By Nasir Aijaz
The AsiaN Representative
ISLAMABAD: A young man working as a low-level cashier at an international bank in London committed one of the most astonishing frauds of the 20th century. Using a computer, he would withdraw one penny each day from the accounts of millions of clients and transfer the money into his sister’s account.
He continued this practice consistently for fifteen years, eventually stealing millions of pounds from customers.
His scheme finally came to light following the complaint of a Jewish businessman, who had been observing his bank statements for several months. He noticed that one penny was being deducted daily from his account. He approached the bank manager, showed him his previous statements, and demanded an investigation.
The manager mocked the businessman, pulled out a pound from his drawer, placed it in the businessman’s hand, and said:
“Here you go, I’ve compensated your loss.”
The businessman became angry and scolded the manager:
“I’m not short on money. I just want to point out the weakness in your system.”
He got up and left.
After he was gone, the manager realized the seriousness of the complaint and ordered an investigation, which revealed the fraud. Thus, the young cashier was finally caught.
That was a fraud in London — but a similar fraud is ongoing in Pakistan, linked to the smallest unit of currency — the paisa.
Background of Currency in Pakistan
Pakistan introduced its currency on April 1, 1948. It included six coins:
One rupee, Half rupee (Aath-Anna), Quarter rupee (Chaar Anna), Two-Anna coin, One-Anna (Hik-Anno), and One paisa, also known as a pice.
At that time, 1 rupee equaled 16 annas or 64 paisas.
These coins remained in circulation until January 1, 1961, when President Ayub Khan introduced the decimal system, making the rupee equal to 100 paisas.
New coins were introduced:
50 paisas, 25 paisas, 10 paisas, 5 paisas, and 1 paisa.
These coins remained in use until the era of General Zia-ul-Haq, after which they gradually disappeared. Today, the smallest coin in circulation is the one-rupee coin.
The Trick: Disappeared Coins, But Existing Prices
Now here’s the trick:
Even though the State Bank no longer issues smaller coins like the paisa, the government still includes paisa-based figures in fuel, electricity, and gas prices.
For example, take the latest hike in petrol prices. The government increased the price by Rs.5.92. As a result:
Petrol is now Rs.266.13
High-speed diesel is Rs.273.65
Light diesel is Rs.269.94
Now the question is:
When there is no coin smaller than one rupee, how will a petrol pump cashier return, say, 87 paisas to the customer? The simple answer: He won’t.
Instead, the customer must pay the full next rupee, e.g., Rs. 63 instead of Rs. 62.13.
The Real Scale of the Fraud
Let’s look at how deep this goes:
Pakistan sells 320,000 barrels of petrol per day. In liters, that’s 50.88 million liters.
Now suppose fuel companies pocket 87 paisas extra per liter —
That’s a daily profit of Rs.44.265 million — every single day!
And that’s not even counting diesel, kerosene, and other fuel types. Plus, most people buy 5 to 40 liters at a time, where paisas are always rounded up — in favor of the seller.
Now imagine —
If an economist investigates this over months, years, and three decades, this could reveal a fraud worth billions of rupees.
This means that for the last 30 years, our official machinery has been secretly enriching private companies — and the government does not even know (or pretends not to).
The Bigger Question
Even if the daily scam is not worth Rs.44 million, the core question remains valid:
If the State Bank is not issuing paisa coins, then why is the government still pricing items in paisas?
Why not round off prices — either to Rs.62 or Rs.63 — for the sake of clarity and fairness?
If the government refuses to do this, then something suspicious is definitely going on, because our corrupt, ruthless bureaucracy never makes a mistake that does not benefit it.
