Business Desk 
Nov 22, 2024
To evade the government-imposed advance-to-deposit ratio (ADR) tax, commercial banks in Pakistan recently announced to charge monthly fees on checking accounts with deposits exceeding Rs5bn or whatever threshold they've set.
Major banks including Bank Alfalah, MCB, Meezan, HBL and Standard Chartered have informed their top-notch clients whose account balances are between Rs1bn and Rs5bn, with each bank setting its own maximum limit.
As per the Schedule of Bank Charges (SOBC) effective from November 21, account holders, whose balance on the last day of the month will be over the designated mark, will be obliged to pay a 5% monthly fee.
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It should be noted that the SOBC on deposits in foreign currencies is somewhat similar to the SOBC on balances in local currency.
Moreover, some banks, like Meezan, have also imposed maximum daily credit balance limits on checking accounts.
“The bank has the right to refuse and/or to return the amount over and above said limit,” stated notices received by Meezan bank customers.
Citing sources, Dawn reported that the amount of cash deposits is expected to further drop if the ADR remains below 50% at the end of the calendar year.
The execution of monthly fees has led bank customers to anticipate further fees in case banks fail to meet their ADR target.
