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With the lockdown is well into its fifth week, the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) has demanded that the interest component in the three-month moratorium be removed.
As the drivers will find it difficult to rebuild their lives after the pandemic, it said, the government should extend the interest-free EMI moratorium till December 2020. The lockdown has destabilised the financial position of the drivers, it added.
The association conducted two surveys to assess the financial condition of the drivers and to gauge whether they have been benefited by the moratorium on EMIs and loan advances being provided by the service providers.
Over 6,500 drivers (who run cabs via app-based requests) in 66 cities in 15 States were covered in the two surveys. This was followed up with interviews of drivers from 10 cities.
“We have been given an option to pay three EMIs later but we will still have to pay the compound interest when the moratorium ends. If we default, we will be in deep trouble,” the IFAT said, quoting a driver in Lucknow.
The monthly EMIs ranged from ₹10,000 to ₹20,000, said the IFAT. Almost 51 per cent of the respondents had taken loans from 19 public sector institutions, some from private, cooperative banks and many others from NBFCs.
A large number of respondents wanted the government to advise the banks and NBFCs to forego interest payment for the three months and extend the EMI repayment period up to December 2020.
The respondents wanted the State governments to extend the vehicle insurance validity and validity of other vehicle related documents (licence, registration etc) by three months as the drivers will not have enough money for some months for these additional expenses. They also wanted a three-month moratorium on payment of State and municipal taxes for their commercial vehicles.
“It will take many months for the drivers to rebuild their lives and repay other loans taken during the lockdown. The government needs to acknowledge this and help the drivers,” said Kamaljeet Singh, Vice-President of IFAT.
“It's clear from our surveys that the drivers are under severe financial stress and they will need economic assistance from both the State and the app-based companies they work for in order to make sure that their jobs are still economically viable after the lockdown,” said Shaik Salauddin, National General Secretary, IFAT.
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