THOOTHUKUDI: Infection apart, Covid-19 has many a face; and one among them is that of Shylock. When the Covid-induced lockdown ate into their jobs, the labourers had no other go but to borrow money from individuals at exorbitant interest rates to run the family show.
Ask them, the victims would say even the members of women Self Help Groups (SHG) and employees of micro financing firms are involved in extorting the poor. A kandhu vatti victim, Maheswari (name changed) of Kovilpatti said she obtained a loan of Rs 15,000 during the first phase of Covid, after her husband, a rented vehicle driver, lost his job. “Initially, the woman usurer asked her to pay Rs 1,500 per month against the loan but later, she demanded Rs 1,500 per week. I paid the interest for one year and stopped it a few months ago. Now, the moneylender is demanding Rs 40,000,” she said.
Another victim, who lodged a complaint against a private micro-financier for coercing her to repay weekly interest, told TNIE, that the financier is not giving further funds.
“I need Rs 50,000 to pay the fees of my daughter who is pursuing higher studies in Chennai. But now, I can’t,” she said.
Rajalakshmi (name changed) of Rajapalayam said she obtained a loan of Rs 10,000 at 15 per cent interest from a member of a women SHG to meet the expenses after her husband had to close his fancy store during the lockdown.
“For more than 12 months, I am paying Rs 1,500 each month towards interest,” she said. Saying the SHG has lost its very purpose, an activist, Sasi Kumar of Siluvaipatti, said: “The SHGs are given money through Mahalir Thittam to run business activities but they are lending it to the needy for exorbitant interest rates.” When asked, a senior Mahalir Thittam official said they have not received such complaints.
An investigation officer, seeking anonymity, said, though the victims are well aware of the exorbitant interest, they borrow the money to meet urgent needs. “A few moneylenders are charging 40 per cent interest per month. This means, the debtor has to pay Rs 40,000 towards interest alone for a loan of Rs 1 lakh,” he said. A police officer said, the usurers are all hand-in-glove. “They will introduce the other moneylender when the debtor was unable to pay the exorbitant interest,” he said.
Advocate Ramkumar Adityan said many are seeking legal assistance against private moneylenders for extorting the money and property. “Many of them are middle-class business people whose vehicles such as lorries, vans and bikes are being seized by the financiers. Even the private banks and non-banking financial institutions are obtaining accrued interest for the pending instalments, even though the Reserve Bank of India had exempted it. The financiers, including nationalised banks, are also exploiting the public by violating the moratorium period norms,” he alleged.
When asked, Thoothukudi Superintendent of Police Jeyakumar said as many as 14 cases have been booked under the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Charging Exorbitant Interest Act, 2003 in the past one year, and 12 individuals have been arrested so far. “Investigations into some cases revealed that the debtors did not pay anything for years together,” he added.
Prohibited but current
The Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Charging Exorbitant Interest Act, 2003, prohibits daily vatti, hourly vatti, kandhu vatti, metre vatti and thandal and mandates the rate of interest be calculated only on monthly basis