Red tape, bureaucratic delays and the absence of accountability continue to cause serious difficulties for ordinary citizens in Pakistan. People approaching public offices for legitimate work often find themselves caught in a system where unnecessary objections, deliberate delays and demands for illegal gratification have become major obstacles. In many cases, citizens feel compelled to pay bribes even for work to which they are legally entitled, simply to avoid prolonged delays and repeated visits to government offices.
For the common man, obtaining justice can be an exhausting and expensive exercise. Many citizens have traditionally resorted to writing letters to higher authorities, including the country’s rulers, to draw attention to corruption, administrative inefficiency and the deliberate creation of difficulties by officials responsible for providing public services.
It was against this background that the institution of the Wafaqi Mohtasib, or Federal Ombudsman, was established during the tenure of General Zia-ul-Haq through Presidential Order No. 1 of 1983, dated January 24, 1983, the office was created to redress public grievances arising from maladministration, and it commenced functioning on August 8, 1983. As the number of complaints increased, provincial ombudsman institutions were also established to provide citizens with additional avenues of redress.
These institutions undoubtedly provided relief to many aggrieved citizens. However, a fundamental question remained: should the system merely resolve individual complaints, or should it also hold responsible officials accountable for creating the problems in the first place? Over time, specialized institutions were established to address grievances in different sectors, including insurance, taxation, banking and workplace harassment. Their creation reflected an important recognition that complaints relating to specialized areas require dedicated mechanisms for investigation and redress. Nevertheless, the existence of a complaint-handling institution alone cannot guarantee good governance. The real measure of its success must also include the prevention of recurring injustices, timely disposal of complaints and appropriate action against those whose negligence, misconduct or arbitrary decisions cause unnecessary hardship to the public. The recent performance of the Banking Mohtasib Pakistan deserves particular appreciation. According to reports published on October 13, 2026, the Banking Mohtasib received 33,625 complaints between January and September 2026 and disposed of 29,001 complaints, providing relief to complainants amounting to approximately Rs1.2 billion. These figures demonstrate the important role played by the institution in protecting banking customers and providing a forum for addressing their grievances.Behind these statistics are individuals and families whose savings, financial transactions and legitimate banking claims may have been affected by errors, disputed transactions, fraudulent activities or unsatisfactory service. For an ordinary account holder, recovering money or obtaining a fair decision from a powerful financial institution can be a difficult undertaking. An effective ombudsman provides a valuable avenue for seeking redress without having to immediately resort to expensive and time-consuming litigation. The Banking Mohtasib and its staff deserve recognition for handling this substantial volume of complaints and securing financial relief for complainants. However, while appreciating this achievement, it is equally important to examine why so many customers had to approach the Mohtasib in the first place. A banking customer opens an account, deposits hard-earned money and expects the bank to safeguard those funds, provide accurate information and resolve legitimate complaints fairly and promptly. Banks are entrusted with public confidence, and their responsibilities extend beyond earning profits and expanding their businesses. When a customer is wrongly charged, denied a legitimate claim, subjected to an unexplained transaction or repeatedly ignored despite approaching the bank’s complaint-handling department, the customer suffers both financial and mental distress. If the matter remains unresolved and the customer eventually approaches the Banking Mohtasib, the institution may provide relief. But the customer has already paid a price in terms of time, effort, uncertainty and convenience.
The question is whether the bank’s own internal system failed to address the grievance when it was first brought to its attention. Every complaint decided in favour of a customer should therefore serve as an opportunity to examine the circumstances that led to the dispute. Was the problem caused by a genuine technical error, a procedural weakness, negligence, inadequate training, failure of supervision, or an arbitrary decision by a responsible official? Not every complaint necessarily establishes misconduct, and officials must be given a fair opportunity to explain their actions. However, where an impartial inquiry establishes negligence, deliberate wrongdoing, abuse of authority or a violation of banking rules, appropriate disciplinary action should follow in accordance with the law and applicable service rules. Merely directing a bank to compensate a customer, reverse an incorrect charge or restore the customer’s money may settle the immediate dispute. It does not necessarily prevent the same problem from affecting other customers.
