The Bangladesh Bank has asked the banks not to impose any late fees, interests and penalties for the delay in credit card bill payment till May 31 amid the coronavirus outbreak in the country. The central bank in a circular said that the banks had been directed not to impose late fees, charges, penalty interests, additional profits or any other fees and charges in any form or name for delayed payment of credit card bills which were due to be deposited by March 31 or later. The central bank also asked the banks to return or adjust the sum later if any client had already paid such late fees or penalties after March 31. It said that the order would remain valid till May 31. The central bank said that many clients were unable to pay credit card bills due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak that had affected economic activities as well as the livelihoods of people in the country. It said that after the first coronavirus patient was identified in the country in the first week of March, the government declared a general holiday for the government and private sectors, except for the emergency services, to halt the spread of coronavirus. Banking services were also being provided on a limited scale. The central bank earlier asked the banks not to downgrade any loan to a defaulted one until June 30 this year on the grounds of the borrowers’ failure to repay instalments. The BB came up with the stimulus measures on March 19 with a view to containing the adverse economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. The BB announced that no banks would be allowed to downgrade any loan until June 30, which means that failure on the part of any borrower to repay loan instalments in the January-June period would not be considered as the default of the borrower. The banks, however, would be allowed to upgrade the classification of any loan in the period depending on the loan repayment, said a BB circular.
