नियमों की खुलेआम धज्जियां उड़ा रहे बैंक: होम लोन की रकम देने से पहले ही ब्याज लेना शुरू कर रहे, ऐसा करना गलत

Every year around 10 lakh home loans are given in the country. In 70% of these cases, banks, NBFCs or other financial institutions start the interest meter even before transferring the home loan amount. Whereas, RBI guidelines say that this cannot be done.

Case No.1: Ayush Chaudhary, an engineer by profession living in Gurugram, wanted to buy a house for his family. He liked a 3 BHK flat. He went to the bank to take a loan. The documentation process was completed. He also received the sanction letter. The loan disbursal process was going on.

Since the money had not yet been credited to the builder’s account, he had not even received possession. But suddenly he got an alert message on his phone that an EMI of ~1.2 lakhs had been deducted. He went to the bank. Argued. Said that the loan amount had not been credited to the builder’s account. How did they start the EMI? The answer he got was that after sanction, the disbursement cheque had been made. The amount had been deducted from the bank’s loan account. So technically the disbursement had been done.

Case No.2: Similarly, the same happened with Vijayita Singh (name changed) who lives in Bhopal. She made an agreement with the builder. She went to Bank of Baroda located on Hamidia Road. A loan of Rs. 22.5 lakh was approved. The registry was still pending. Even before this, the bank prepared a cheque and showed the disbursement. She was sent a message to pay interest of Rs. 13,370. She was told that an outstanding amount has been credited to her. When she asked, she got a reply from the bank that the cheque has been prepared and now interest will have to be paid.

The rule is this… before the fund is transferred, neither interest nor EMI can be taken; if taken, then it has to be returned
Banks start charging interest immediately after sanctioning a home loan or signing a loan agreement with the customer. They do not wait until the amount is disbursed…

Rule : After transferring the amount, interest should be charged for the number of days remaining in the month.
Here are the things you can do: The loan may be sanctioned on any day of the month, but interest is charged for the entire month.

Rule : Interest should be charged only after deducting the additional EMI taken from the total loan amount.
Here are the things you can do: In many cases, banks charge an extra EMI on the loan. But interest is calculated on the entire loan amount only.

According to the guidelines issued by RBI on 29 April 2024, this is against the spirit of fairness and transparency. The extra amount taken by the banks should be returned immediately. Banks are expected to transfer the loan online.

Bhaskar Expert; If the bank does not agree then complain to the banking ombudsman
Even if the cheque for the loan amount is ready, but until the amount does not reach the builder’s account, it is clear that the money has not been used. In such a situation, both EMI and interest for this period are wrong. Ask the bank to return the amount immediately. If they do not agree, go to the Banking Ombudsman. – Adil Shetty, CEO, BankBazaar

Even the banks are admitting that this is wrong… we will take action against the branch where this happened
When the loan amount reaches the builder through RTGS or NEFT from the bank account, it is considered disbursement. If someone makes a physical cheque and keeps it with himself and starts charging interest, it is wrong. Appropriate action will be taken against the branch in which this is happening. – Piyush Gupta, AGM (PR), Bank of Baroda, Mumbai

Strange logic of banks doing wrong recovery… what if the money gets stuck
The logic of the fraudulent banks is that a check number is required in the registry. That is why they make a cheque. After the transfer of funds through electronic means, a ‘transaction code’ is generated. This code is also used in the registry. But if the builder refuses to register after the transfer of funds, then the banks’ money will be stuck. Experts do not agree with this, they say that the bank itself is a party in the registry. In such a situation, they can generate the code in real time. But as soon as the documentation is done, they make a cheque and start charging interest.