Over three lakh parents in Telangana took loans to pay school fee

HYDERABAD: During the academic year 2020-21, where students got to attend physical classes for hardly two months, as many as 3.8 lakh parents from Telangana, mostly the ones with school-going children, have taken loans to pay the school fee.
About 900 schools in the state are said to have tied up with third-party firms to provide EMI option for parents to clear school fees. These loans are given at zero or low-interest rates. “We want quality education to be accessible to everyone.
Even applications of those who are typically not eligible to get loans through the traditional system are given loans by our form,” said Rohit Gajbhiye, founder, Financepeer. The firm is said to have tied up with a total of 750 schools in Telangana, including some of the top international schools, and is providing loans to 2.3 lakh students from the state during the pandemic.
In total, Financepeer is said to have provided loans to 10 lakh students during the pandemic and is associated with more than 4,500 institutes pan-India. “The parents can either approach us via school or individually through our website. When a school is tied up with us, the loan is provided at zero interest,” Gajbhiye told TOI, adding that during the pandemic they have tied up with 600 schools per month on average.
Apart from giving an option to pay fees in equated monthly installments (EMIs), these fintech firms are also providing insurance and rewards to parents, who are opting to pay fees through their firm.
“Our main USP is we don’t charge interest from parents,” said Rishab Mehta, founder, GrayQuest, which has provided loans to parents of 1.5 lakh students in the state to date. Mehta said that his firm has tied up with almost all chains of schools in the country to provide EMI option to parents. “There is a massive increase in the number of parents opting for the EMI option during the pandemic as cash flow has become a challenge,” added Mehta.