Many GPO FD account holders can’t withdraw principal, profit for 5 months
A person deposited Tk 200,000 in a fixed deposit (FD) scheme in July 2022. On 24 July this year, he submitted his passbook to the Dhaka GPO Savings Bank withdrawal counter to claim the principal and three years’ profit. However, he was turned away.
Officials told him that the system was showing his profit as Tk 12,060 less than the actual amount.
This is not an isolated case. Many customers with FD accounts at the Post Office Savings Bank are facing similar discrepancies, preventing them from accessing their full funds.
The issue has also been reported at several sub-post offices under Dhaka GPO’s jurisdiction.
According to the Postal Directorate, both FD and Savings Accounts (SB) at the Post Office Savings Bank are now managed through a digital system developed under the Finance Division’s “Strengthening Public Financial Management to Enable Service Delivery (SPFMS)” programme. Previously, profit was calculated manually, but the process was digitised in 2021.
Since March 2025, the SPFMS system has been inconsistently calculating profits—sometimes showing less, sometimes more—causing payment disruptions. As a result, customers have not been able to receive their principal and profits for the past five months.
In one instance, a man deposited Tk 525,000 in May 2024 and went to withdraw the one-year maturity value this May. He was supposed to receive Tk 53,550 in profit, but the system displayed only Tk 44,152 - over Tk 9,000 less.
In another case, a woman who deposited Tk 500,000 at the Cantonment sub-post office in May 2023 found her profit overstated by Tk 27,950 when she attempted to withdraw in May this year.
Yet another man attempting to withdraw his FD with three years’ maturity in July found the system displaying Tk 47,370 less than his actual profit. None of these individuals could withdraw their principal and profit amounts.
Postal officials have written three formal letters to the SPFMS programme in May, June, and July, urging a resolution to the software issue.
The May letter, sent from the office of the Senior Postmaster at Dhaka GPO, noted that calculation errors were causing difficulties in paying out deposits and profits, leading to customer dissatisfaction and even confrontations with staff. This is tarnishing the department’s image.
The letter cited multiple incidents and confirmed that payments had been temporarily suspended.
A June letter from the Postal Directorate stated that it was not within their power to resolve the software errors. It further said that the post offices are forced to suspend payments finding wrong assessments in the system. This is creating sufferings for the consumers.
It also mentioned repeated verbal and written communications with the SPFMS office without any effective response.
The letter warned that depositors, frustrated at the delay, were causing unrest at several post offices and that the postal department would not take responsibility for denying customers access to their rightful funds due to system faults.
When contacted, Postmaster General (Central Circle) Md Altafur Rahman said the SPFMS is responsible for managing the FD and SB systems. And, due to technical issues with the software since March, many customers have been unable to withdraw their funds.
He emphasised that the problem lies with the system, not the postal department.
In response, Bilquis Jahan Rimi, Additional Secretary (Budget-1) at the Finance Division and Director of the National SPFMS Programme, told Prothom Alo that there is no systemic fault.
She stated that any isolated problems would be resolved individually and assured that a solution was being actively pursued and expected soon.