“Loan rates set to be more transparent” screamed newspaper headlines on Thursday after a draft RBI circular asked banks to shift to a “base rate” mechanism from the existing “BPLR” w.e.f April 1, 2010.

The existing “BPLR” structure for pricing floating rate loans has exhibited what bankers politely call “downward stickiness”, which means that the BPLR refuses to go down (or goes down reluctantly and at a slower pace) when bank’s cost of funds fall, though it is quick to go up when their cost of funds go up. In effect existing loan consumers continue to pay higher interest rates even in a falling interest rate market but are forced to pay more when interest rates go up. As taking a loan (primarily home loan) becomes more prevalent it affects millions of middle class households and the furore over this non- transparent method of fixing floating rate loan products has reached feverish pitch.

The banks on their part give a curious argument to justify charging more to their existing home loan consumers whilst doling out lower rates to attract new customers. They claim that as interest rates fall only for the new incremental deposits and since the existing consumers are funded from existing deposits (which are at a higher rate), they cannot be given the benefit of the fall in rates immediately. The reason this argument does not appear wash is because by this token when interest rates rise, only the new customers should be paying the higher rate (since only they are funded from the new high cost deposits) whilst the existing loan consumers should continue to pay less. Of course this never happens.

When interest rates go up, they go up for both the new and old customers. Bankers again have a justification for even this. According to them when interest rates go up their existing depositors break their lower cost deposits to make fresh deposits at higher rates. There is no data presented by them to support this contention (of customer churn old deposits for new deposits at higher costs) and it is difficult to believe that a large body of Indian depositors overcome their legendary inertia just to take advantage of a 0.25% or 0.50% increase in deposit rates.

In any case this completely overlooks the fact that managing the “treasury” is a core function of the bank and it cannot pass on this responsibility (or cost) to its loan customers. Another argument given by bankers is that if the true cost of this “treasury” management was to be included in the loan pricing then all loans will be more expensive to start with (though they will be transparent). I am willing to stick my neck out and say that given the choice between a cheaper but non-transparent loan to a slightly more expensive but transparent loan, most consumers will opt for the latter. In fact this presents a unique opportunity for a consumer bank but more of that later.

Now coming to the draft RBI circular which differs from the recommendations of the Mohanty committee in two very crucial aspects. Firstly the committee had recommended that the “Base Rate” be calculated in a very specific manner with the starting point being the bank’s 1 year deposit rate. What the RBI circular says is “While each bank may decide its own Base Rate, some of the criteria that could go into the determination of the Base Rate are: (i) cost of deposits; (ii) adjustment for the negative carry in respect of CRR and SLR; (iii) unallocatable overhead cost for banks”. In effect each bank will be able to fix its own base rate without necessarily having to justify its calculations. This does not give much confidence that anything much will change from the BPLR dispensation. There have been numerous exhortations from the regulator that BPLR was to be fixed with reference to the cost of funds of a bank.

Secondly the committee had recommended that the Base Rate be revised at least once every quarter which is again not insisted on in the RBI’s draft circular.

So unless something changes dramatically, the expectation that loan interest rates will be fixed in a more transparent manner, is likely to take a long time to realise. There is one (unintended?) impact of the draft circular. The artificial cap on interest rate on education loan may no longer apply and hence this crucial (but risky product from the bank’s perspective) may at last take off.

To conclude here, I think that the path to more transparent loan pricing will have to be traversed through legislation rather than from regulation.

Let’s see if our political class will come to the rescue of the loan consumer whereas regulator has been unable to do so.

The RBI has recently expressed its concern about the teaser loans, stating,

“In the area of housing loans, teaser rates are increasingly being offered which is a cause for concern. I hope banks are ensuring that borrowers are well aware of the implications of such rates and the appraisal takes into account repaying capacity of the borrowers when the rates become normal.”

The point being made was that when the “teaser rate” period is over (2-3 years in most cases) and interest rates shift to the normal floating rates prevalent at that time the consumers may not be able to cope up with the resultant increases in EMIs (especially if, as widely expected, interest rates go up significantly in the meanwhile).

I give a small calculation here for the better understanding of ‘teaser rigmarole.’ Take the case of a typical 30-year-old salaried person with a net salary of around Rs. 40,000. As per the eligibility calculations he would be able to get a loan of Rs. 20,00,000 from State Bank of India (SBI). (See box for eligibility calculation)

How do “teaser rates” work?

