A recent press report said that most banks in India are either delaying their decision to announce special schemes for festival season due to uncertainty in interest rates or have decided against offering interest subsidy on such schemes. This situation has caused disappointment amidst the customers sitting on the fence towards the big attraction.
Further the report also stated that the banks are planning to offer the interest rebate to only a specified group of customers. It is the defaults in high-interest regime that discourages the banks to boost their advances by lowering rates for a temporary period as said by a senior Bank official.
As per the report, Allahabad bank also announced its festival scheme by offering 1-1.5 per cent interest rebate. However, these offers are valid only to a selected base of Customers. Further these bases of customers are available only to salary accountholders or directly linked to individuals’ cash flow.
As per policy, Axis Bank does not offer discounted rates in festive season. However, Mr. S.k.Chakrabarti, Deputy Managing Director, Axis Bank said that there is a pressure on interest rates and the kid of competition between banks may make it tough for the banks to lower the interest rates.
The banks are already facing lesser demand for home loan and other loan due to high interest rates.