EMI Statements Will be Mandatory for Banks


EMI Statements Will be Mandatory for Banks
Bangalore: All retail customers will be provided with an annual loan statement. The banks have agreed to unveil the most important terms and conditions which should be known to a customer before they buy a particular product. The Damodaran Committee came out with a report and made recommendations that will help home loan borrowers who don't have the slightest clue regarding their loan balance break-up, in spite of paying monthly installments (EMI) for several years. A senior official of industry lobby group Indian Banks Association (IBA) told Financial Chronicle, "Although, the EMI is paid by the customer, he does not know the status of his loan. We have agreed on providing annual loan statement to customers who have taken any kind of loan - car, home or a personal loan. We have also agreed to provide a concise leaflet detailing the most important terms and conditions on every banking product, be it loan or a deposit product." Further the IBA official added, "The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is of the view that customers may not have the time to go through the entire product information as it would be voluminous and may also be in technical language. So, banks should give the most important terms and conditions of their products while marketing them to customers. The most important terms and conditions would contain the penalties that can be levied, fees and charges on the product." The bank accounts are likely to be provided to customers in Arial font type and a font size of 10, which makes its readable for a human eye. A committee was set up in RBI in 2010 under the chairmanship of M Damodaran, former chairman of SEBI to evaluate the existing system of attending to customer service in banks, review the system of complain redressal, performance of Banking Ombudsman Scheme, and to assess the role of the board of directors of banks and the role of regulators as regards customer service. Though the report was given in August 2011 by the committee, it took some time as the to regulate as IBA had to work on some points before implementation.