I have loans from 3 banks. HOME MORTGAGE loan (Bank A), VEHICLE LOAN ( Bank B) & BUSINESS LOAN ( Bank C). I was paying EMI regularly for all the loans till March 31st 2020. RBI announced the moratorium on all term loans on 27th March for 3 months from 1st march 20 to May 31st 20 on an opt out basis. I wrote to all the banks on their Email ID within 1 week of the announcement by RBI requesting moratorium. Although I recd a acknowledgement from bank A regarding receipt of my mail, the other two did not even acknowledge receipt of e mail. When I enquired with the customer care of all the banks, all of them said that they were short staffed due to lockdown and they would reply once the operations become normal. However 1 bank (B) continued to deduct EMIs from my account inspite of my request for moratorium. I had kept the money in the bank for disbursing salary to employees. Later when the second set of moratorium for 3 more months was announced by RBI on May 17th to be implemented on opt in basis, I again applied to all the banks through email . However all 3 banks responded this time with different responses. 1. Bank A told me that june EMI has to be paid as the due date for applying for june was over. They gave me moratorium for july & august. 2. Bank B told me that they are giving moratorium only for the month of June & that I have to apply for the months of july and august separately each month well before the due date. 3. Bank C told me that since I had not paid for the month of april and may, the moratorium request for june, cannot be processed till outstanding dues r cleared. However they kept hitting my account on the EMI date but could not debit any money as I did not have sufficient balance. After august 31st , I started receiving collection calls from agencies to pay the EMIs from September. I told them that since I had paid for the month of march , that EMI has to be adjusted for september and other EMIs deducted by them in April & May will also need to be shifted across the board. This meant that I do not have to pay 2 banks till November 2020 as they continued to deduct my EMi till may 2020 & one bank had to adjust my EMI till september to compensate for march only. While one bank agreed (A) to compensate me for September, other 2 banks did not agree and r sending legal notices to clear the dues. My Questions are 1. Should March EMI if paid be adjusted for june/september. 2. If RBI has announced moratorium for 6 months, can banks at their discretion allow a shorter period on arbitrary grounds such a) as march month EMI cannot be shifted as it is already paid b) due date for applying is over etc. 3. If the banks have deducted EMI for march, april, may, should they refund that money if they are not willing to compensate for sept, oct & november. 4. Can banks send legal notices for non payment of sept, oct EMI without opening the online link for covid restructuring as mandated by RBI?
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Bank can refuse to give moratorium if date for applying is over
2) wait for SC judgment regarding levy of interest on interest during moratorium
3) bank would not refund your money in respect of EMI deducted
4) if bank has issued legal notice reply to legal notice that you want restructuring of loan
1. The waiver of penal interest is still pending in SC need to wait for its order.
2. No
3. It was optional to take the scheme or not. If you informed bank they shouldn't have deducted
4. They can but you can contest it on merits
1. reefer to the circular ti find out how far the moratorium is applicable and for which months the arrears would start to be adjusted.
2. If there is breach of RBI Circular then you can lodge complaint with Banking Ombudsman or fie writ petition in high court.
3.Another option is to file case before the consumer forum.
1. The moratorium means not waiving off the loan or the EMI amount, it is just a privilege granted by government enabling the borrower to pay the loan amount at a later stage, hence the bank may not be inclined to adjust the amount already paid towards the future EMI, if at all they are showing some favor to the good customers, it is their discretion, which you cannot claim it as a right.
2. Yes, it is their discretionary power, if you are aggrieved then you can either approach RBI or high court with a writ petition against the bank for getting your grievances redressed.
3. They have not taken away your money illegally, they have adjusted the same towards your outstanding loan and ther interest therein only, hence you cannot claim it back as a right.
4. For restructuring the loan, you are required to apply for it and get it restructured, without that the bank may proceed as per law to recover the outstanding loan.
Some of u have answered that the bank need not 1) Grant moratorium for 6 months as directed by RBI 2) refund the already paid EMI for March (retrospectively granting relief as per RBIs circular 3) compensate for EMI deducted in subsequent months also even if the bank has deducted after the intimation to avail moratorium has been made by the borrower. Some of you have based ur opinion on the fact that A) Moratorium was not granted to borrowers as a matter of right, but as a matter of privilege to enable some borrowers to avail relief from the devastating effect of covid induced lockdown on the economy. Some of you have said that B) the banks need not refund the money once paid as such money is not illegally claimed but is actually adjusted towards outstanding dues as per loan agreement. C) Some of you have said that the bank does have discretionary power in deciding who will be granted moratorium and by how much. My question is 1) If banks and lending institutions r licensed by RBI, can banks go against RBIs instructions in letter & spirit. 2) RBI mentions that All term loans are eligible for moratorium from March if their accounts r labelled as standard as on 1st March 2020. It does not differentiate between term loans whose EMIs r paid in march and whose EMIs r not paid for march. This being the case, do banks have the power to exclude one group of borrowers for relief even if granted by RBI for the month of march. 3) If Covid moratorium is called a privilege, (Definition of privilege is-a right, advantage or immunity granted to one class of ppl) then shouldnt that privilege, right or advantage or immunity be equally applied within that class of ppl. 4) RBI granted relief to borrowers as lockdown had a devastating effect on the economy in terms of disruption in demand, supply chain, workforce etc.Can banks remain mute spectators & refuse 2 take their share of the burden prioritizing profit like normal times instead of saving livelihoods in abnormal times
the RBI submitted before Karnataka high court that it was left to the lending agencies the manner in which they want to extend the scheme. It further contended that though RBI has issued a policy, it was for the banks to implement it.
2)high court has held Once the banks have in the public domain on their respective websites expressed their solidarity with all their customers and stated that all the customers are eligible for grant of a moratorium, in accordance with RBI guidelines, it is not permissible for bank for such banks to nitpick and later on, refuse the grant of a moratorium.’’
3) banks should grant you moratium
4) hC has held RBI cannot leave it to the discretion of the banks whether or not to accept the request by the customers on the moratorium scheme.
1. RBI has given guidelines to the banks with instructions to consider the request made by the borrowers wherever possible, hence it cannot be considered as violation of RBI rules in this regard.
2. You are right that the bank should not differentiate between the various kinds of loans.
3. The bank has its own definition to categorize its customers by the yardstick it may maintain.
4. The word discretion plays a role here.
1. Adjustment of EMIs depends on the discretion of bank as EMI wad already deducted from your account in March.
2. No, bank have to follow the guidelines of RBI they cannot make their own rules.
3. They can refund money but it will be loss to you because you need to pay interest for those months even after deduction of EMIs.
4. No bank cannot send legal notice for sept and oct.
The aforesaid matter is pending before SC and govt is planning to extend the moratorium to all even if they have not aplied or opted for