MELAKA, July 12 — Deputy Finance Minister Lim Hui Ying today reminded banking and financial institutions in the country to follow the standard operating procedure (SOP) to recognise complaints of customers’ money being withdrawn illegally.
Lim said her ministry has received complaints about bank officials who did not take appropriate action on complaints or investigate money withdrawn without account holders’ acknowledgement.
“There are some cases being handled by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) but they are only a low percentage and are still under control. We will investigate specific cases on a case by case basis,” she told reporters after officiating at the launch of the Trace and Recovery Operation (TRO) 2.0 (Declaration Without Payment) Series 2/2024 here today, which was also attended by the Customs Department director-general Datuk Anis Rizana Mohd Zainudin.
She said SOP implementation will be tightened since all the steps are already in place, but there are banks that refuse to follow them.
“We have issued a reminder as SOPs and announcements like these are not new. When customers complain about their money being withdrawn illegally, the bank must investigate accordingly. If it can be proven it is not the customer’s negligence and that all steps and procedures have been followed, hence the bank must be responsible.
“Bank account holders are advised to habitually check their bank accounts, and if this kind of thing still happens and they are not satisfied with the results of the bank’s investigation, the customer can complain to the Financial Services Ombudsman or directly to Bank Negara Malaysia,” she said.
She said the TRO 2.0 (Declaration Without Payment) ceremony is symbolic of the implementation of a special integrated operation the Customs Department will carry out in seven locations — Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Johor, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak from July 14 to 19.
She said the main objective of this TRO 2.0 (Declaration Without Payment) is to increase revenue collection and the level of registrant compliance with the Sales Tax Act 2018, the Service Tax Act 2018 and the Tourism Tax Act 2017.
“It is to facilitate and generate the impact of tax collection, and as of the beginning of this year, Customs has achieved more than RM30 billion collection from indirect taxes.
“With the current collection trend, we believe Customs can achieve the projection set by MOF, which is RM50 billion,” she said.
— Bernama
