ALBAWABA - According to an official statement released by the Zurich City Council, a technical mistake resulted in city workers receiving double their February salary. The error occurred during the payment processing by Zuercher Kantonalbank (ZKB), the state-owned bank responsible for handling salary transfers.
The glitch, caused by faulty software provided by a contractor of Swisscom AG, led to wages being sent out twice. Swisscom AG, the leading telecommunications company in Switzerland, acknowledged the incident and initiated an internal investigation to determine the cause.
The total amount of the salary payments on Monday was approximately 350 million francs ($400 million), with half of that sum being sent in error. In response, Zurich authorities have stated that the affected city employees, numbering around 30,000 individuals, are obligated to return the extra funds. However, the statement did not provide specific details on the repayment process, only assuring that those affected will be promptly informed about the repayment arrangements.
ZKB expressed its apologies to all employees of the city of Zurich for the inconvenience caused. The bank is currently collaborating with the city authorities to propose a simple solution for the repayment of the duplicated amount.
