BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court has directed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a “proper and effective” grievance redressal forum for borrowers aggrieved due to improper or non-implementation of its moratorium policy.Disposing of a writ petition filed by Velankani Information Systems Ltd, Justice Suraj Govindaraj on Wednesday directed the RBI to enforce the recovery package as specified in its circular dated March 27.The petitioner sought directions to the RBI to enforce the regulatory package, quash the communications issued by banks and grant moratorium on payment of all term loan installments.
The court directed the RBI to monitor implementation of the circular, and instruct banks to submit the board-approved policies to the RBI and verify if such a policy contains objective criteria, it said.The court quashed the communication dated April 24, 28 and May 25 issued by Federal Bank Ltd, HDFC Bank Ltd and Aditya Birla Finance Ltd, respectively, to the petitioner. It directed them to grant moratorium on all payments due, subject to the petitioner paying interest.
The financial institutions were also directed to grant moratorium for three months from March 1 to May 31 and also for the extended period from June 1 to August 31. They were also restrained from either jointly, or severally, recovering the loan repayment installments/EMI due in respect of loan accounts for the petitioner during the period of moratorium.