Source: Blessed Mhlanga, NewsDay
LAWYERS, among them Fadzayi Mahere, are set to launch a class action aimed at forcing banks to reduce exorbitant charges, which they say are tantamount to daylight robbery.
Mahere said the charges imposed by banks were extortionate and grossly unreasonable especially given the withdrawal limits forced on depositors.
“Today, I met with a team of lawyers prepared to drive a class action against the banks to challenge, inter alia (among other things), the grossly unreasonable and extortionate bank charges, and the irrational, arbitrary and capricious withdrawal limits,” she said.
The lawyers said financial institutions were charging $3 for a withdrawal limited to $25 per day. This means a customer who withdraws $150 a week is charged $18.
The suit is likely to be filed by next Tuesday.
The serious liquidity crunch has seen banks imposing withdrawal caps, which vary from one institution to the next.
Most banks have capped their limits to as little as $20 per day against the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe official daily limit of $1 000, while encouraging depositors to use plastic money.
The bank charges have irked depositors, as it costs as much as $15 just to withdraw $100 in five days, while long and winding queues were now the order of the day at most banks.
“We are assembling a class of litigants from various banks to drive the suit,” Mahere said.
“The intention is to target Cabs, Stanchart and Stanbic initially because this is where our current pool of willing litigants is drawn from.”
The lawyer, who has been at the forefront of challenging the introduction of bond notes, said there was an attempt to engage the Bankers’ Association of Zimbabwe, but they had been ignored completely.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor, John Mangudya said: “We are attending to the matter with the banks to ensure that the charges are reduced in line with our strategy of financial inclusion and the promotion of plastic money.”
Source: Blessed Mhlanga, NewsDay