Staff Reporter
Guwahati: The state government has issued guidelines for advancing salaries of employees and also invited Scheduled Commercial Banks, RBI-registered NBFCs and eligible facilitation/technology service providers for empanelment to provide salary-linked credit facilities to regular government employees of the state.
The Finance Department issued a notification aimed at creating a transparent and government-controlled framework for providing salary-linked financial assistance to serving employees.
The state government proposed two categories of facilities: The first is Earned Salary Advance, in which employees may access a portion of salary already earned during the current month before the regular salary disbursement date. No interest will be charged on such advances. However, transaction charges may be levied. Recovery will ordinarily be made from the succeeding salary.
The second is Salary-Linked Credit where employees may opt for term-based credit ranging from two to twelve months of net salary. The interest rate will not exceed 20% per annum. No transaction or processing fees will be charged under this category. Monthly repayment through salary deduction will be capped at 50% of net salary.
The Finance Department clarified that availing of these facilities will be purely voluntary. Additionally, the Finance Department clarified that employees currently on deputation or in foreign service will not be eligible.
The government has clearly stated that any credit facility availed will be a private arrangement between the employee and the lending institution. The State Government will not assume any financial, legal or contingent liabilities. Facilitation or technology service providers, if engaged, will only act as digital or onboarding partners and will not undertake lending. They must operate in association with an RBI-regulated lender.
The empanelment framework will be non-exclusive, allowing for the selection of an unlimited number of institutions. However, empanelment will be subject to the execution of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) approved by the Finance Department.
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