It?s been four months since the 1% interest subvention on home loans up to Rs 10 lakh by the government was announced. But no bank, not even housing finance company (HFC), has implemented it. Bankers say they are waiting for the guidelines to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Banks say they have already communicated to RBI on the issue and are waiting for the reply. Sudeshana Sharma, general manager (retail banking) of Punjab National Bank (PNB), said, ?So far, we have written three letters to the RBI for issuing us the guidelines in this connection. We can implement the scheme only on receipt of the guidelines.? The home loan portfolio of PNB comprises Rs 9,000 crore and the bank has disbursed Rs 1800 crore under the home loan segment.
Bank of Baroda (BoB) has also confirmed of not having received any notification. Nandan Srivastava, general manager & head (retail), BoB, said the scheme, once implemented, will definitely help increasing credit offtake in tier-III and -IV towns. Currently, the bank?s home loan portfolio comprises Rs 10,000 crore and the bank was looking at a growth of 24-25%.
Talking to FE, KC Chakrabarty, deputy governor, RBI, said, ?A methodology has to be worked out for the scheme and RBI is nowhere into the picture for the scheme after having written to the government about it in past.? In case banks are facing any problem, they should ask us, said Chakrabarty, We are yet to hear anything from the government.
The scheme, which was announced by the government on September 30, 2009, will be applicable for the home loans against those properties whose cost of construction should not go beyond Rs 20 lakh. Though National Housing Bank (NHB) has already held interaction with the banks and the HFCs to clear the doubts in October last year, still none of them has come forward for the same.
In the case of IDBI, the quantum of small-ticket home loans was small when compared to the big-ticket ones. Still, the bank is also interested in implementing the scheme once the notification was issued to it. CS Jain, executive director (retail), IDBI, said, ?On an average, the ticket size for home loan is Rs 30 lakh. Still, we give small-size home loans at some places like Satara and Kolhapur. But, we have not received any guidelines.? Currently, the size of the bank?s home loan portfolio is Rs 15,000 crore.
That’s true for LIC Housing Finance (LICHF) too. RR Nair, director & chief executive, LICHF, said, ?We are yet to get any official notification. It will happen only after a nodal agency was appointed by the government at the state level. Currently, our home loan portfolio comprises Rs 34,165 crore.?
The banks have to create an operating arrangement for the scheme. Even if the subvention was to be given upfront, the banks will have to calculate the interest amount only after opening of the customer?s loan account with them. An amount of Rs 1,000 crore is to be allocated by the government for the scheme, which was applicable for the first year of disbursal of loans only.