SBI who pioneered these loans prefers to call them “Low cost” loans rather than “teaser rate” loans. Whatever be the label, in the Indian context, it has meant loans in which the interest rates are fixed for the first 2-3 years (5 years also in a couple of cases) and which reverts to regular floating rates after the initial fixed interest rate period is over. For example for a loan of Rs. 20 lakhs SBI would charge a fixed interest rate of 8% in the 1^st year and 8.50% in the next 2 years and from the 4^th year onwards it will have a floating rate of 2.75% below SBI Advance Rate (currently 11.75%) effectively meaning that if SBI Advance rate remains where it is today the rate in the 4^th year will be 9% (SBAR of 11.75% minus 2.75% = 9%). The EMI per lakh on this basis works out to Rs. 836 in the first year Rs. 867 in the next 2 years and Rs. 895 after 3 years.

If he went for the normal option of regular floating rate loans he will get an interest rate of 8.75% (EMI per lakh of Rs. 884) and will also be eligible for a similar loan amount of Rs. 20 lakhs.

If we run a simulation to see what happens if the interest rates rise by 2% in 2010, 1% in 2011 and another 1% in 2012 – or a total of 4% in the next 3 years. As a result in the case of the SBI home loan the interest rates from the fourth year goes up to 13%. If he had gone for the floating rate loan the interest rate would be 10.75% (original rate of 8.75% plus 2%) in the first year, 11.75% in the second year and 12.75% for the period after that. The Instalment to Income ratio in both cases go up sharply from 44% to 57% (indicating that a larger proportion of the income will go towards servicing the home loan) at the end of 3 years and in both cases are almost at the same levels. This means that irrespective of the type of loan the degree of difficulty in repayment would be similiar in both the loans if rates increase steeply by 4% over 3 years.  In both cases an 8% annual increase in income will ensure that the Instalment to Income ratio remains at the original levels. Of course in the regular floating rate loan the consumer ends up paying for the increase in interest rates in the first 3 years also.This increase will ensure that the Installment to Income ratio falls back to the mid forty levels that are considered safe by Indian standards.

How is loan eligibility calculated in a “teaser rate” loan?

The loan eligibility is calculated taking into account the EMI after the teaser period is over. As per the above example the EMI per Lakh of loan in the 4^th year would be Rs. 895. Typically the banks assume that 40% to 50% of the net income is available for repayment of home loan. Therefore from the income of Rs. 40,000 about Rs. 16,000 (40% of Rs. 40,000) to Rs. 20,000 (50% of Rs. 40,000) is available to be paid as an EMI. Based on an EMI repayment capacity of Rs. 16,000 to Rs. 20,000 and an EMI per lakh of Rs. 895 we can back calculate the loan eligibility amount at Rs. 18 lakhs to Rs. 22 lakhs or say around Rs. 20 lakhs.

So clearly whether the consumer chooses the “teaser rate” product or the regular floating rate product he would face some difficulty if interest rates rise steeply as the IIR will increase to uncomfortable levels of 55%+. The IIR can fall back to reasonably comofrtable levels if net income rises by 8% p.a. which should not be a big issue if our overall economic growth  does not falter.

What would perhaps help, both banks and consumers, is if a transparent regime is put in place to ensure that increases in interest rates (and decreases for that matter) are worked out on a transparent and objective basis so that consumers are better prepared for such increases and the actual increase doesn’t come as a shock to them.

The Reserve Bank of India has hiked the Cash Reserve Ratio by 0.75% to 5.75% (as against the existing 5%) in the third quarter review of monetary policy announced today which will be implemented in two stages. The Central Bank has left unchanged the Reverse Repo, Repo, and Bank rate at 3.25%, 4.75%, and 6% respectively.

So what does all this translate into for customers like you and me?

For what is CRR and how it affects interest rates, please see box.

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What is Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)? Banks are mandated to keep certain percentage (now increased to 5.75%) of their deposits with RBI. This is the Cash reserve and the %age required to be kept as a cash reserve is called Cash reserve ratio or CRR. Thus, an increase in the CRR leads to banks being forced to keep more money with RBI reducing the funds available for lending. As less money is available to the bank to lend there is bias towards increase in rates as per the normal laws of supply and demand. So an increase in CRR will normally result in an increase in interest rates (and vice versa a reduction in CRR will normally result in a reduction in interest rates).

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The quantum of the increase is at 0.75 % was a tad higher than the market consensus of around 0.50%. RBI has increased the target growth for 2009-10 from 6% to 7.5% for the year, and have clearly indicated that their policies will now shift from ‘managing the crisis’ to ‘managing the recovery’, and thus reverse some of the earlier steps undertaken to provide liquidity in the market. They have also indicated that the “recovery is getting established and inflation fears are coming true”. In fact we can expect more such action including increase in Repo rates, Bank rates Reverse repo rates. (See box for what these rates are and their impact.)

