People can now access banking info on request
The Information Commission in a major move has decided to allow people access the banking industry information, including those from private banks, Chief Information Commissioner Mohammed Farooq has said.
“We have recently got the law ministry's nod in this regard. We'll inform the central bank of the development this week,” he said.
Though the Right to Information Act 2009 (RTIA) has the provision of disclosing information of the companies created by government laws, the Commission could not implement it due to inhibition of Bangladesh Bank. Later, the Commission sought law ministry's interpretation in this regard.
According to the RTIA, citizens are allowed to make requests for information from every government office, from those of the President and Prime Minister down to the upazila level. The law also compels disclosure by private organisations, such as companies that are created by government laws. It also covers non-government organisations that receive funds from the government or foreign sources.
“Banks are created under the Banking Companies Act. So, people have all rights to get information from banks,” Farooq said.
Some of the government agencies are not obligated to disclose certain items, including information that can threaten national security, information communicated secretly with a foreign government, commercial or business secrets, pending changes in the tax law, and exchange or interest rate.
However, information about human rights violations and corruption by these agencies is not exempted as per the RTIA.
Mahfuzur Rahman, executive director and spokesman for Bangladesh Bank, said the central bank is yet to get any instruction from the Information Commission regarding disclosure of banks' information to public on request.
“Some information is very confidential, such as the account of an individual. Banks also do not want to disclose its business secrets,” Rahman said.
According to the Information Commission's annual report for 2012, a total of 16,475 applications were filed by citizens seeking information in 2012. Of the number, 84.5 percent were with the government offices and the rest with NGOs.
The government and the NGO offices responded to more than 95 percent of these applications, the Commission said.
Generally, public information should be disclosed immediately. But if it is not available, the RTIA gives the offices concerned 20 working days to comply with a request. If the information is held by two or more agencies, offices get 30 working days. Weekends and government holidays are not counted toward the deadline.
The government enacted RTIA in 2009 to empower the citizens by promoting transparency and accountability in the working of the public, autonomous and statutory organisations and other private organisations constituted or run by the government or foreign funds. The RTIA aims at reducing corruption and establishing good governance in the country.
Comments