ISLAMABAD, Oct 26: National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) has closed its ATM service in Rawalpindi and Islamabad for three days in connection with deduction of Zakat, sources in the bank told Dawn on Sunday.

The sources said the bank’s clients faced hardships, specially when they needed money for emergency.

“None of the ATMs of the bank was functioning when I needed money to buy air tickets to reach Quetta to attend burial of my uncle,” a bank’s client, Mohammad Shehzad, said.

When contacted, an NBP official agreed that the bank had stopped transaction of money through its ATM service from October 25 to 28. He said the service had been suspended to properly maintain the record of Zakat.