KARACHI: With customers facing multiple problems when using Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), the State Bank on Tuesday directed banks to improve the poorly managed ATM services across the country.
The banks were told to take necessary measures in order to ensure maximum availability of ATM services and avoid public inconvenience during the upcoming Eidul Fitr holidays.
Complaints have been piling up over the years about poor online banking services which show no signs of improvement.
Customers using ATMs have been facing many issues including misreporting about the cash; deduction of cash during a transaction but no delivery of cash to the customer, and frequent ‘link down’, ‘ATM is out of order’ or ‘your bank failed to respond’ messages.
The SBP’s instruction to the banks just before Eid is clearly a temporary initiative to calm down thousands of people having serious complaints against the ATM services.
Banks have been instructed to ensure round-the-clock availability, consistent monitoring of ATMs and mobilisation of maximum resources to timely resolve issues like ‘out of cash’, hardware, software problems, power outages and connectivity glitches, an SBP circular said.
It is commonly observed that ATMs stop working during the first week of each month.
A senior banker said that the high-tech machines have been installed in a country where problems like inadequate supply of electricity create problems.
“When we adjust inadequate electricity supply through UPS or our own generators, PTCL creates problems through line disturbance and ATMs stop working,” said a banker at a big private bank.
The State Bank never bothered to look into the matter of network problems in thousands of bank branches. Due to these network problems, cheque holders have to wait for several hours and sometimes the entire day to get cash.
The other serious problem with ATMs is the machine’s misreporting about the cash delivery.
The machine does not deliver cash but deducts amount from the card holders. The customers have to do a lot of leg work to get back his cash that may take up to two months. There is no remedy with banks to resolve this problem earlier.
The circular said that banks have further been directed to establish special help desks or contact centres operating round-the-clock for ATM related complaints.
The SBP has directed banks to ensure that the published help desk numbers are visibly placed at all ATM booths and remain operational round the clock and advertise contact details in newspapers before Eid holidays for customer awareness.
Published in Dawn, July 23rd , 2014