KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Wednesday the complaints against banks for not accepting donations for flood victims are misleading.

A press statement by the central bank referred to “a few complaints” doing the rounds on social media platforms regarding the “non-acceptance of donations” from the general public in the CM Flood Relief Funds set up by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.

“In this context, upon enquiry of (the) SBP, concerned banks have informed that such complaints are baseless as they are accepting donations in the CM Flood Relief Fund through all possible channels, including over-the-counter cash transactions, online transfers and both international and local credit card transfers),” the SBP said.

Reports alluding to a deliberate attempt by the federal government to stop donations gathered pace on Aug 30 when Muzzammil Aslam, PTI’s spokesperson on the economy and finance, posted on his Twitter timeline an “as-received” message.

“Some friends abroad have reported that their credit card donations transactions were not taking place, last evening. On raising the issue with the respective Credit Card companies, it was revealed that the government of Pakistan had blocked their operation for some period of the duration of the Telethon.

“Perhaps they did not want IK to collect an impressive figure. Actually, they are playing with the lives of the beneficiaries of these donations. Very sad and frustrating action. Please clarify the situation,” he wrote.

Mr Aslam’s tweets received immediate censure from a number of Twitter users who accused the PTI spokesman on the economy and finance of not knowing how payment gateways work.

“How in the world can a government block credit cards of people in a foreign country? Do you guys have no shame?” wrote Twitter user @JiyaEss.

Lawyer Abdul Moiz Jaferii wondered aloud how the government could pull off such a trick. “Like @Mastercard and @Visa cards weren’t working because the @GovtofPakistan refused to receive their payments?” he asked, rhetorically.

The SBP said the relevant banks have also confirmed that transactions are taking place in these flood relief bank accounts on a daily basis.

It asked the donors facing any problem to lodge their complaints with the relevant banks or approach the SBP directly at cpd.helpdesk@sbp.org.pk.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2022