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What is Repo Rate?

The repo rate is the rate at which RBI lends short-term money to banks under a specific secured mechanism. When the liquidity in the markets is high, the RBI increases the rate at which it lends to the banks to make it more expensive for the banks to borrow money from RBI. Thus banks have more expensive money with them to lend to consumers and have in turn to increase their own rates. Thus increase in repo rates have a bearing on other interest rates like your bank FD rates, home loan rates, and so on.

What is Reverse Repo Rate?

It is a mechanism by which banks can park short-term money with RBI. The rate of interest that the bank gets from RBI for such money thus becomes the floor rate for all interest rates at this return is guaranteed to the banks. When this rate goes up naturally the overall interest rate will tend to increase as well.

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How are consumers impacted with these economic moves?

If you strip away the conservative language favoured by all regulators, it clearly means that interest rates are on their way up as far as the regulator is concerned, and hence we will definitely see an increase in overall interest rate during this year. But the quantum of the increase will depend on how inflation shapes up, and that in turn will depend on a host of factors such as demand for credit, monsoon, etc.

Still the question remains how does it affect you and me?

For savers and investors: If you are thinking of depositing monies with banks, then it is advisable not to get into long term deposits. Instead of making a 5 - year deposit you should make a 6/12 month deposit, as it is very likely that when the renewal comes up then you will be in a position to get far better rates.

For new loan consumers:

If we look from a borrower’s perspective, interest rates may not get affected immediately (in the next 45 days or so) but clearly there will be an increase in interest rates the near future. So if you were going to buy a home or a car in the near future, then it makes sense for you to prepone your borrowings immediately and go in for the current teaser rates into the safety of fixed rates for at least 2-3 years. Teaser rates for a year or so are available in car loans as well and customers should look at that also.

For existing loan consumers:

Well if you were smart enough to have taken a teaser loan in the last 6-9 months then just wait and watch since you have already made the right move. But if you have borrowed on a regular floating rate, then you should immediately shift to a teaser rate loan. Do it in next two – three weeks itself before interest rates start to harden or the teaser rate schemes are withdrawn. I repeat – do it now!!! If necessary the shift can be to the same bank from their regular floating rate loan to a teaser rate loan.

Sure the teaser rate loan only secures you for the medium term (the first 2 -3 years)

But it is better than nothing. To quote John Keynes “ ….in the long run all of us are dead….!!!

Amidst all the hype & hoopla surrounding the home loans (teaser loans), there are customers who are still facing the dilemma to remain fixed or to float. They do not want the risk of floating especially when interest rates move upwards, at the same time they do not want high pure fixed rates. They want to avoid the risk, at least for a certain portion of the loan, and some lender’s answer to such an arrangement is known as Hybrid loans.

So what are these Hybrid loans?

It is a combination of fixed and floating, also known as partly fixed and partly floating. Under this scheme, a part of your loan is locked under ‘fixed’ and the rest is under floating – the adjustable rate of interest. In fact it is supposed to be a median option between fixed and floating interest rates. This product works best for the people who are not clear about the rate movements and do not want to take the particular stance. Depending on the risk appetite and risk perception of future rate movements, you have evaluated the pros & cons of both fixed and floating but are unable to come to any conclusion. So, as per the companies, hybrid loan is another option which can work well for customers like you.

In case of hybrid loans, there are two parts to the loan agreements, one for fixed and another for floating.

That means that if you take a loan of Rs. 20 lakh and you feel that interest rates will increase, you can choose to take 60 per cent of Rs. 20 lakh as a fixed rate home loan and the remaining as floating. The proportion can change depending on your risk appetite.

In case rate moves up, you normally have an option of foreclosing your floating component of the loan with no pre-payment penalties. In case you decide to foreclose the loan locked under the fixed portion, standard pre payment penalty will apply unless you have negotiated otherwise.

Normally the company offers an option if interest rates move up, you can get the fixed portion of your floating loan into floating. You can convert the fixed component into floating by paying a conversion fee of 0.5% - 2% or as charged by your bank of the outstanding loan amount.

In the event that interest rates rise, the portion under fixed rate will be your buffer. And if they fall, then you gain on the floating component and lose on the fixed.

This product may work well for people who take large loans because they are more interested in hedging their risks. If instead of the hybrid loan, you decide to go for the fixed interest rate loan, make sure that your loan is indeed fixed for the entire duration of the loan. But lenders mostly put in a clause in some of their loans under which they reserve the right to amend the ‘fixed’ rate in the event of an ‘extreme change in money market conditions’.

