The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) have decided to make mobile banking a much more reliable form for payments. To give people another incentive to use it, SBP has mandated that any mobile banking fraud will no longer be a common man’s headache. Financial Institutions will now be held responsible for the user’s loss and will also take due steps to apprehending the criminals.
PTA said in the Regulations for Technical Implementation of Mobile Banking, 2016 statement that “AFI(s) shall be liable to their customers for any financial loss, fraudulent activities and its consequences thereof in accordance with the applicable laws.”
The decision was made on Monday when the PTA and the SBP signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the regulatory framework.
Third party service providers and telecom operators will log detailed transaction data so that audit trails can be processed in case any disputes arise. The data will also be available to supervising authorities like the PTA and the SBP, while maintaining user confidentiality.
The regulators have devised a mechanism to resolve expected disputes. The PTA and SBP will be the final authorities on the matter and a dispute could be raised to include these authorities in case the AFI, mobile phone operators and third party service providers don’t do the needful.
A fixed timeline has not been defined for the resolution of disputes, however, all parties are said to have 28 days to raise the dispute to the regulator.
The PTA has added special laws to regulate the third party service providers (TPSPs). They would be licensed by the PTA and authorised by the SBP to provide technical services which include channelling, routing and switching for mobile banking transactions. The TPSPs will be interoperable among the mobile banking providers.
The Minister for IT, Anusha Rehman, said there are 29 million broadband subscribers in Pakistan which should provide a steady platform for online banking services and mobile banking applications. She added that telcos and financial bodies can tap this potential with slight effort.
Chairman PTA, Dr Ismail Shah, said “There is a huge incentive to capitalize on the next generation mobile banking opportunities and all institutions should work together to include the unbanked population in banking services through digital platforms in the next 5 years.”
Governor of SBP, Ashraf Wathra, added that “MoU signed between PTA and State Bank will be remembered as a milestone in the history of telecom and banking sectors. He further said that branchless banking is a modern facility for the people of Pakistan, it will bring convince of use to the customers and a positive impact to the GDP growth of the country.”
He said that Pakistanis have 11 million mobile accounts and over 100 million transactions, worth over Rs 500 billion, are made each year.
Prior to the MoU signing, the SBP and the PTA had set up a joint regulatory committee to come up with draft regulations, which were discussed with the relevant stakeholders and eventually approved. The regulatory framework is said to have achieved a common objective and could allow a level playing field to everyone.
