RBI directions for EMI based Personal Loans

RBI on August 18, 2023 has reset the Floating Interest Rate on Equated Monthly Instalments (EMI) based Personal Loans. The banks are advised to put in place an appropriate policy framework meeting the following requirements for implementation and compliance:

1. At the time of sanction, REs shall clearly communicate to the borrowers about the possible impact of change in benchmark interest rate on the loan leading to changes in EMI and/or tenor or both. Subsequently, any increase in the EMI/ tenor or both on account of the above shall be communicated to the borrower immediately through appropriate channels.
2. At the time of reset of interest rates, REs shall provide the option to the borrowers to switch over to a fixed rate as per their Board approved policy. The policy, inter alia, may also specify the number of times a borrower will be allowed to switch during the tenor of the loan.
3. The borrowers shall also be given the choice to opt for (i) enhancement in EMI or elongation of tenor or for a combination of both options; and, (ii) to prepay, either in part or in full, at any point during the tenor of the loan. Levy of foreclosure charges/ pre-payment penalty shall be subject to extant instructions.
4. All applicable charges for switching of loans from floating to fixed rate and any other service charges/ administrative costs incidental to the exercise of the above options shall be transparently disclosed in the sanction letter and also at the time of revision of such charges/ costs by the REs from time to time.
5. REs shall ensure that the elongation of tenor in case of floating rate loan does not result in negative amortisation.
6. REs shall share / make accessible to the borrowers, through appropriate channels, a statement at the end of each quarter which shall at the minimum, enumerate the principal and interest recovered till date, EMI amount, number of EMIs left and annualized rate of interest / Annual Percentage Rate (APR) for the entire tenor of the loan. The REs shall ensure that the statements are simple and easily understood by the borrower.