Circular (Non-Banking) was issued for Extension of Concessions for Covid-19 Affected Businesses and individuals (Circular No. 9 of 2021)

Circular (Banking) was issued for Concessions for Lease Facilities Obtained by Businesses and Individuals in Passenger Transportation Sector (Circular No. 12 of 2021)

Circular (Banking) was issued for Extension of Debt Moratorium for Covid-19 Affected Businesses and individuals in the Tourism Industry (Circular N0. 10 of 2021)

Circular (Non-Banking) was issued with amendments to the Circular No. 06 of 2021 on concessions for COVID-19 affected businesses and individuals (Circular No. 07 of 2021)

Circular (Banking) was issued for concessions for COVID-19 affected businesses and individuals (Circular No. 08 of 2021)

Circular (Banking) was issued for the provision of banking services during the ongoing quarantine curfew period (Circular No. 07 of 2021)

Circular (Non-Banking) was issued to LFCs and SLCs to extend concessions COVID-19 affected businesses and individuals (Circular No. 06 of 2021)

Circular (Banking) was issued for the provision of banking services amidst the COVID-19 outbreak (Circular No. 06 of 2021)

Circular (Banking) was issued to LCBs and LSBs to extend concessions COVID-19 affected businesses and individuals (Circular No. 05 of 2021)

Circular (Non-Banking) was issued to LFCs and SLCs to extend the debt moratorium granted to Tourism Sector under Circular No. 09 of 2020 dated 30 September 2020 for another six months commencing 1 April 2021 (Circular No. 05 of 2021)

Circual (Banking) was issued to LCBs and LSBs to extend the debt moratorium granted to Tourism Sector under Circular No. 08 of 2020 dated 26 August 2020 for another six months commencing 1 April 2021 (Circular No. 04 of 2021)

Circular (Non-Banking) was issued to LFCs and SLCs to provide concession for lease facilities obtained by COVID-19 affected businesses and individuals engaged in passenger transportation services for six months commencing from 1 April 2020 (Circular No. 04 of 2021)

Circular (Banking) was issued to LCBs and LSBs to provide concession for lease facilities obtained by COVID-19 affected businesses and individuals engaged in passenger transportation services for six months commencing from 1 April 2020 (Circular No. 03 of 2021)

Circular was issued to LCBs and LSBs to suspend recovery actions against SME paddy millers for a period of six months commencing from 01 January 2021 (Circular No. 01 of 2021)

Circular was issued to Licensed Finance Companies and Specialized Leasing Companies with an amendment to Circular No. 11 of 2020 on Debt Moratorium for COVID-19 affected businesses and individuals (Circular No.12 of 2020)

Circular (Non-Banking) was issued to Licensed Finance Companies and Specialized Leasing Companies to extend the debt moratorium granted to COVID-19 affected businesses and individuals  for a further period of six months commencing from 1 October 2020 to 31 March 2021. (Circular No.11 of 2020)

Circular (Banking) was issued to LCBs and LSBs to extend the debt moratorium granted to COVID-19 affected businesses and individuals for a further period of six months commencing from 1 October 2020 to 31 March 2021. (Circular No.10 of 2020)

Circular (Non-Banking) was issued to Licensed Finance Companies and Specialized Leasing Companies to extend the debt moratorium granted to COVID-19 affected businesses and individuals in the tourism sector  for a further period of six months commencing from 1 October 2020 to 31 March 2021. (Circular No.09 of 2020)

Circular (Banking) was issued to LCBs and LSBs to extend the debt moratorium granted to COVID-19 affected businesses and individuals in the tourism sector for a further period of six months commencing from 1 October 2020 to 31 March 2021. (Circular No. 8 of 2020)

Circular was issued to Financial institutions to:

1. Extend the existing 6 months moratorium period to 12 months in respect of capital outstanding of leasing facilities granted to tourism related vehicles.
2. Recover interest during the moratorium period from eligible borrowers referred to in paragraph (1) above, in a manner that is not inconvenient to the borrower.
3. Waive off the accrued penal interest in respect of leasing facilities granted to tourism related vehicles.

