The National Savings Department is currently upgrading its server. All types of savings certificates are being sold. Savings certificate customers are facing extreme hardship due to the lack of information.
On Monday (January 13) morning, when I visited the Motijheel office of Bangladesh Bank, I saw that many customers had come to buy savings certificates. Many were expressing their dissatisfaction. Although the helpdesk helped them fill out the form, the visitors were told that there was no information about the server being started.
However, the department says that the server upgrading is ongoing. This has temporarily stopped sales. Customers will receive the same service as before from Monday afternoon.
A customer named Shah Alam said, “I have not received any message in advance. I have purchased my savings certificates before. I have bought a new savings certificate worth five lakh taka but I have been going around for two days to deposit them. I am not getting any information as to when the server will be fixed. The bank customers were informed through SMS on their mobile phones, but the department did not inform us. That is why I am still going around like yesterday.”
Sabeha Sultana came to collect the form. He said, I will buy some savings certificates in the name of my daughter and son’s wife. I came last Thursday. They said the server is down. I came today, they said the server is down. The central bank officials are not able to tell when the server will be fixed. We also came with hope that the server will be fixed.
An additional director of Bangladesh Bank Motijheel office said, the server has been down since last Wednesday. We do not know anything about when it will be fixed. If the server is fixed, everyone will get the service. However, until the server is fixed, they can take the form, but it is not being submitted. If anyone wants, they can leave it at the counter, we will submit it when the server is fixed. Fixing the server is the work of the department.
In this regard, Mohammad Shariful Islam, Director (Administration and Public Relations) and Deputy Secretary of the National Savings Department, said, the server upgrade work has been going on since Thursday. The work has been completed, it will be started after 12 noon. We hope that everyone will be able to take the service.
On the other hand, the profit rate of savings certificates has been increasing since this month. The profit rate of savings programs run under the National Savings Directorate (NSD) is going to increase from 12.25 percent to 12.55 percent (depending on the type of scheme). The Finance Department of the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday (January 8) requested the Internal Resources Department (IRD) to issue an order to determine the increased rate. The proposal prepared by the Finance Department has been approved by Chief Advisor Dr. Muhammad Yunus.
The profit rate is from 12.25 to 12.37 percent. That is, due to the increased rate, the profit of any savings certificate will not be less than 12 percent. The lowest profit (12.25 percent) will be available against Post Office Savings Bank. The highest profit (12.55 percent) will be available in Pensioner Savings Certificates. Along with the change in interest rate, the letter sent has also said that there will be a change in the investor tier. Currently, there are three tiers: 15 lakh taka; 15 lakh taka to 30 lakh taka and more than 30 lakh taka. Each tier has a different profit rate. However, the new rules mention two tiers. In one phase, investors with assets below 750,000 taka will be there, and in the other phase, investors with assets above that amount will be there.