Still fixed or floating dilemma has been eased out with the introduction of Teaser loans earlier this year, where interest rates are fixed for certain tenures say three years. After that option lies with you to choose either to chose fixed or floating which is 2.5% below the PLR.

Following suit, many PSU banks have come out with offers where they are offering low attractive fixed rates for the first 3-5 years (8-8.5%) with rates reverting to the standard floating rate after that period is over. These kind of loans are popularly referred to as Teaser loans where rate in the initial years is fixed as well as low. Private players HDFC and ICICI have recently joined the bandwagon. They announced a similar teaser loan product early December, 2009. Thus presenting clearly a good option for the consumers who want to stay away from tracking home loan rates at least for a certain period of time.

So what does a teaser rate home loan mean for the Indian consumer? It means that there is a low initial interest rate that is fixed for a specified period (1 year to 5 years) and the floating rate as specified becomes applicable thereafter.

Given below is an analysis of the some of the teaser rates home loans available in the market for a 20 year home loan of Rs. 30 lacs.

Home Loan interest rates for 20 years, Loan amount of Rs.30 Lakh - as on December 23, 2009

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BANK For first year Overall effective rate

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SBI Easy Home Loan **** 8 8.76

CANARA BANK *** 8 9.33

HDFC** 8.25 8.63

ICICI BANK * 8.25 9

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****SBI offers 8% fixed for the 1st yr, 8.5% fixed for the next 2 yrs, 4th yr onwards borrower has an option of choosing either floating rate which will be 2.75% below SBAR or fixed rate which will be 1.25% below SBAR. *** Canara Bank offers 8% fixed for 1 yr, 9% fixed for next 4 yrs, thereafter min. 10% for loans upto Rs 30 lakh.

**8.25% fixed till 31st March 2012, thereafter prevailing floating rate (currently 8.75%)

*8.25% fixed for 2 years , 3^rd onwards it is FRR (currently 12.75%) minus 3.50% = 12.75% -3.50% -= 9.25%

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But it is certainly not a one time decision, you need to review your decision at fixed intervals. Basically, partly fixed and partly floating interest rate loan lack interest rate transparency. The so-called fixed portion may be varied and there is no objective mechanism to ensure that floating rate floats down.

Mixed rates are normally not recommended mainly because of the non-transparency of the banks on both these (fixed & floating) rates. The risks are there even if you opt for pure fixed or pure floating, still you are not exposed to dual opaqueness.

It is advisable to use online home-loan calculators on sites like www.apnapaisa.com to estimate the Estimated Monthly Installments (EMI) for the loan amount you require. You will also need to understand the difference between Fixed-rate, floating-rate, the teaser rates or the combo (hybrid) rates to determine the rate type that is best suited for you.

Hence, it is important to evaluate all the pros & cons before making a decision in favour of hybrid loans.

After initially playing down the teaser home loan product first introduced by SBI in January 2009 , market leader HDFC has decided to join the bandwagon. They announced a similar teaser loan product on December 1, 2009. ICICI bank announced its own teaser plan on the weekend. This clearly is a good time to be a new home loan customer.

So what does a teaser rate home loan mean for the Indian consumer. It means that there is a low initial interest rate that is fixed for a specified period (1 year to 5 years) and the floating rate as specified becomes applicable thereafter.

Given below is an analysis of the some of the teaser rates home loans available in the market for a 20 year home loan of Rs. 30 lacs.

Source : Apnapaisa Research Bureau

Effective rates have been worked out assuming the floating rates will be what they are today.

*HDFC effective rate worked out assuming lower teaser rates are applicable for 24 months.

HDFC and ICICI bank’s dual home loan rates are now in competition with SBI’s Easy Home Loan scheme which offers competitive rates at least for the first three years.

Do teaser loans make more sense then regular floating rate products?

Interest rates are thought to have bottomed out and are widely expected to go up next year and these teaser loans provide a cushion at least for the next few years. After teaser period is over, if your lender does not offer you market determined floating rates, you should switch your loan to another lender. The effective rate of these teaser loans are also fairly good and hence it should clearly be preferred over regular floating rate loans which might increase rates next year itself based on current market conditions.

So what should a consumer look at while choosing a lender based only on teaser rates?

