THIS refers to public dealing in most banks, for customers have to wait for a long time to withdraw or deposit money, or pay utility bills as the banks claim they have staff shortage owing to coronavirus.

I recently went to a private bank in Gulshan-i-Maymar to pay the maintenance bill, and got the token from the machine. My turn was after six or seven people and normally it should have taken 10 to 15 minutes to reach the counter.

But it took more than one hour. This was because of two reasons. One reason was that only one counter was functional, whereas others were empty, as no staff was available.

The other reason was the staff at the counter had to oblige the boss – the branch manager – while serving the customers to entertain some people without tokens. This made other people suffer as they had to wait for so long. I felt pity for two ladies who were about 75 years old and whose turn was before me.

I hope the State Bank of Pakistan and top management of the bank will take appropriate action against the branch manager and ensure this does not happen in any bank.

A.Shakoor Hashmi
Karachi

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2020