ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has directed United Bank Limited (UBL) to pay a woman entrepreneur Local Taxes and Levies Drawback (LTLD), worth over Rs3.73 million, and report compliance to the Banking Mohtasib within 60 days.
The complainant Shabnum Asif, a woman entrepreneur running a shoe export industry in Sialkot, had submitted LTLD cases to the authorised dealer i.e. the UBL SIE Branch, Sialkot, during January, June and September 2018 for the year 2017-18 amounting to Rs1.8 million which were duly received by the bank’s trade officer.
She was never informed about any discrepancy by UBL or the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) regarding her pending cases despite regular follow-ups.
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On February, 17, 2018, she was informed about seven case files that were discrepant, however, she was not provided with any details. She instantly resubmitted the files to the bank, after which the bank authorities intimated that the pending cases had been “time-barred” and advised her to resubmit the files but the SBP refused to consider the cases as being time-barred.
She, then, approached the bank to compensate the full amount of their refund i.e. Rs1.86 million and consequent increment of Rs1.86 million which came to Rs3.73 million in total, but without any result.
Afterwards, the matter was taken up with the Banking Mohtasib for the redressal of the grievance which passed the order that since the bank had taken up the matter with concerned authorities no further action could be contemplated, therefore, the case had been closed and consigned to record.
Feeling aggrieved, she filed a representation with the president to seek justice. After perusal of the record, President Dr Arif Alvi accepted the representation of the complainant on the grounds that she had followed the due procedure for submission of LTLD claims and the bank had admitted to having received the case files on time, and some of which were later misplaced from the bank’s possession.