The big variable in most cases is the applicable floating rates after the initial period of fixed rates is over. In working out the effective rates it has been assumed that the floating rates will be what they are today. This may not necessarily be true as different banks may follow different strategies on floating rates at that time. One should not forget the story of people who had gone in for a similar teaser rate home loan scheme floated by a foreign bank in October 2003 with interest rate of 6% for 1^st year and 6.50% for 2^nd year (against the then prevailing floating and fixed rates of 7% and 7.50% respectively) and floating rates thereafter. By the time the two year teaser period was over, the bank had lost interest in the home loan market and interest rates were jacked up to double digit levels even as the prevailing interest rates were still around 8.5 –9.50 %. As a result a lot of consumers were forced to switch their loans to other lenders. It is in this context that the PSU banks are likely to score over their private sector counterparts. The report of the working group on Benchmark Prime Lending rate appointed by the RBI to look into introducing transparency in fixation of floating rates by the banks has remarked that “ An increase in the repo rates was observed to bring about a contemporaneous change in modal BPRLs of the private sector banks and major foreign banks and a lagged response in the case of the public sector banks. A decrease in the repo rate had a significant contemporaneous impact only in the case of the public sector banks”. In simple English what the group’s research showed was that the PSU banks were slow to raise floating rates for existing customers when repo rates rose and were quick to drop rates for existing customers when the repo rates dropped. Off course the fixation of floating rates will hopefully be a little more transparent in the next few years but if doesnot home loan borrowers from PSU banks will hopefully not be required to make the effort to switch lenders.

The other issue is that people should also look at pre-payment charges and any upfront charges (processing fees/stamp duty/legal charges, etc.).

But perhaps the most important thing is the property itself. If you are buying an old property (greater than 25 years) or a resale property that has gone through many owners or an under construction property that is still in the initial stages of construction then it might be useful to consider the private lenders simply because they have developed expertise on dealing with the issues arising from such transactions.

Can existing home loan consumers take advantage of these schemes?

On paper all the banks (including PSU Banks) that offer these teaser products are offering it only to these new customers and not to their existing customers. So if you are an existing loan customer of any of these lenders and want to take advantage of these schemes, you should switch your loan to another lender (i.e. become a new customer to that lender). All the lenders offer the teaser rate products to existing home loan customers of other banks. Ironic but it is not available to their own customers.

So ‘Teasers’ do make a difference in the lives of new customers as well as existing customers.

“Should I let my son go for an MBA overseas?”

This innocuous little question on Apnapaisa “Ask the expert” section caught my attention.

Why this question?

Which father would not want to let his son do an MBA overseas? I questioned myself.

To look answers for our ( His & Mine) questions, I decided to dig a little further to find out what was the dilemma about.

Let me share the dilemma and the solution here:

The reader Dinesh Sehgal (name changed) was in his early 50s and was working as a mid-level officer in a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) in Delhi. He had married off his two daughters and his only son was an engineer and working with a Delhi based Software Company. The expenses incurred on bringing up his children and their education and marriage and his own modest income (Rs. 7 lacs per annum net of taxes) meant that he had no significant investments/savings. He had his own house (worth around Rs. 55 lacs) though with a home loan of Rs. 18 lacs still outstanding on it. His son wanted to do an MBA in Australia, which would cost him around Rs. 20 lacs. His son had savings of around Rs. 5 lacs and was looking for an education loan of around Rs. 15 lacs. A PSU bank had also agreed to provide this loan but required Dinesh to be a guarantor as well as to provide the house as a collateral security for the education loan. The PSU bank was prepared to take over the existing home loan as well from the existing lender.

If it was all set, then what was the problem?

Clearly Dinesh was having second thoughts. His only serious asset was the house and he was worried about loosing his house in case the son was not able to repay the loan for any reason. An unstated concern was perhaps whether his son would be responsible enough to pay of the education loan or leave him holding the can after completing the course and starting of his career. At the same time he badly wanted his son to get the additional qualifications so that he could progress in his career.

A real dilemma, this!

Even this left me perplexed, like what to advice him? As a fellow Indian I understood Dinesh’s desire to do the best for his son. At the same time as a Financial Planning professional it was clearly not advisable to expose your only financial asset to the risk in such a manner.

I must confess, I was a bit confused. After lot of discussions with our financial planning team (all of whom are much younger – with only one of them having a child aged 7 years - and hence not really in a position to empathise with Dinesh’s dilemma) I gave worked out a typical Indian style compromise solution.

My first question to Dinesh – Are you prepared to borrow money against the security of your house to lend to your son for the purpose of his higher education?

His reply was, “ If I could be reasonably sure that my son would pay it back.”

My next question - Under what circumstances did you expect your son not to repay the loan?

