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RBI bans zero percent interest rate scheme for buying consumer goods

26 Sep 2013 Evaluate

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) banned zero percent interest rate scheme offered by the banks for purchase of consumer goods, citing that such schemes is non-existent and only serve the purpose of alluring and exploiting the vulnerable customers. Under zero percent interest EMI schemes offered on credit card, the interest element is often camouflaged and passed on to the customer in the form of processing fee. As per the central bank regulations, banks should not resort to any practice that would distort the interest rate structure of a product as this violate the transparency in pricing mechanism which is very important for the customer to take informed decision.

The RBI notified that zero percent interest is non-existent and such schemes only misguided the vulnerable customers. Fair practice demands that the processing charge and interest charged should be kept uniform product or segment wise, irrespective of the sourcing channel, it added.

On the financial assistance to customers, the RBI said that the loan amount sanctioned for the purchase should be after taking into account the discount, rather than giving effect to the benefit by reducing the interest. The central bank’s notification also said that risk rating of the customers is the only factor that can justify differential rate of interest for the same product, which may not be applicable in case of retail products where the interest is generally kept flat and is indifferent to the customer risk profile.

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