State likely to file counter on Nov 18

The state government is likely to file a counter in the High Court on November 18 in response to the various petitions filed by microfinance institutions and borrowers against the AP Microfinance Institutions (Regulation of Money Lending) Ordinance.

Industry body Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), SKS Microfinance and Spandana Sphoorty Financial have filed petitions saying the ordinance was disrupting the business. There are also cases of some borrowers challenging the decision to replace weekly collection by monthly.

The government had earlier sought an extension to file the counter to accommodate responses to various petitions.

This is the first month when MFIs will make monthly collections after the ordinance came into effect in October. The MFIN had earlier made a representation to the government requesting it allow to recovery on a weekly basis at least for some time.

Meanwhile, MFIN today filed a petition in the High Court seeking directions to the state government to expedite its counter.