(Circular No. 7 of 2020)

A circular was issued to LCBs, Licensed Specialised Banks (LSBs) and leasing companies informing relief measures to assist businesses and individuals who were adversely affected by the outbreak.

This included a debt moratorium on capital and interest, provision of working capital at an interest rate of 4.00 per cent per annum, capping of interest rates charged on credit card payments, reduction of minimum monthly payment dues on credit cards, extension of the validity of cheques, and to keep all branches of licensed banks open on non-curfew days and corporate branches to be kept open during curfew days. (Circular No. 4 of 2020)

කොවිඩ්-19 සහන යෝජනා ක්‍රමය සඳහා සුදුසුකම් ලබන පුද්ගලයින් කවරේද?

• කොවිඩ්-19 ව්‍යසනය නිසා සිය රැකියා හෝ ආදායම් අහිමිවූ ස්වයං-රැකියා නියුක්තිකයින් සහ අනෙකුත් පුද්ගලයින්
• කොවිඩ්-19 ව්‍යසනය නිසා තම ආදායම/ව්‍යාපාර බිඳවැටී ඇති, විදේශ විනිමයෙන් ණය ආපසු ගෙවීමට ඇති, විදේශ විනිමය උපයන්නන්

කොවිඩ්-19 සහන යෝජනා ක්‍රමය සඳහා සුදුසුකම් ලබන ව්‍යාපාර/ ක්ෂේත්‍ර මොනවද?

• සංචාරක, කොවිඩ්-19 නිසා වැඩ කටයුතු අඩාල වූ සහ විදේශයන් හි පොදු පහසුකම් හා සේවා කටයුතු වසා දැමීම් (lockdowns) නිසා අගතියට පත් ඇඟළුම්, තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ, තේ, කුළුබඩු, වැවිළි හා මෙම ක්ෂේත්‍ර ආශ්‍රිත සහසම්බන්ධිත සේවා පහසුකම් සපයන්නන් (logistic service providers) ඇතුළු අපනයන ආශ්‍රිත සෘජු හා වක්‍ර ව්‍යාපාර. මෙම සහන ලබා ගැනීම සඳහා සුදුසුකම් ලැබීමට අදාල ව්‍යාපාර/ක්ෂේත්‍රයන් වන අතර ඒ සඳහා පිරිවැටුම් සීමාවක් අදාල නොවේ.
• රුපියල් බිලියනයට අඩු පිරිවැටුම් සහිත නිෂ්පාදන, සේවා, කෘෂිකාර්මික (සැකසුම් කර්මාන්ත ඇතුළුව), ඉදිකිරීම්, අගය එකතුකිරීම් හා අවසරලත් දේශීය ඖෂධ සැපයුම්කරුවන් ඇතුළු වෙළෙඳ ව්‍යාපාර වල නියුතු සුළු හා මධ්‍ය පරිමාණ ව්‍යාපාරයන්. (මෙහිදී වාර්ෂික පිරිවැටුම සලක බැලීම සඳහා දැනට පවතින ආසන්නතම ගිණුම් වාර්තා හෝ ඇස්තමේන්තු යොදා ගත හැක).
• කොවිඩ්-19 ව්‍යසනය නිසා තම ආදායම හෝ ව්‍යාපාර කටයුතු පවත්වාගෙන යාමට බලපෑම් එල්ලවූ, විදේශ මුදලින් ණය ගෙවීමට ඇති විදේශ විනිමය උපයන ව්‍යාපාර.

Most of the complaints are relating to not offering 6 months moratorium. Who are eligible to have six months moratorium? If eligible and company has offered less period what actions can be taken?

Individuals and Businesses as in FAQ 1 and FAQ 2 are eligible for a moratorium period as in FAQ 8. If a customer is an eligible customer and was not offered the moratorium or has been offered lesser period than eligible, he/she may discuss with the financial institution citing the circulars issued by the CBSL and get into an agreement.

