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Hit by the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns, stress amongst borrowers seems to be on the rise, though it is lower than what was seen in the first surge of the pandemic. Data captured by the National Payments Corporation of India from its National Automated Clearing House (NACH) platform reveals that the number of unsuccessful auto debit requests increased for a second straight month in May.
Of the total auto debit transactions of 8.57 crore in May this year, 5.49 crore transactions were successful while 3.08 crore were returned. This reflects a return or bounce rate of 35.91 per cent in May compared to 34.05 per cent in April this year.
NACH bounce rates have been spiking since last month after localised lockdowns hampered economic activity. It had hit a low of 32.7 per cent in March this year while the peak was in June 2020 when the bounce rate rose to 45.3 per cent.
To help small borrowers tide over the impact of the second wave of the pandemic, the Reserve Bank of India had announced the Resolution Framework 2.0 on May 5. The RBI on June 4 expanded the coverage of the scheme and announced the doubling of the maximum aggregate exposure to ₹50 crore.
Stress among small borrowers
Many companies have begun to indicate that there is rising stress amidst small borrowers.
In a mid quarter update, Bajaj Finance said the second wave has caused a marginal increase in EMI bounce rates in the first quarter of 2021-22 versus the fourth quarter of last fiscal. “Average EMI bounce rates in the first quarter of this fiscal were approximately 1.08X of the fourth quarter last fiscal,” it said.
Equitas Small Finance Bank reported a collection efficiency of 77.84 per cent in May this year as against 105.16 per cent in April. “We will be studying the impact of stress created by the second wave on our customers and any possible restructuring they may require to help revive their livelihood,” it said in a recent statement.
Post September 2020, the bank had seen a strong pick up in collection efficiency and ended the year with March 2021 at pre-Covid level collection efficiency.
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