The Banking Mohtasib should, wherever legally permissible, require the concerned bank to investigate the conduct of officials responsible for substantiated complaints and report the action taken. Where wrongdoing is established, penalties should be proportionate to the offence and may include warnings, recovery of improper benefits where legally justified, adverse service action, suspension or dismissal in serious cases, subject to due process. Cases involving suspected criminal conduct should be referred to the competent authorities where appropriate. Senior management should not be exempt from scrutiny merely because a disputed decision originated at a higher level. Equally, junior employees should not be made scapegoats for systemic failures or decisions taken under instructions from senior officers. Banks should also examine recurring patterns of complaints. If the same branch, department, product or operational procedure repeatedly generates grievances, the problem may extend beyond an individual employee and require corrective action at the management level.The objective should not be to punish officials simply because a complaint has been filed. It should be to establish responsibility fairly, correct institutional weaknesses and deter future misconduct. An effective system of accountability would also encourage bank employees to resolve genuine grievances at the earliest possible stage rather than allowing customers to be pushed from one desk to another. Another major challenge facing banking customers is the growing threat of fraud through telephone calls, deceptive messages, fraudulent links and other methods of obtaining confidential financial information. The Banking Mohtasib has rightly advised customers to protect their financial credentials, avoid disclosing account details to third parties and refrain from clicking links unless their authenticity has been verified. Customers receiving suspicious calls should contact their bank through its verified helpline and report suspected fraud to the relevant authorities.These warnings are timely and necessary. However, public advisories issued through press statements or occasional media coverage cannot be considered sufficient when millions of people use banking services, many of whom may have limited knowledge of digital security. A warning reaches only those who happen to read, hear or see it. Many vulnerable customers, including elderly people and those unfamiliar with digital banking, may never encounter such information. Banks and regulatory institutions must therefore adopt a systematic public-awareness strategy rather than relying solely on general announcements. The Banking Mohtasib, in coordination with the State Bank of Pakistan and commercial banks, should launch a comprehensive public-awareness campaign covering both customer rights and the prevention of banking fraud. First, a detailed press release should be issued in English and Urdu, with concise versions in regional languages where appropriate. Newspapers, television channels, radio stations and digital platforms should be used to disseminate the information widely. Second, and more importantly, copies of the advisory should be sent directly to all account holders through their respective banks. This could be accomplished through registered email addresses, SMS notifications, secure mobile-banking applications, internet-banking portals and printed notices accompanying bank statements or other customer correspondence. Banks should also display the information prominently at branches, ATMs and customer-service counters. Staff should be instructed to explain the precautions to customers who require assistance. The information should be written in simple, practical language rather than complicated technical terminology.
While educating customers is essential, responsibility for preventing and responding to banking fraud cannot be placed entirely on account holders. Banks must maintain effective security systems, monitor suspicious transactions, provide accessible and responsive complaint channels, and take prompt action when unauthorized activity is reported. They should regularly assess weaknesses in their systems and ensure that staff are adequately trained to recognize fraud and protect customers. Where a transaction is disputed, the bank should conduct a proper investigation, preserve relevant records and communicate its findings clearly. Customers should not be dismissed with standard replies when they raise genuine concerns. A customer who has fallen victim to fraud should receive clear guidance on immediate protective steps, the reporting process and the investigation of the disputed transaction. The outcome should be based on the facts, the applicable law and the relevant banking rules. Banks should also publish accessible information explaining their responsibilities and the steps customers can take to protect themselves. Public confidence cannot be sustained by warnings alone; it requires reliable safeguards, fair treatment and effective remedies.
The Banking Mohtasib should continue publishing regular reports that go beyond the total number of complaints received and disposed of. Such reports should, where appropriate, identify the principal categories of grievances, the number of complaints decided in favour of customers, the financial relief awarded, recurring causes of disputes and the measures taken to prevent similar cases. It would also be useful to disclose how many cases resulted in recommendations for disciplinary proceedings, how many such proceedings were completed, and what corrective measures banks adopted in response to recurring problems. Personal information and confidential banking details must, of course, remain protected. Such reporting would help the public understand whether institutions are merely settling disputes or also addressing the underlying causes. The performance of individual banks should be examined through reliable and comparable indicators, including complaint volumes in relation to their customer base, the time taken to resolve grievances, compliance with decisions and the frequency of recurring problems. These measures would encourage banks to improve their services and demonstrate that customer protection is a continuing responsibility rather than a formality.
The establishment of ombudsman institutions was an important step towards providing citizens with an alternative means of seeking justice against maladministration and unfair treatment. The Banking Mohtasib has continued that tradition by providing a specialized forum for resolving disputes between banks and their customers.The reported disposal of 29,001 complaints and the provision of approximately Rs1.2 billion in relief during the first nine months of 2026 are commendable achievements. The institution deserves appreciation for this service.Well done, Wafaqi Banking Mohtasib-but the task must not end with resolving complaints. The next step is to prevent avoidable grievances, ensure accountability, strengthen banking security and make every account holder aware of their rights and responsibilities. An effective institution is not measured only by the number of disputes it settles, but also by its success in ensuring that fewer people suffer the same injustice in the future.
