Chandigarh, Feb 3 (PTI) In a relief for distressed farmers, Punjab State Cooperative Agricultural Development Bank on Wednesday launched a loan restructuring scheme, whereby defaulting borrowers can repay in easy instalments.

Punjab Cooperation Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said the bank has launched a loan restructuring scheme for the defaulting borrowers who could not pay their instalments due to their distressed financial position.

"Under this scheme, the loan account of a defaulting borrower will be rescheduled enabling him to repay his loan in easy instalments and get relief from any legal action initiated by the bank for recovery of loan," said the minister.

If a borrower pays 20 per cent of his outstanding amount at the time of restructuring, the entire penal interest outstanding in his account will be waived, he said in a statement.

Moreover, the borrowers will be eligible for a subsequent loan if he regularly pays one-third of the restructured loan amount.

Randhawa said the bank has also decided to provide a six-month moratorium to standard loan accounts on unpaid loan instalments due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This will provide a relief to the borrowers who could not pay their instalments and these will be deferred by six months, said the minister.

Cooperative Societies Registrar Vikas Garg said the bank has also extended the ongoing scheme of waiver of penal interest till March 31, 2021.

Under this scheme, the entire penal interest outstanding in the borrower's loan account is waived if the borrower repays the entire defaulter amount or closes his loan account. HRS hrs

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)