He mentioned the following reasons:

1) He will fail in the course – given his brilliant academic track record so far this was unlikely

2) He will fall sick or have an accident preventing him from completing the course – this is an insurable risk and should be covered by Insurance

3) He will complete the course but not be able to get a job – given his background this position at worst can only be temporary

4) He will get a job but due to other responsibilities (marriage, job overseas, etc…) neglect to repay this liability.

The last point was the real concern area. Normally, I told Dinesh, you depend on our culture and traditions to make sure that the son will pay for the father’s debts. (read the story in DNA dated November 21).

Analysing his state of mind, I advised that in your case the debt was really taken by your son himself and only guaranteed by you. A good compromise option would be to draw up a legal document between you and your son making it clear that whilst both are joint borrowers on the bank’s records, the loan has been taken for the purpose of the son and as between themselves he is fully liable to repay the loan. This document along with the normal social pressure that exists in our society should be a reasonable safeguard against the son neglecting to pay back the education loan even though being capable of paying of.

Dinesh has not got back to me on this and I am not aware whether he actually followed my advice. Could there have been a better advice in such a situation?

I invite the views of all you readers on Dinesh’s dilemma.

The regulator (RBI) has been concerned about making credit pricing more transparent for quite some time now. One of the reasons being the wide spread complaints by home loan consumers that lenders are quick to raise BPLR when the regulator raises signalling rates (Bank rate, Repo rate, Reverse Repo rate or other rates such as CRR and SLR) but lag behind considerably when the regulator drops these rates. 

The working group constituted by the regulator for this purpose has submitted its report and RBI’s final decision is awaited. This article seeks to examine if the “Base Rate” system recommended by the group is more transparent than the existing BPLR system.

The short answer to that question is “Of course – Yes”. The Base rate system is definitely more transparent than the existing BPLR system. But there are some non-transparent aspects to the fixation of the Base Rate, which needs to be highlighted. 

In simple words the “Base Rate” system recommends that the 1-year retail fixed deposit rate of a bank (after making certain adjustments) be the Base Rate for that bank and that the floating rate loans be pegged with reference to such a Base Rate. The 1-year retail fixed deposit rate for a specific bank is easily and publicly available and to that much extent it adds considerably to transparency. It is the adjustments, however, that are based on not so easily available information as well as complex to calculate. For the adjustments the consumers will still need to depend on the concerned bank to make them properly. Having said that any bank will find it really tough to explain why the Base rate has not dropped if it decides to drop its 1-year retail fixed deposit rate.

Some other issues with this mechanism also need mention.

First, not a single bank follows the existing regulations requiring floating rate loans to be priced with reference to a suitable external benchmark. In fact, if this regulation is followed there is no need for any change in the regulation at all. This leads to justifiable concern among consumers whether any new regulations will be followed by the banks or whether the regulator will enforce any regulations that it chooses to notify in this regard.

Second, the group has left vague the applicability of the new Base system to existing borrowers by stating “ …if the existing borrowers want to switch to the new system before the expiry of the existing contracts, in such cases the new/revised rate structure should be mutually agreed upon by the bank and the borrower.” Here everybody will agree that it is nearly impossible for a single borrower to get the bank to agree on something like this. It would have been better if the modalities of applying the new system to the existing borrowers had been spelt out clearly.

Third, of course is the enforceability of any new regulations. Any regulations to be effective needs to be monitored by the regulator and transgressions need to be penalised and repeat offenders need to be punished.

Let’s therefore hope that if the regulator chooses to accept the group’s recommendation then it will also be enforced vigorously.

Amen!

I was pleasantly surprised to receive a call from Raj Gupta, who has been a close friend since my CA days. But bigger surprise unfolded when he told me that he had won an argument with his wife for the first time in life,  all because of me!

He was very excited, thanked me profusely for my article in DNA. ( Refer my article on October 3 – Buy another home…)  I was even more surprised to note that my advice can make people win an argument with their wives. ( A thing that I have personally never been successful at).

Naturally my interest level in the conversation rose. I was keen to know the details. He explained that for last few months he has been arguing with his wife over buying ready made farm house-cum-plot near Karjat, approx. 100 Kms from Mumbai. His  wife has been opposing the plan, closing that it was a luxury that they could ill afford at this point of time.

And my above article extolling the virtues of buying a second home helped him in convincing his wife that it was not a luxury purchase but an investment he was making for their retirement.  Raj said, “See, even Harsh supports my view”.  Hence Raj was extremely happy with the article. 

