Rep to Probe Banks on Illegal Charges

• Rep to Probe Banks on Illegal Charges

The Nigerian House of Representatives on Wednesday has responded to the numerous charges being imposed by banks on customers.

The House decried the deductions and has directed its committee on Banking to liaise with “professional financial consultants to investigate and determine the extent of excess charges on the House of Representatives and other public institutions and individuals’ accounts held in various banks to determine the extent of excess charges, if any, in the last eight years.”

Mr Yusuf Gagdi had raised the motion, titled ‘Need to Investigate Excess and Illegal Charges on the Accounts of Public Institutions and Persons’ to investigate actions of deposit money banks.

It should be recalled that the Central Bank of Nigeria had refunded N60 billion excess charges deducted from customers’ accounts to customers last week.

Similarly, some banks have been accused of capping the ATM withdrawal limit since the central bank lowers charges on ATM from N65 to N35.

On Wednesday Gagdi said, “The House is saddened that the National Assembly, specifically the House of Representatives and other government institutions and agencies saddled with the responsibility of regulating the industry and protecting the interests of the general public, being customers of these banks, are also victims of these excess and illegal charges by their bankers.

“The House is worried that while we may choose to colour or dress the language used to qualify the action of these banks by merely referring to it as excess charges, the reality remains that it is an outright stealing of customers’ deposits by banks and every hand must be on the deck to seek redress in one way or the other.

“The House is certain that the House of Representatives, being a public institution and one of the three arms of government accountable for the use of tax payers’ money, prudence demands that the House commences an investigation of the activities of its accounts held in various banks to determine the extent of excess and illegal charges, if any, by its bankers with a view to recovering same in the interest of the House.”