BOI launches free credit counselling centre

Chennai, Jan 25 (UNI) In a bid to create awareness among the public on better managment of their personal finances by not falling prey to the lure of credit cards and personal loans, the Bank of India today announced launch of its Free Credit Counselling Centre here.

This is the third such Centre in India and the first in Chennai, BOI CMD M Balachandran told reporters here today.

"Several people are running out of homes unable to pay the credit card dues and personal loans and in some instances taking the extreme step of committing suicide.

"We thought the BOI has a social obligation to prevent such incidents, by taking up the case of the affected people with the banks concerned and arrive at a amicable solution," he said.

Formed under the aegis of a trust--ABHAY--the main objective of the Centre was to offer credit counselling services to those in distress under burden of debt.

"The Centre is also aimed at assisting people in rehabilitating the distressed people irrespective of whether they are BOI customers or others," he said.

The other objective of ABHAY, formed with a corpus fund of Rs 50 lakh, included giving advise on gaining access to structured financial system, including banking, creating awareness among the public on financial management, counselling those struggling to meet the repayment obligation and helping debt resolution besides helping in rehabilitation of borrowers in distress.

UNI