The bank has started notifying its borrowers via SMS, seeking their consent to defer EMIs.
The country's largest lender the State Bank of India (SBI) has extended the moratorium on term loan EMIs by another three months, in line with the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) recent announcement.
SBI has also simplified the process through which the customers can opt to defer the EMIs.
"For this, the Bank has simplified the process of stopping the EMIs by initiating an SMS communication to nearly 85 lakh eligible borrowers asking about their consent to stop EMIs. The borrowers have to reply with a YES to a designated virtual mobile number (VMN) mentioned in the SMS sent by the Bank within 5 days of receiving the SMS, if they wish to defer the EMIs," it said in a statement.
SBI has reached out to its eligible loan customers to obtain their consent to stop their standing instructions (SIs) and NACH mandate for the EMIs falling due in June, July and August this year.
NACH mandate is also a form of standing instruction or authorisation that consumers can give their banks to debit funds from or credit funds to their account.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had on May 22 announced an extension of the loan moratorium period by another three months until August 31. Earlier in March, the central bank had provided a moratorium on all term loans due between March 1 and May 31, 2020.
The extension of moratorium and deferment of EMIs is expected to offer some respite to the borrowers amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
