Bangladesh Bank has issued a 96-hour restriction on Mobile Financial Services (MFS) and digital Peer-to-Peer (P2P) transfers to prevent financial misconduct during the upcoming national elections.
The restrictions will take effect at 12:00 AM on February 9 and remain in place until 11:59 PM on February 12. During this period, customers of providers such as bKash, Nagad, and Rocket will face the following temporary limits: Transaction Cap: Maximum Tk1,000 per P2P transfer. Daily Frequency: Users are limited to 10 transactions per day. Internet Banking: P2P fund transfers via Internet Banking Fund Transfer (IBFT) will be completely suspended. To minimize public inconvenience, the central bank confirmed that essential payments are exempt from these restrictions. Merchant payments and utility bill settlements will continue to function under normal existing rules. The central bank circular mandates that all MFS providers establish Quick Response Cells to resolve election-period complaints immediately. Additionally, providers must maintain 24/7 monitoring of all activity. Any suspicious or unusual transaction patterns must be reported to local police stations without delay. Normal banking and MFS operations are expected to resume fully once the 96-hour window expires.
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