9th April 2020: Many borrowers, credit cardholders, and mutual fund investors have received SMSes from their lenders reminding them that they need to maintain sufficient balance on the due date. Among others, such messages have been received by people who have taken personal, auto, and home loans. With many getting payment reminders, confusion prevails among borrowers, term-plan investors, and credit cardholders over the implementation of the three-month moratorium on all loan repayments amid disruptions caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
When contacted, a public sector bank official admitted that such messages are being sent to customers as the moratorium decision has to be approved by the board of each lender but in many cases, the board meetings have not taken place due to the nationwide lockdown. According to a banker, customers would have to inform their banks that they want to avail of the benefit of the moratorium. Wherever there is a standing instruction, the customer has to inform the bank that he or she wants EMIs to be deferred. Otherwise, installments will be deducted.
There is also a three-month moratorium on payments on all types of loans and lenders have been directed not to treat such non-payments as NPAs or make bad loan provisions for them. This is not a loan write-off by the government. This is just an option to delay the payments for those customers whose jobs have been affected due to the lockdown or salaries been delayed because of the same
Ultimately, each customer has to clear his or her dues and even the interest component of the three EMIs during the moratorium period will accrue to the principal
