Overseas Pakistanis offered tempting discounts on opening bank accounts

Lahore: Overseas Pakistanis Commission (OPC) Punjab Vice Chairperson (VC) Waseem Chaudhry recently announced the Punjab government’s decision to offer discounts to overseas Pakistanis on opening new bank accounts — with an additional 5% quota to be reserved for the expat community in all provincial government developed housing schemes, according to a news source.

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The VC further revealed that overseas Pakistanis would also get a 20% discount at the hotels and resorts managed by the tourism and archaeology departments. Furthermore, the community has also been allowed to carry up to two smart phones without paying any custom duty. Other benefits include:

• 2% quota for children in education institutes under TEVTA
• Scholarships and education loan
• 20% discount on education offered by government-owned institutes
• Discounts on air tickets
• Discounts at utility stores
• Load limit increased

The government has set up a special counter at the Punjab Board of Revenue office for this purpose. The Punjab Police Inspector General has been instructed to attend to the cases of overseas Pakistanis on a priority basis. The purpose of this initiative is to encourage non-resident Pakistanis to use legal ways for transferring money.

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The government has also instructed the Bureau of Immigration to assist the expat community in opening new bank accounts in the country. This will allow banks to issue debit and credit cards that can be used to avail the aforementioned benefits.