgery, but I found all the ATMs in Islamabad out of order thus delaying the operation,” said Shehzad, a client.

He said now almost all ATM card-holders preferred to draw money by cheque.

When contacted, an official of the bank said the ATMs usually go out of order due to some fault in networking. Interestingly, the ATMs of the other banks are in good working order and there are few complaints.