Kerala banks to reschedule loans, waive fees for new cheque books

Thiruvananthapuram: Banks in Kerala have decided to reschedule loans and to not levy service charges and fees for issuing new cheque books to customers affected by the floods that has left a trail of destruction.

The state Level Bankers Committee, Kerala, at its emergency meet on Tuesday also decided to announce a moratorium on education loan for a period of six months and all other loans for one year besides rescheduling the loan repayments for five years.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Canara Bank Chairman T N Manoharan and its Executive Director and SLBC Chairperson P V Bharathi also said no fees would be levied for debit card and cheque books, among other things, for customers affected by the floods.

"We will not charge any fees from customers affected by floods to restart their banking activities. This will come into force immediately and this facility would be available till October 31," Bharathi said.

All documents and data were safe as there was a Disaster Recovery Centre for every bank, she said.

A total of 323 bank branches and 423 ATMs had submerged in the floods, she added.

Of the affected branches, 162 have resumed functioning, Bharathi said. Giving details about the branches that have not started functioning again, she said there are 67 in Pathanamthitta, 33 in Alappuzha, 29 in Ernakulam and 19 in Thrissur districts.

With regard to ATMs, 82 have been reactivated, she added.

Though some of the branches have been opened, the banks have yet to start full-fledged operations as computer systems were not fully functional, she said.