A very important signal has come from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for crores of small borrowers, street vendors, small shopkeepers and rural women self-help groups (SHGs) of the country. Under the current rules, the maximum limit of annual family income for collateral-free microfinance loans is fixed at ₹ 3 lakh. Now the central bank may consider reviewing this income limit of ₹3 lakh. RBI Deputy Governor SC Murmu has clarified that the regulator will consider revising the annual household income limit, if necessary, after assessing the changing needs of the industry, inflation and market developments. If RBI increases this limit, then lakhs of new families of lower-middle income group will also be able to come under the ambit of unsecured institutional microfinance loans, which will provide them a big relief from the high interest of moneylenders.
While on one hand there is hope of reviewing the income limit of ₹ 3 lakh, on the other hand another big demand of the microfinance industry has been rejected outright by the RBI. In fact, under the current rules, the total monthly installments (EMI) of any microfinance borrower cannot exceed 50 percent of his monthly family income (FOIR – Fixed Obligation to Income Ratio). The industry had proposed that while calculating this 50 per cent, the principal portion of certain loans should be excluded and only the interest should be counted, so that more loans can be given to the customers. On this, Deputy Governor SC Murmu took a very strict and clear stand and said that the limit of 50 percent is already quite liberal and any relaxation in it would be against the basic spirit of this rule. RBI believes that low-income households have limited capacity to absorb economic shocks, hence this Lakshman Rekha of 50 per cent protects them from falling into the trap of over-indebtedness and ensures adequate liquidity for their everyday living.
To protect the interests of customers taking microfinance loans, RBI has already implemented many strict rules, which every borrower should be aware of. Under the rules, no bank or microfinance company can take any kind of lien on any property or deposit amount from you against the loan, because it is a completely collateral-free loan. Additionally, before sanctioning the loan, the lending company is required to provide the customer with a ‘Key Fact Statement’ (KFS) and loan card in simple language, clearly detailing the interest rate, processing fee and the total amount to be repaid. According to RBI guidelines, no recovery agent can call the borrower before 9 am and after 6 pm nor can he exert any kind of pressure or rude behavior. ऐसे में यदि भविष्य में आय सीमा बढ़ती है, तो ग्राहकों को केवल पंजीकृत बैंकों और आरबीआई द्वारा मान्यता प्राप्त एनबीएफसी-एमएफआई (NBFC-MFI) संस्थानों से ही अपनी वास्तविक आय दर्ज कराकर कर्ज लेना चाहिए।