SC on Loan Moratorium LIVE Updates | Supreme Court Bench begins discussing loan moratorium extension and accruing interest rates amid COVID-19

SC on Loan Moratorium LIVE: The Supreme Court on October 13 adjourned its hearing on a batch of petitions seeking interest waiver during the loan moratorium period to October 14 (today). The three judge bench comprising of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy & MR Shah assembled at 12 noon on October 13 and announced that the matter will be taken up at the end of board (i.e. after all other cases in the list have been heard), however since since Justice Bhushan was required to sit in a different combination of Judges in the post lunch session the case was adjourned, Bar & Bench reported. The bench on October 5 heard pleas seeking waiver of accruing interest during the six-month loan moratorium period. The apex court granted Centre and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) time to file additional affidavits which are likely be addressed today. The SC had on September 3 instructed banks not to declare accounts as non-performing assets (NPAs) until further orders. After this, the Centre on October 2 told the apex court that it would waive compound interest on the repayment of loans of up to Rs 2 crore, a move that would provide relief to individual and micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) borrowers. The SC has previously said there is "no merit in charging interest on interest".

The 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 and expected to give them more time to clear payments of EMIs amid the economic fallout of the lockdown, without being classified as NPAs. On June 4, the central bank said lenders will lose Rs 2 lakh crore if interest is waived during the moratorium period. In its annual report, the central bank also said the moratorium on loan repayments could have an impact on the financial health of banks.  Catch the latest updates here: