CHENNAI: At least 1.9 crore salaried Indians lost their jobs from April to July due to the Covid-19 pandemic as per the CMIE report. However, the worst affected were the self-employed people and this was evident from a recent survey conducted by digital lending marketplace, Paisabazaar.
According to the survey, nearly 86 per cent of the self-employed customers saw incomes adversely impacted during the lockdown, and 25 per cent claimed their income had come down to zero. The survey was conducted by Paisabazaar among 8,616 participants in the 24-57 age group across 37 cities. The participants had a debt of at least Rs 1 lakh.
About 16 per cent of those who were surveyed said they had lost 100 per cent of their income, with another 28 per cent reporting income reduction of more than half due to the ongoing crisis, the survey found. The survey states that the salaried customers, though highly affected, were impacted lesser than the self-employed.
The report also claimed 44 per cent of the salaried respondents said their salary had not been negatively affected, while another 30 per cent said their salary has been reduced by more than half.
About 12 per cent salaried customers have reported complete loss of salary due to job loss, the survey said.
Geographically, Chennai was the least impacted and Delhi-NCR the most in terms of loss of income. Over 48 per cent of the consumers, who participated in the survey from Chennai, said they did not suffer any negative impact due to the health crisis and the resultant restrictions imposed.
While Delhi-NCR were the most impacted cities with 70 per cent of the respondents reporting a negative impact on income.
In terms of percentage of customers who had complete loss of income, Mumbai was worst affected with 26 per cent residents reporting income plummeting to nil, it noted.
55% borrowers want to restructure loans
Nearly 55 per cent of its respondent would approach their lender to restructure their loans, finds the survey. Within those who availed the moratorium, 70 per cent of them said they would apply for loan recast.