Paradoxically I need to clear this illusion not only for Raj but for all of you who have stretched my advice a bit too far. What my article really suggests is that buying another house which is capable of being rented out.  It can be a good retirement planning tool. Moreover it should not be important that whether you would have yourself liked to stay in that house or treat it as weekend gateway. You should buy from a rental perspective. In fact buying a house in smaller towns that you have some knowledge and connection with, might be a great decision given the fast pace of growth that is likely to be experienced by smaller towns and might give good returns over a long period of 20 years.

But what Raj  was proposing is not in consonance with my suggestion, as a leisure property  could hardly be rented out on a continuous basis. Besides it is difficult to liquidate a leisure property as it cannot be sold easily thus becomes difficult to realize the value of such properties in India. Despite growing economy, FDI influx, rising urban incomes, reach of internet and many such factors, leisure property market is not very well developed in India. Moreover, there is lack of transparency at the operational level and so is the depth in such markets. Hence, getting resale value of a leisure property is very difficult, getting rental for the leisure property is even more difficult.

Let me add here that even the builders of such leisure properties have to rely on large marketing organization and marketing campaign to sell them and it is quite time and effort consuming process. This is not practical for an individual looking to sell his leisure property.

So should you never buy a leisure property? No, I am clearly not saying that, But it should not be bought, thinking it is a good investment. It should be bought from that part of your assets that are allocated to pay for luxury that most people are entitled to after achieving a certain earnings and savings status. Buying it under the mistaken notion that it is a great investment, could perhaps be a big financial mistake. In the event of any stress in your financial life, your ability to liquidate that leisure property quickly might be very difficult. But clearly all those of you who want to get away from all the distress around and connect with your families over the weekend, in a self-owned weekend gateways can positively impact your overall lifestyle and improve your earning potential. To that extent it can be considered to be well spent.

So I am not surprised that once again another wife has won the argument.

Alas! my friend Raj’s happiness was short lived. But then he, like most of us, is a good loser and gives in with grace when he knows he cannot win the argument.

As a child when my first milk tooth fell, I was told to keep the tooth under my pillow at night. When I woke up next morning, I was delighted to discover a One rupee coin instead of the tooth under my pillow. When I asked my parents about it, they told me that a tooth fairy had switched my tooth for a rupee coin during the night. As a child the story had lots of appeal for me. Of course as I grew older I realised that there was no “tooth fairy” and that the One rupee coin was placed by my parents.

The stories doing rounds of zero percent finance scheme are perhaps of the same genre.

The old adage that ‘there is no such thing as free lunch’ aptly describes the zero-percent-interest schemes. These schemes were widely popular till a few years back. RBI regulations advising banks to refrain from offering such schemes as well as the general withdrawal of major banks from consumer durables financing has meant that such schemes have not been in vogue for the last 2-3 years.

However there are several NBFCs ( Non-Banking Financial Companies) that continue to finance consumer durables purchase and also have zero percent schemes. The main attraction of such schemes is that they influence you to purchase consumer goods that could be more expensive than your wallet size. The lure of zero percent interest is an added attraction that makes you feel that ‘YES’ I am getting something free and thus I am able to buy a ‘bigger and better’ product.

So how do these schemes work?

Unlike their names, most Zero percent schemes have other costs in built. The biggest cost is that you forfeit the cash discount that you would have got otherwise from the retailer. Also you will be paying some processing/transaction fees and/or advance EMIs.

So let us see how the costs stack up in a so called “zero percent scheme”

Example: A LCD colour television costs Rs. 48000 and is available on “zero percent” EMI scheme for 6 months (i.e. There is a EMI of Rs. 8,000 per month for 6 months). The consumer needs to pay a processing fee of Rs. 1,000. If the customer had bought the same TV by making a full payment he could have availed of a cash discount of Rs. 2,000 which he is not getting if he opts for the “zero percent scheme”.

So it works out like this :

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Cost of television set : Rs. 48,000/-

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Amount paid/Cost incurred in advance:

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Processing fees Rs.1,000/-

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Cash discount foregone Rs. 2,000/-

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Total Rs. 3,000/-

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Net finance received Rs. 45,000/-

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Payment made by 6 instalments of Rs. 8,000/- each (aggregating in all to Rs. 48,000/- against the finance received of Rs. 45,000/-).

The effective interest cost works out to 23% p.a. (see the calculator – true cost of zero percent schemes – http://www.apnaloan.com/loan-advice-india/fmcg-interest-rate-calculator.html.

However the popularity of such schemes with consumers particularly in festive season cannot be denied. Market sources say that despite being costlier in some ways, consumers prefer to go for these staggered payment schemes and have been highly successful in pushing sales and expanding the market for the durables. This is primarily because of the fact that purchasing through credit cards is very expensive as compared to purchasing through these schemes.

