Coronavirus outbreak: BB sets insurance coverage for bankers serving clients

Bank employees will be entitled to a health insurance coverage of Tk 5 lakh to Tk 10 lakh if they are infected by coronavirus while delivering services to customers, according to a Bangladesh Bank notice issued today.

The respective banks will have to fix the amount of the health insurance plan as per the employees' designations and salary structure.

If an employee dies of the Covid-19, their family will get fivefold the insurance coverage.

The insurance support and donation will be applicable for bank employees who have been present at their bank branches during the general holidays declared by the government.

Banks will not be allowed to adjust the insurance amount or payout with previous liabilities of the employees, according to the BB notice. 

The insurance amount will have to be provided within 15 days from the date of infection.

The instructions will take retrospective effect from the first day of the general holidays until one month after the lockdown is lifted.

If an employee faces any accident while going to office during the holidays, banks will also have to bear their medical expenses.

"This is a good initiative taken by the central bank as bankers have to deliver their services with great risk," said an official of a commercial bank.

But the bank management should also provide personal protective equipment (PPE) to their employees and the central bank should take an initiative in this regard as well, he said.

On April 13, BB had asked banks to provide incentives to their employees who are working during the ongoing lockdown.

Bankers will get a month's basic salary if they work for at least 10 days during the shutdown. Contractual staffers will get 65 per cent of their basic salaries as special incentive.

The special incentive will range from a minimum of Tk 30,000 to a maximum of Tk 100,000 a month during the shutdown.

In a separate notice yesterday, the BB asked banks not to impose compound interest on credit cardholders from March 15 to May 31 this year. The central bank also directed banks to adjust the excess interest charged on the credit cardholders with their upcoming bills.

Lenders were asked on April 4 not to impose any late payment fees on credit cardholders, who are finding it difficult to clear the bills due to the ongoing shutdown and short banking hours.

The central bank issued another instruction yesterday saying that type-C industrial units located in export processing zones, economic zones and high-tech parks will be entitled to funds from the bailout package of Tk 5,000 crore for export-oriented industries.    

Type C industrial units are fully owned by Bangladeshi entrepreneurs who permanently reside in the country.

The government has recently declared the bailout package so that the exporters can provide wages and salaries to their workers from April to June.