KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan has launched a portal for complaint resolution to promote affordable housing in the country that would help the potential customers and also promote low-cost housing initiated by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The SBP said that the prime minister presided over a meeting of the National Coordination Committee on Housing, Construction and Development (NCCHCD) in Islamabad on Thursday.

State Bank Governor Dr Reza Baqir presented key features of an online complaint resolution mechanism developed by the SBP to resolve complaints of potential customers under the government’s Markup Subsidy for Housing Scheme for affordable housing.

Mr Khan praised the development of a user-friendly and comprehensive complaint resolution mechanism to assist people who would like to borrow money under the scheme, said a statement issued by the SBP on Thursday.

The complaint resolution mechanism comprises an IT-based portal supported by a comprehensive network of State Bank and commercial bank staff to take care of problems faced by applicants of low-cost and affordable housing finance. The IT portal has been made live for registration of complaints.

The system will help resolve complaints within a predefined timeline with proper escalation mechanism.

The potential customers can already access existing systems and procedures of banks for resolution of their complaints.

In line with the government’s vision of making housing finance affordable, the State Bank on Oct 12 last year issued the government’s Markup Subsidy for Housing Scheme to help provide subsidised finance to low and middle-income individuals.

Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2021