Bank that seized farmer’s house says it acted on court orders

Equitas Small Finance Bank, the agency that sealed the house of a farmer, for defaulting on loan payment in Belagavi district , has clarified that its officers had acted on the orders of a court.

Officers had seized the house of farmer Saidappa Gadadi in Naganur village, saying he had failed to repay loan in time. Seven members of his family, including an infant and her mother had to spend the night out in the open.

The bank says the farmer had not paid instalments for nearly one and a half years. But the farmer said he had repaid up to Rs 3.16 lakh of the Rs 5 lakh and that he had resumed payment after a break of one year, when he suffered losses due to death of cattle. Mr Gadadi said the banking correspondent had misused the instalment amounts, without depositing them with the bank.

The farmer said the bank did not offer a one time settlement, despite repeated requests, but the bank has denied it.

“Recently there have been some media reports about a particular case in the city of Belagavi. In this case, the reports seemingly indicates that Equitas has removed certain family members including a child in a high handed manner and taken possession of a property mortgaged to the Bank,’‘ the bank said in a release.

“We regret deeply the inconvenience caused to the customer and their family members due to the execution of the Court order. We will be in touch with the customer to ensure that they are not put to any hardship, while also enabling them to meet their financial commitments to the Bank,’‘ it said.

“The reality is that this account has been in NPA for about a year and a half. In the recovery case filed by the Bank, there has been no representation from the borrower. The Bank, as per its normal practice of helping out customers who are in arrears, offered certain settlement terms which include typically interest waivers and in deserving cases, a part of principle waiver also,’‘ it said.

“However, there was no progress in the case either for normal payment or settlement, leaving the Bank with no option but to approach the Court. The Court appointed a Commissioner to take possession of the property which was executed by the Commissioner,’‘ Purvi Shah, public relations manager, said.