ණය සහන කාලය ලෙසින් හඳුන්වන්නේ කුමක්ද?

• ණය සහන කාලය ලෙසින් හඳුන්වන්නේ අදාල සහන කාලය තුලදී අයවීමට නියමිත ණය ප්‍රාග්ධන සහ/හෝ පොළී ආපසු ගෙවීම් කල් දැමීම වේ.
• මෙහිදී ණය සහන කාලයක් ලබාදීම මගින් අදාල ණය පහසුකම්වල ප්‍රාග්ධන සහ/හෝ පොළී මුළුමුනින්ම කපා හැරීමක් අදහස් නොකෙරේ. ගනුදෙනුකරු විසින් ණය සහන කාලසීමාව තුල ගෙවීමට නියමිත ණය ප්‍රාග්ධන සහ/හෝ පොළී ආපසු ගෙවීම්, සහන කාලසිමාවෙන් පසුව සංශෝධිත ආපසු ගෙවීමේ සැලැස්මකට අනුව සිදු  කලයුතු වේ.

From whom can I get these reliefs?

All licensed banks, licensed specialized banks, licensed finance companies and specialized leasing companies that are regulated by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka will be offering these reliefs, as per the relevant instructions given in the circulars.

Loans granted by lending institutions other than above regulated entities are not eligible for reliefs.

What types of credit facilities are eligible for reliefs under this scheme?

Credit facilities to be supported under this scheme shall be term loans, leasing facilities, pawning, overdrafts and trade finance facilities subject to the requirements specified.

It was observed that there are different loan types or different names used by different companies in addition to the general loan facilities they provided like "term loans" "leases", etc., and several customer complaints have received by us and the CBSL management that LFCs/SLCs are refusing to provide moratorium for those types of facilities saying that such loans are not covered in the cited circulars.

Though those different names are not mentioned in the circulars issued by CBSL, if these facilities have obtained for the sectors identified in the Section 2 of the circular No 5 of 2020, and Individual’s income/Business have been really affected by Covid-19 and with sufficient proof of documents that person/Business obtained the facility for that purpose, those customers are eligible for the moratorium. i.e., customer may have obtained a facility for tourism related activity but the loan name is not mentioned in the circular. If customer can prove that facility has obtained for the tourism related activity and his income got affected due to the current situation, he is eligible for the moratorium.

What is the effective date for these reliefs?

The loan installments and /or lease rentals that fell due on or after 25.03.2020, for a specified period as mentioned in FAQ 8.

What is the moratorium period?

If your moratorium request has been accepted by the LFC/SLC, the financial institutions shall offer a debt moratorium for the period as given below:
(a) A six-month debt moratorium on the leasing rentals of all three-wheelers, school vans, lorries, small goods transport vehicles and buses and related assets such as motor bikes and taxies operated by the self-employed/ owners.
(b) A debt moratorium until 30.05.2020 was granted on personal loans to all private sector non-executive employees.
(c) A three-month debt moratorium for all personal loans and leasing where the granted amount is less than Rs. 1 million.
(d) A six-month debt moratorium for affected industries in small & medium enterprises, tourism, apparel, plantation, IT and related logistic service providers.
(e) A six-month debt moratorium for all other eligible businesses/sectors specified in the Section 2 of the circular No 5 of 2020.

Are there any extensions given to the moratorium period?

Financial institutions shall extend the existing 6 months moratorium period granted in terms of Paragraphs 2 and 3 of Circular No. 05 of 2020 issued on 27 March 2020 to 12 months (further 6 months from end September) in respect of capital outstanding of leasing facilities granted to tourism related vehicles.

However, borrowers need to service interest during the moratorium period. Financial institutions may recover interest during the moratorium period from eligible borrowers, in a manner that is not inconvenient to the borrower.

Financial institutions shall waive off the accrued penal interest in respect of leasing facilities granted to tourism related vehicles.

