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Banks and deductions from the salaries of retirees!

Sami Al Riyami

reyami@emaratalyoum.comsamialreyami

March 16, 2021

From time to time, in Emirates Today, we receive complaints that are closer to seeking help from recently retired citizens, and as soon as they are referred to retirement, their banks deduct the entire retirement pension, which everyone knows is substantially less than what they were receiving while at work, in order to pay the monthly installment of a loan Personal, housing finance, or other bank obligations!

Despite the Central Bank’s decision not to exceed the percentage of the deduction from the pension salary of 30%, down from 50% established in the personal loan system issued in 2011, some banks do not apply this clause of the system, and insist on deducting the old percentage, which often devours the entire salary of the citizen, or leaves Him crumbs!

Some citizens succeed in solving the matter by communicating with various media, but most citizens of this category are embarrassed and chastened, and therefore they do not find a way to make their voice heard.

A citizen says: "For three months I have not received a single dirham from my salary after retirement, because the bank deducts it in full, at a time when I support two wives and seven children!"

And other than this citizen, there are many retirees who have similar problems, and they have similar stories that we have received dozens of over the past years, and we have communicated with bank administrations, and we mediate to solve the problem, and the secretariat has most of the banks responding and working immediately to settle the matter to the satisfaction of all parties, But the matter needs a radical treatment, in which the Central Bank interferes with a decision that obliges banks to implement the system, and to implement the decision issued for not deducting more than 30% of the retirement pension!

Banks and banks can implement rescheduling of loans, in a way that reduces the monthly deduction from the pension, and in a way that secures a sufficient part of his salary for the citizen, and this will not harm them much as long as their right remains preserved, but some banks' intransigence under the pretext of the age of the borrower destroys all efforts in providing a decent life for citizens .

Frankly speaking, we have no doubt about the existence of banks that bear their societal responsibility and contribute to facilitating the customer, especially in light of the current circumstances, which are related to the crisis of the spread of the Coronavirus, but on the other hand there are individual practices in other banks, for which the citizen and his family pay.

I think that deducting 30%, instead of 50% of the customer’s salary, will not cost the banks much, given what they achieve from billions of profits, but it certainly means a lot to the retired citizen, because at the very least it guarantees him the survival of a part of his salary to cover his life and family obligations. Banks respond to this request?

Will the central bank intervene to stop these practices ?!

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