Inmates can get funds through bKash, Nagad

Prisoners will now receive funds from their friends and family members through mobile financial service providers Nagad and bKash following a government move aimed at facilitating money transfer amid the countrywide lockdown.

"Since family members can't visit inmates during the crisis, we decided on this move," AKM Mostafa Kamal Pasha, inspector general of prisons, told The Daily Star over the phone.

There are 68 prisons across the country, where about 87,000 detainees currently reside.

Due to the ongoing lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus, visitation rights for inmates have been temporarily halted.

The Prisoner's Cash fund, which receives money in cash, has historically been used by detainees to pay for various services while imprisoned. This includes making phone calls and buying foods at canteens.

Although there are other viable channels, the government decided to restrict the transfer of funds to prisoners to the two services as a wider range of options would create chaos.

Nagad was chosen as it is a government initiative while bKash has been selected considering its wide presence. bKash boasts more than four crore accounts and Nagad about two crore.

The government directive, however, outlined a few conditions for the transfer of funds to prisoners.

Inmates will not be permitted to receive more than Tk 2,000 per month and the money even can't be sent in one go. This means friends or family members can only transfer a maximum Tk 1,000 at any given time within a month.

The senders will bear the cash-out charges.

After funds are transferred, the sender will have to inform the prison authorities about the transaction via a text message detailing the receiver's name, his or her father's name and home address.

The specified amount will be deposited in the Prisoner's Cash book for later use.

The home ministry also clarified how many accounts can be opened by the authorities in a prison.

If the number of detainees is within 500, one merchant account with each of the two MFS providers can be opened.

If the number of prisoners is between 501 and 1,000, two accounts can be allowed to open. Three accounts can be opened when the number ranges between 1,001 and 3,000.

If there are more than 3,000 prisoners, the authorities can open five accounts with each MFS provider.

"This is a digitalisation move that will ensure more facilities at prisons as well as for the authorities," said Tanvir Ahmed Mishuk, managing director of Nagad.

Officials from Nagad earlier urged the government to implement more MFS services considering the coronavirus pandemic.

On March 24, Nagad introduced a new service for inmates to connect with their loved ones through telephones.

"These services certainly ensure better facilities for prisoners and we will look into how they can be implemented," Pasha said.

MFS SEES GREATER USE AMONG EXPATS

Compared with the first three months of the year, there was a 150 per cent rise in April in the number of Bangladeshi expatriates using online money transfer services, according to a press release from bKash.

Since the start of January until April 18, Bangladeshi expatriates sent home about Tk 138 crore in remittance through bKash and this value is increasing daily, the MFS provider said.

The bulk of the amount came from Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, the Middle East, Europe and the UK.