Private moneylenders collecting high interest rates, harassing victims

Warangal: R Prakash, a goldsmith from Battala Bazar, took a Rs 10 Lakh loan from a moneylender, who was the local cable operator, for opening a gold shop. He took it for a 10 per cent interest and the money was to be paid back on a weekly basis.

For a few weeks, Prakash paid the installments and interest on time. Then, he suffered some health complications and was hospitalized for a few weeks. Meanwhile, the money lender seized his shop along with the gold there, the value of which was more than the money he owed the lender.

In another instance, Krishna Reddy of Tadvai in Mulugu district took Rs 2 lakh from a private money lender to set up a water plant. This was on condition that he would pay 10 per cent interest, on a daily basis for 100 days as also Rs 2,000 per day, to start the drinking water supply business.

The money lender deducted Rs 20,000 at the start and paid only Rs 1.8 lakh to Krishna Reddy.

After a few days of facing loss in the business, Krishna Reddy could not pay the daily installments to the moneylender and left the village along with his family members so as to escape harassment from the lender.

In another case, the MPTC of Jammikunta mandal, who was the victim of a money lender (a government teacher) told Deccan Chronicle that she took around Rs 1.5 lakh from the teacher at 10 per cent interest. Even after paying the money on time, the teacher used to exert pressure on her to pay an extra rate of interest. As many as 20 such “victims” left Jammikunta town unable to face harassment from the government teacher, she said.

There are several such people from poor and lower-income families including farmers and farm labourers facing a lot of problems owing to harassment from private money lenders in Warangal and Karimnagar regions.

Many are facing financial difficulties these days due to the unseasonal rains, pest attacks and the Covid-19 pandemic situation. The borrowers are mostly marginal farmers, farm labourers, daily wagers, footpath vendors and auto drivers as also those running small retail shop. Even middle-class families get caught in the web of loan sharks.

Many private money-lenders are adopting methods like hourly (meter waddi), daily, weekly and monthly basis repayment and interest modes while lending the money at high rates of interest and then forcing people to repay the money.

Many private lenders are running the business without licence or with expired licence and take blank cheques and property documents from those who take the money from them.

Not just private individuals, some government employees are also indulging in the illegal money lending business and charging high rates. For them, this is an additional source of income.

The government teacher, a resident of Jammikunta town, is running the daily finance business with around Rs 3 crore in turnover. Another government teacher from Hanamkonda is running monthly chits with a turnover of Rs 5 crore, without a licence.

Meanwhile, some pamphlets are in circulation mentioning the names of private money lenders like Dish Laxman, Sarangapani Akula Kiran, Akula Bikshapathi and Yadagiri on the outskirts of Hanamkonda city, mainly in the Chintagattu camp, warning these lenders of dire consequences if they do not stop the illegal business and harassment.

The police started an investigation to find out whether the pamphlets were released by the Maoists group or by victims of the money lenders.