The Bangladesh Bank (BB) asked all scheduled banks on Wednesday not to harass clients, seeking services relating to investment in the national savings certificates (NSCs).
A circular, issued by the central bank's debt management department, said the clients face harassments while they seek information from the banks relating to investment in the certificates, popularly known as "sanchayapatra".
Allegations have been found that many clients are being harassed by the banks, as they do not provide services in time and ignore such customers, sector insiders told the FE.
The BB instructed the banks that the circular should be followed immediately in order to avoid such harassments.
As per the central bank's instructions, the banks have to submit the funds - deposited by the clients - to the BB's clearing houses within a day, after which they have to issue the savings certificates to the savers.
Besides, the information changes, like changes in nominee, account number and mobile number, should be made within three working days, the BB also said.
The cheques - presented for clearing houses - should not be returned to the clients without any valid reason.
There are allegations that some banks force people, who want to invest in the risk-free instruments, to open new accounts with them before investment.
For this reason, the BB said the clients should not be compelled to open new deposit accounts with the banks while depositing money for purchasing savings instruments.
The BB asked the banks to strictly comply orders relating to realisation of charges from the investors for transactions under the Bangladesh Automated Clearing House (BACH).
It said a circular, issued by the BB payment system department on February 28, 2013, provided details about fees and charges for BACH transactions.
The circular said there would be no clearing charge for the cheque amounts below Tk 50,000. If the cheque amount crosses Tk 50,000 and is below Tk 500,000, clearing charge would be Tk 10 (with VAT).
All types of government-to-person (G2P) cheque clearing would also remain charge-free, it added.
jasimharoon@yahoo.com