The slump in the Indian economy is causing the number of loan defaulters in the country to rise. People who have taken loans are struggling to repay debts, according to a survey by CreditMate, a fintech startup, backed by Paytm. And apparently, salary delays are the main reason for the defaults.
The report titled India Delinquency Report, reveals that 36 per cent defaults result from salary delays, while 29 per cent result from a slump in business. The other reasons for the rising number of defaulters are medical emergencies (13 per cent), loss of job (12 per cent) or relocation ( 10 per cent).
The survey covered two lakh borrowers across the country. The best performer was Goa in terms of repayment rates, whereas the worst performers were Delhi, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh.
Mumbai, Surat, Jaipur, Indore and Ahmedabad were the cities that scored the highest in terms of repayment rates. Chennai, Bengaluru and Bhopal were the worst performers.
According to the report, cases of late payments are higher amongst men (82 per cent) than amongst women (18 per cent). Also, women defaulters (11 per cent) seem to be able to repay loans faster than men.
The survey attempted to study the loan-repayment behaviour of men and women in the country. It also tried to find out the modes of transaction the borrowers preferred and the reasons why they defaulted.
The study discovered that most borrowers (from amongst the salaried class) preferred to repay their debts online. Only about 21 per cent repaid in cash.
