Credit card disputes in Pakistan divide into two very different problems that people tend to run together: a transaction you did not make or did not get, and a balance that has grown in a way you do not recognise. They have different remedies and different deadlines, and mixing them into one angry phone call is why so many go nowhere.
Act within the dispute window
Card schemes and banks allow a limited period from the statement date to dispute a transaction — usually measured in weeks, not months. Miss it and even a good case becomes very hard.
So the first rule is boring and decisive: read the statement every month. The disputes that succeed are the ones raised on the current statement.
The disputed transaction
Raise it in writing — email or the bank's dispute form, never only by phone. State the card number's last four digits, the transaction date, the merchant, the amount, and precisely what is wrong: not made by you, charged twice, wrong amount, goods never delivered, subscription cancelled but still billing.
- Get a complaint reference number and the name of the person handling it. A dispute with no reference is a dispute that was never logged.
- Block the card immediately if the transaction is unauthorised, and say in the complaint that you have done so and when.
- Attach what you have: the cancellation email, the delivery failure, the merchant's own correspondence.
- Ask for the amount to be placed under dispute pending investigation, so markup does not keep accruing on a charge that may not be yours.
For a genuinely fraudulent transaction, also report it to the FIA Cybercrime Wing. The bank will frequently ask whether you have.
The disputed balance: markup, fees and charges
This is the more common complaint and it is rarely fraud. It is usually the compounding of interest, late fees, over-limit fees, annual fees, insurance you did not knowingly buy, and the trap that catches almost everyone: paying the minimum leaves the whole remaining balance accruing markup, and a new purchase then gets no interest-free period at all.
What to ask for, in writing:
- A complete statement of account for the whole relationship, not the last three months.
- A breakdown of every charge — principal, markup, fees, penalties, insurance — with the rate applied and the clause it is charged under.
- The schedule of charges in force at the time, and the terms you actually signed.
Then check three things. Were the charges disclosed in the schedule you were given? Was any change in rates or fees notified to you in advance, as the regulator requires? And did you ever consent to add-on products such as card insurance — or were they simply switched on?
Insurance and add-ons sold without informed consent are among the most successful complaints, because the bank must be able to produce your consent and often cannot.
Escalation, in order
- The bank's own complaint unit. Every bank must have one, and must respond within the period the regulator prescribes. This step is mandatory in practice — the Mohtasib expects it to have happened.
- The Banking Mohtasib Pakistan. The specialist ombudsman for banking complaints: free, no lawyer needed, and it handles exactly this class of dispute. Complain in writing with the account details, the full history, the bank's reply (or evidence that it did not reply in time) and the relief you want.
- The State Bank of Pakistan. Its consumer protection function takes complaints about conduct and about breaches of its own directives.
- A civil suit, for a substantial sum where the above has failed.
Where the bank has instead sued you for recovery, note that recovery by a financial institution runs under the Financial Institutions (Recovery of Finances) Ordinance, 2001 before Banking Courts, with its own procedure and its own short timelines — including a leave to defend application you must file properly and on time.
Recovery agents: what they may not do
Harassment by recovery staff is a complaint in its own right and the regulator's directives on fair debt collection are explicit. Calls at unreasonable hours, calls to your employer, relatives and neighbours to shame you, abuse, threats and visits to your home to intimidate are not permitted.
Record the date, time and number of each call, keep the messages, and complain to the bank and then to the Banking Mohtasib and the State Bank. A bank is answerable for the conduct of the agency it hired. Threats of criminal prosecution for an unpaid card balance are, in the ordinary case, simply wrong: this is a civil debt.
Two things to do while the dispute runs
- Keep paying the undisputed part. Withholding everything converts a clean dispute about one charge into a default that damages your credit record and hands the bank an easy answer.
- Watch your eCIB record. A default is reported to the credit information bureau and will follow you into every future loan application. If a dispute is decided in your favour, ask expressly for the reporting to be corrected — it does not happen automatically.
This article describes general banking complaint procedure in Pakistan and is not advice on any particular dispute. Time limits for card disputes, the bank's response periods and the Mohtasib's jurisdiction depend on the current regulations and on your card agreement. Consult an advocate before a recovery suit is filed against you or before allowing a limitation period to expire.