Pensioners left without cash at Serbian post offices before holiday
Many counters ran short of cash on Tuesday; Pošta Srbije and Banka Poštanska štedionica trade blame while the Pension Fund says transfers were made on time.
Large numbers of pensioners in Serbia arrived at post office counters on Tuesday, ahead of a public holiday, to collect their pensions and found they could not withdraw cash because many outlets had run short.
At several post office locations cash disbursements were reportedly nearly halted while staff continued to accept deposits, creating confusion and worry for pensioners who rely on timely payments for daily expenses.
The Pension and Disability Insurance Fund (PIO) told users that pension funds had been made available on time and that payouts from their side were proceeding normally, but that did not resolve the situation for some who were turned away at post office counters.
Blame between Post and Bank
Pošta Srbije and Banka Poštanska štedionica exchanged sharply different explanations. Zoran Andjelkovic, director of Pošta Srbije, said the interruption was caused by an insufficient amount of cash delivered to the postal network by Banka Poštanska štedionica and that available funds must be stretched across many post offices.
Banka Poštanska štedionica rejected those claims and issued a statement assuring that it regularly supplies the necessary cash. In its wording the bank stressed: "Banka Poštanska štediionica nikada nije ostala bez gotovine potrebne za redovno funkcionisanje poslovne mreže oba učesnika u ovom procesu. Ipak, obezbeđivanje gotovine je samo jedan deo složenog procesa isplate penzija."
The bank also argued that supplying cash is only the first step and that organising distribution, transport and tracking daily consumption at each counter is the postal operator's responsibility. It added: "It is not acceptable to give the public the impression that the availability of cash at post office counters depends solely on the amount of money the bank delivers to the Post, without explaining responsibility for organising and managing the cash after it has been taken over."
Officials on both sides said there is no clear confirmation yet where exactly the bottleneck occurred. Meanwhile, many pensioners — for whom pensions are often the sole or primary income — faced immediate hardship paying for food, medicine and bills because even a short interruption affects their household budgeting.
Photo: press material from the event
