BB asks all banks to prepare citizen charter

To ensure better financial services and protect customers’ rights, Bangladesh Bank (BB) has directed all scheduled banks to draw up and maintain a citizen charter with information on all of their services.

The central bank’s Banking Regulation and Policy Department (BRPD) issued a circular in this regard on Monday.

The citizen’s charter is a document of commitments that gives important information in respect of the services being or to be provided by the organisation — public or private — concerned.

The BB circular said the charter should contain the category-wise list of all services provided by the bank, the qualifications and documents required to receive the services, the place of receipt of the documents/preparation process, the minimum time required for providing each service, and the cost/fee of providing the service. If the customer does not get the required service, then a complaint box and a responsible officer with information should be available.

The circular added that the charter should be prepared to maintain the transparency and discipline of the services provided by the banks, availability of service-related information, increase the participation of customers in the service activities and ensure the accountability of the bank employees.

Every bank will update the charter every three months. The updated version should be published on the bank’s website and a noticeable spot at the head office and each branch.

Besides, a focal point officer and an alternate focal point officer related to the charter should be nominated and their names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses should be on the website. There should be a Citizen’s Charter corner or box on the website, read the circular.

To ensure services as per the charter, a monitoring committee (consisting of at least seven members) and a citizen charter team/branch/cell shall be established at the head office of each bank. At least four training sessions should be organised every year to create awareness among the bank employees to implement the charter properly.

The circular also mentioned that the proper implementation of this directive regarding the charter will be monitored by BB’s Human Resource Department-1. On-site inspections will also be conducted from time to time.

Regarding the circular, a BB official told The Business Post that such charters exist in state-run banks but not in private banks at present.

The official said the central bank hopes that harassment of customers will reduce a lot once the banks start implementing the citizen’s charter.