By Chaitali Dutta

If RBI does not increase the moratorium further, can I ask my bank to continue the moratorium on my home loan for a few months as I have cash flow problems?
—Ashok Chaturvedi
Currently RBI has not extended the temporary measure of relief to Covid hit borrowers by way of moratorium, beyond August 2020. In recent years, the interest rate has been reducing. If you have kept the EMI the same, then your loan tenure would have reduced. You may request the bank to reduce your EMI, resetting your loan tenure to earlier tenure. This may provide a small relief to you.

I am abroad and do not have any plans to visit India till the end of 2022. Can I prepay my entire home loan amount online and ask the bank to send me the property papers to me through courier.
—Sachin Gupta
Yes, it is possible to pay off your loan without actually visiting the branch. However, check with them as to whether they are ready to send you the original documents by secure post. Practically, I would not suggest putting your original papers in post/ courier. If possible, give an authority letter to a friend/relative whom you trust to collect the papers and loan closure letter from the bank on your behalf. An alternate solution would be to pay off the bulk of the loan now, leave only a small amount outstanding, reduce your EMI. Then in 2022, when you come to India, close the loan account yourself and collect the papers from the bank. This way you are reducing your interest burden and not jeopardising your original property documents.

After disbursing loan amounts twice, Indiabulls Housing Finance is not disbursing my loan to the builder. The demand this time is for Rs 8 lakh and another Rs 5 lakh will have to be paid at the time of possession. What should I do?
—Ashwini Singhal
First find out why Indiabulls Housing Finance is not disbursing your installments. Is your margin money not paid yet? Have you not been clearing your pre-EMI? Is the property sub-judice due to some reason? Has the builder been blacklisted? Once you know the reason, you will be able to find a solution to this.

The writer is founder, AZUKE
Personal Finance Advisory (www.azukefinance.com).
Send your queries to fepersonalfinance@expressindia.com