People's Bank discloses Rs. 656M overpayment error, says stability unaffected

People's Bank issued an official media statement explaining the circumstances related to the incident in which a group of customers received payments higher than the amounts due, as a result of a technical error in a foreign currency remittance system.

According to the statement, the error occurred during the period from May 2023 to March 2026.

The bank identified that the certain customers had received amounts higher than what they were entitled to owing to an error in the exchange rate conversion of a single currency unit during the relevant period.

The statement also notes that the bank has already taken necessary measures to fully rectify the error.

The bank further states that an internal investigation was immediately conducted upon identifying the incident and supervisory authorities, including Central Bank of Sri Lanka are overseeing further ongoing investigations.

People's Bank estimated financial impact of this error approximates to Rs. 656 million.

However, the bank emphasises that this amount has already been incorporated into the financial statements published for the relevant period, hence no further financial impact is anticipated based on current calculations.

The statement goes on to highlight that the recovery of overpayments from customers linked to the said transaction is currently succesfully underway.

Conclusively the People's Bank stated that their day-to-day banking operations, digital banking facilities, and customer services are functioning normally, adding that the institution with assets of approximately Rs. 3.8 trillion is unimpacted and that its financial stability, profitability, or the security of customers' accounts and deposits remain secure despite the incident.

The aforementioned statement reads as follows: