EMI loan moratorium extension: Repayment period extendable by 2 years, Centre, RBI tell Supreme Court

EMI loan moratorium extension: The moratorium period on repayment of loans during the COVID-19 pandemic is extendable by two years and several steps have been taken to help the stressed sectors, the Centre and the RBI told the Supreme Court on Tuesday. On August 26, the apex court had asked the Centre to reply within a week on the issue of interest being charged on instalments which have been deferred during the moratorium period. The top court had earlier asked the Centre and the RBI to review the move to charge interest on deferred EMIs during the moratorium period. The court had earlier said there was "no merit in charging interest on interest" for deferred loan payment installments during the moratorium period announced in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The bench was hearing pleas, including the one filed by Agra resident Gajendra Sharma who has sought a direction to declare the portion of the RBI's March 27 notification "as ultra vires to the extent it charges interest on the loan amount during the moratorium period, which create hardship to the petitioner being borrower and creates hindrance and obstruction in 'right to life' guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution of India".