New Delhi: A petition has been filed before the Supreme Court by an NGO seeking appropriate directions to the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to issue a notification to all the banks to refrain from classifying any loan account as NPA for non-payment of EMI from April to August at the very least.
The petitioner organisation, Distress Management Collective (DMC), is a Delhi-NCR-based NGO Trust that operates to support and provide humanitarian aid to anyone in distress across borders. It had filed the petition before the Supreme Court seeking directions and necessary orders in this regard. The petitioner sought direction from the apex court to the respondents, Union of India (UOI) and RBI, to permit banks to offer a moratorium on payments to borrowers for the period of June to August.
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The NGO sought directions from the apex court to direct the Union of India and RBI, to issue a notification to all the banks to refrain from classifying any loan account as Non-Performing Assets (NPA) for non-payments of EMI from April to August at the very least. The petitioner, DMC, sought appropriate orders from the apex court to direct the respondents to consider formulating a stimulus package that will help the aggrieved in particular to move forward from the pangs of this second wave and a possible imminent third wave.
"There is no denying the fact that the effect of the second wave has been much more fatal and severe. The death toll is the prime indicator of the severity of the virus in this second wave. It is stated that the adverse impact of the second wave on the economy of the country has been much more than the first wave," the petition said. It is also relevant to state that the ongoing prolonged lockdown imposed by states such as Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala have been really stringent, and that has actually dented the hopes of the affected daily wages earning class of a revival, the DMC, said, in its petition.
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The petition also mentioned that the need of the hour is to support all the borrowers, individual or small entrepreneurs who come within the ambit of the SME sector, especially by taking into consideration the fact that the second wave of COVID-19 has affected the lives and livelihood of people in much more drastic manner.
"A resolution plan for restructuring loans is not adequate considering the plight of a large section of borrowers. It may not be out of place to mention that the positive intervention of this court in the Gajendra Sharma case," the petition said. The livelihood of the middle class of our country has been badly affected by the ongoing second wave of the pandemic, the petition said. "There are also numerous media reports that highlight how unemployment has surged sharply in the country in the last few months. Also, many earning members of the family have expired during this deadly second wave," it claimed.
ANI
