The Development Bank of Mauritius is tracking customers who have not made repayments after benefiting from the personal computer loan scheme. According to sources at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, the arrears under this scheme are more than Rs95 million.
The DBM has already issued notices to a first batch of 395 customers by issuing a legal notice to each of them. However this legal approach has already cost the bank more than Rs500,000.
The personal computer loan scheme allows for a maximum loan of Rs35,000 and a repayment period of five years. The interest rate is 3% per annum. This scheme was set up to help low income earners acquire a computer or laptop.
According to sources at the finance ministry, the DBM discovered that arrears on computer loans exceeded Rs95 million when finalising its accounts at the end of 2010.
The bank decided to proceed with legal action against the defaulters. The in-house legal advisors of the DBM made several proposals and the bank decided to go for the lowest rate of Rs,2,000 per legal notice. So far, it has spent a total of Rs592,500 on legal services.