Also, the success of these schemes can be attributed to the availability of credit at the point of purchase, minimal paper work, small ticket size and hence a not-so-stringent eligibility criteria.

So are there any true zero percent schemes? Yes there are.

Some of them are available on the much maligned credit cards. The credit card that I have allows me to convert specific spends greater than Rs. 5,000/- into a 3 months EMI without any cost or fees. This is the closest that hard nosed bankers come to offering true zero percent schemes. Some other major credit card issuing banks also have similar schemes.

Best way to check if a zero percent scheme is a true zero percent scheme is to ask the following questions :

1) Any fees or charges

2) If I pay full amount do I get a discount that I am not getting if I take the zero percent scheme.

If answer to both the question is “No” then you have a true zero percent scheme!

So you can ‘zero in’ on your zero percent schemes

Interest rates on home loans for new consumers have come down by around 4% since September end 2008 but consumers who had the misfortune to take their loan before that have only seen their rates drop by around 1.50% – 2.25%.  

We are inundated with anguished queries from existing customers where they raise concern about this partial treatment like “I have taken a floating home loan from XXX bank in 2005. At present the interest rate I am paying is 12.5% whereas for new customers it is around 9.25%. Why this discrepancy? Isn’t there any rule that forces the banks to pass on benefits to existing consumers as well? Can I take legal recourse? “

Firstly fixation of floating rates in this manner is in direct contravention of existing RBI regulations. See this article for details of this regulation (http://blog.apnapaisa.com/2009/09/15/why-some-regulations-are-more-important-than-others/) . So your best bet is to file a complaint to the banking ombudsman about the non following of the regulations.

But if that is too slow for your tastes you as a consumer have other options as well to benefit from the drop in rates.

You too can take advantage of the drop in interest rates if you have maintained a good track record of payment with your existing lender.

As a first step, you will have to devote a bit more time on this major financial obligation than you probably have done so far.

Secondly find out what interest rates the lenders  (including your existing lenders) are offering in market for new consumers. This can easily be done from the comfort of your home or office by referring to price and feature comparison sites such as www.apnapaisa.com.

Thirdly if your existing lender is more or less in line with the market, your best bet is to make that valuable call to your existing lender to say that you want to pre-pay the loan and want a statement of overall dues so that you can make the pre-payment. Almost every single bank will offer you an option to shift to the rates that they offer to new consumers (or very close to that) on payment of a fee.  If you are the lazy type and cannot be bothered to do much more, you can accept this offer and still save significant monies over what you are currently paying. But ideally if you are of the type that wants to get the best possible deal and are willing to work for it then read on…

Before you decide to switch lenders, shop for a better deal. It is necessary to get a fair idea of the offers available from other potential lenders. Remember for these other lenders you are a new customer and they will offer their best rates to you. Approach various lenders with the intent of transferring the loan.

With new lender, the process largely resembles that of taking a new home loan. You will have to fill in an application form with the requisite details annexed with photocopies of all the property documents that you had   submitted to your existing lender. The new lender will do the legal and technical vetting of the property as well as valuation and then you will get a sanction letter from them outlining the terms and conditions of their loan to you.

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Pointers:

1.      Maintain good track record of payment

2.      Shop for the better deal

3.      Compare various deals offered by banks/ lenders

4.      Approach lenders with the intent of transferring the loan

5.      Be prepared to undergo some operational grind before the loan is taken over

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Now comes the tough operational part before you can actually start enjoying the lower interest rates from the new lender.

You will need the following letters from your existing lender:

A) Letter giving the details of the amount to be paid to completely settle the entire loan. This letter will have to mention the details like total loan amount taken, the loan amount outstanding as well as the prepayment charges, if any. The amount mentioned will be calculated as on a future date, to enable time for the buyer to arrange the payment. This letter is pretty standard and should not be too tough to get from the existing lender.

B) Letter listing all the documents held by them as security for the home loan. In most cases if you have an official receipt for the documents submitted to them at the time of disbursement then this letter may not be needed.

C) Letter from your existing lender addressed to your new lender agreeing to release the documents of title directly to them (the new lender) within a fixed number of days after receiving the full payment from them. It’s this letter that causes the issue particularly if your existing lender does not want to cooperate (after all he is loosing a good customer). There is no compulsion on your existing lender to give any such letter to a third party (your new lender) with which it has no contract. This is the letter for which you have to do a couple of rounds to your existing lenders office to get them to issue it.  

Once you get this letter from the existing lender, the new lender will make payment in favour of the existing lender to close the account and also collect the documents from the old lender.

You can then go ahead, enjoy the fruits of your labour.