The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a public interest
litigation (PIL) demanding fresh moratorium on loan repayments in view of the
second wave of Covid-19. The top court declined to pass an order on fresh loan
moratorium and said the issues raised in the petition are in the realm of
policy decisions.
The Supreme Court, however, said it is up to the government
to assess and pass an appropriate order.
Last year, the Reserve Bank of India announced moratorium on
loan repayments after the government imposed a nationwide lockdown to curb the
spread of Covid-19 pandemic.
The moratorium on all term loans, including home, auto and
crop loans, was announced to help customers overcome financial difficulties due
to the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent nation-wide lockdown.
Last month, the Reserve Bank of India re-opened its one-time
loan restructuring plan for individuals and small businesses affected by the
state-wise lockdowns amid the second wave of coronavirus pandemic that has hit
India badly. Individuals, small business and micro, small and medium enterprises
(MSMEs) having exposure of up to ? 25 crore, who did not avail restructuring
earlier and where loans were classified as standard as on March 31, 2021 were
eligible for loan restructuring in the second round.
Restructuring under the proposed framework may be invoked up
to September 30 and will have to be implemented within 90 days thereafter, Mr
Das said.
“Resurgence of Covid-19 pandemic in India in recent weeks and
the associated containment measures adopted at local and regional levels have
created new uncertainties and impacted the nascent economic revival that was
taking shape. In this environment, the most vulnerable category of borrowers
are individual borrowers, small businesses and MSMSEs,” RBI Governor
Shaktikanta Das said in a speech last month.
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