President directs UBL to reimburse Rs 5.49 mn to a defrauded customer.

ISLAMABAD -- President Dr Arif Alvi while upholding a decision of the Banking Mohtasib, has directed the United Bank Ltd (UBL) to refund the swindled amount of Rs 5.49 million to a complainant and declared that maladministration on part of the bank had been established.

The president rejected UBL's representation against Mohtasib's decision and held that bank had displayed negligence by clearing two stolen cheques bearing forged signatures as established by the bank's own forensic report.

He regretted that the bank did not follow its own SOPs which clearly mandated a call back for transfer/clearing/remittance for the amount of Rs 500,000 and above, President Secretariat Press Wing said in a press release on Sunday.

He highlighted that SOPs were framed for application across the board without giving any discretion or choice to anyone with the underlying objective to avoid the possibility of fraud and fraudulent practices.

The president held that since the bank could not establish incontrovertibly its stance against the complainant, had failed to discharge the burden of proof and statutory liability cast upon it under the law, thus, its representation was devoid of any merit and deserved to be rejected.

While further dilating upon the representation, the president pointed out that the cheques in dispute bore no stamp or narration required to be affixed on the back of the two cheques as required by the said SOPs.

He wrote that there was negligence on...