ICICI Home Loan — Usurious Interest

I

Subject: Serious compliant of malpractice in charging of interest

I have taken a housing loan from ICICI bank, the details of which are as under:

1. Loan Account No. : LBNAG [protected]
2. Name : Julia Mohapatra
3. Date of Birth : 06/02/1969
4. Current EMI : Rs.10, 000/-
5. Original Loan Amount : Rs.415, 000/-
6. Current Outstanding Amount : Rs 353, 912/-
7. Current Rate of Interest Charged : 15.75 %

The above home loan was ‘in principle’ sanctioned to me vide ICICI Home Finance Loan No. 0181510 dated 12th September 2002. The loan tenure was 180 months. The rate of interest chargeable as on that date was 9.75 per cent. Since the rate of interest was adjustable, it was 0.5 percent less than the ICICI home prime lending rate of 10.25 percent. On this basis the EMI was fixed at 4588/- per month which has been regularly paid by me.
However, recently i.e. on 27/9/2008, I ascertained from your Bank that I am being charged an interest rate of 15.75 percent on my Home Loan. As a result, my entire EMI was going towards repayment of interest and the principal was not being reduced. Inspite of all my efforts to obtain a clarification on the basis of the rate of interest being charged from me, I have been stonewalled and ICICI Bank neither through its Call Centres nor the Branch office at Pune are willing to reply.

In view of this I am constrained to request you to kindly intervene and direct your officers to clarify/intimate the following:
(i) The rate of interest being charged to me from 24/9/2002 till date along with details of date-wise change in the interest rate charged on home loans.
(ii) The ICICI Home Prime Lending Rate (HPLR) for the period from 2002 till date indicating the date of each change in ICICI home prime lending rate. The basis on which ICICI arrives at its HPLR may also be intimated.
(iii) Clarification on why intimation regarding change in interest rate was not given to me from time to time.
(iv) Clarification regarding why intimation of necessity of increasing my EMI so that the term of repayment would remain 180 months was not given to me.
(v) I am now informed that the prepayment fees will be charged at the rate of 2.25 percent whereas the loan agreement vide Schedule B Para E(h) specifies the full prepayment fees at the rate of 2 percent. Kindly clarify the reason for change in a condition on the basis of which the Home Loan Agreement was signed by me.
Yours Faithfully,


Julia Mohapatra