SC on Loan Moratorium: Apex court to resume hearing petitions seeking interest waiver

The apex court is expected to resume hearing of petitions related to loan moratorium case today.

The Supreme Court (SC) will today resume hearing of petitions seeking interest waiver during the six-month loan moratorium period. A bench comprising of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and MR Shah previously heard the case on December 16.

Here's what happened previously:

· The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had in March announced a moratorium on repayment of term deposits for three months, which was later extended till August 31. The move was intended to provide borrowers relief during the COVID-19 pandemic.

· The SC had on September 3 instructed banks not to declare accounts as non-performing assets (NPAs) until further orders.

. The Centre in October said that it would waive compound interest on the repayment of loans of up to Rs 2 crore in some categories, a move that would provide relief to individual and MSME borrowers.

.The top court had on November 19 disposed off petitions in which the petitioners are satisfied with compound interest waiver.

.Senior Advocate V Giri, appearing for the RBI, on December 9 said the plea made that the date of moratorium be extended is not viable.

. The SC has previously said there is "no merit in charging interest on interest".

. The RBI had on June 4 said lenders will lose Rs 2 lakh crore if interest is waived completely during the moratorium period.