Do I have submit a request to avail these relief? If so How?

Yes. The customer was expected to submit a request on or before 15.05.2020 through online facilities or other convenient communication arrangements.

What happens if someone has requested for the moratorium after 15th May?

The customers were expected to submit a request on or before 15.05.2020 through online facilities or other communication arrangements including – mail/SMS/WhatsApp, etc. Any moratorium request received after the deadline cannot be accepted. However, if the company is willing to extend the moratorium to such customers, CBSL has no objection for such facilitations.

How will I know if I have been granted the concession, upon request?

The financial institutions were required to complete processing of customer requests within 45 days from the date of receipt of the request. The financial institutions were required to notify the outcome of the request within this 45 days time period.

What about the credit facilities which remained overdue (in arrears) prior to the effective date of the scheme?

Concessions were required to be granted for the loans installments/lease rentals that fall due on or after 25.03.2020.

However, if the credit facility remains in performing category with an arrears/overdue position, the customer may request the financial institution to cover that arrears within the applicable moratorium period.

For example, if loan installments for February and March 2020 remained in arrears for a performing loan which is eligible to get a 6 months moratorium period starting from April 2020. The customer may have requested the financial institution to backdate such moratorium period to start from February 2020. In this case, the six months will be counted from February 2020 and not from April 2020.

Will LFCs/SLCs recover the capital and interest installments that are applicable for the moratorium period from the customers in future? If so how?

Yes. As per the circulars, the respective moratorium only gives customers the ability to defer the repayment of capital and interest. as such, the moratorium does not require the LFCs/SLCs to waive-off the capital and/or interest installments. No additional interest will be charged by LFCs/SLCs from customers, on the deferred capital and/or interest installments.

How the Capital and Interest component will be calculated and charged for the Moratorium Period?

Repayment of Capital is as follows:

For example, the moratorium will work as follows –

Example

If a customer eligible for a 6 months debt moratorium from April 2020, then that customer will now not be required to pay installments to the LFCs/SLCs from April 2020 to September 2020. However, this customer will be required to pay monthly installments of Rs.97,926 from October 2020 to the initially agreed date of March 2021 and for additional six months until September 2021. Basically, original repayment schedule will be extended by an equal period of time to the moratorium with the same installment value to be paid by the customers.

Interest accrual during the moratorium period is as follows:

Interest shall continue to be accrued during the moratorium period on a concessionary rate and such accrued interest shall be converted in to a new interest free term loan, which shall be recovered from the borrower.

E.g., for calculation of Monthly Interest Charge: Interest charge per month of April 2020= Outstanding loan amount at the commencement of the moratorium period (Beginning of April 2020) * (concessionary rate/12).

LFCs and SLCs shall recover the interest free loan from the borrower using the two options given below with the consent of the eligible borrower.

The concessionary rate that can be charged to option 1 and option 2 shall be up to11.5% per annum. Further, the consent of the borrower shall be obtained for the option selected, after duly explaining the different implications of the options considered including total interest cost to be paid and time value of money.

Option 1 – LFCs/SLCs shall recover the interest free term loan in equated monthly installments after the end of the moratorium period and the repayment period shall be 2 years or remaining maturity period of the credit facility, whichever is lower.

Option 2 – LFCs/SLCs shall recover the interest free term loan after the end of the contractual period (extended contractual period after considering the moratorium) in installments not exceeding the monthly installment of the original contract.

Will I be charged any penal charges or late payment fees for credit cards facilities, whether I am eligible or not for concessions?

All financial institutions have been instructed not to charge any penal charges or late payment for credit cards and other credit facilities during the period up to 30.09.2020.

Is there a special interest rate charged on private buses for the Moratorium?

All LFCs/SLCs shall accrue an interest rate of 4 per cent per annum during the moratorium period for leasing facilities granted to private passenger buses.

Whether CBSL conducts any evaluation for the granting the moratorium as some companies have informed so to their customers?

No, CBSL does not conduct any evaluation for granting the moratorium.