04 KALEIDOSCOPE
Ask your query
I am using a Kerala registration bike in Chen-
nai. I plan to use it only for a year and will
take it back to Kerala. (I don’t really want to
change my fancy registration number.) Dur-
ing police checks, they ask for an NOC, which
I do not have. I have all the other papers/
documents except the NOC. I don’t know if it
is really needed. I am staying in a rented
house in Chennai for the past four months.
When I checked this at the Kerala RTO office,
they told that only if I have a permanent ad-
dress in Chennai can I change the registra-
tion or take an NOC. What should I do? -
Hi Jadheer,
Jadheer, Chennai
Ideally, if you are going to stay in a new state
for more than three months, you have to do a
number change. But trust me, it’s a very pain-
ful job. It took me nine months and close to Rs.
18,000 in expenses when I shifted my car from
Pune to Chennai to get the new number. As for
an NOC, it’s a very tedious job to get it. As you
mentioned, if you don’t want to lose the fancy
number, just try to avoid the police. Or prob-
ably borrow a local bike for the next eight
months. But in case you are going to stay for a
longer duration it’s better to go in for a NOC
and get a Tamil Nadu number. You could try a
fancy number from the Chennai RTO, too.
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Mini Quiz
Q1: Montek Singh Ahluwalia is the Deputy
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a.Reserve Bank of India
b.Women’s Rights Commission
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1.RBI
2.TCS
ERGO Monday, May 4, 2009
Some light at the
end of the tunnel
PRADEEP YUVARAJ
pradeep@finerva.com
RBI’s move to cut
T
he RBI’s move to support the slowing
economy by cutting the Repo rates
and reverse Repo rates to 4.75 and Repo rates and Reverse
3.25 has given a boost to the common
man looking for lower rates of interest on
his loans. RBI’s move on April 21l has had a
Repo rates has had a
significant impact on both the private sec-
tor and public sector banks with many of
them declaring rate slashes for their lend-
positive impact on housing
ing (housing loans, personal loans) and
borrowing products (fixed deposits, FCNR
deposits etc.).
loan rates
On the one end this is good news for
borrowers or people who take loans. At the
same time, it’s not so great for those of us
thinking of putting deposits in the bank.
Why? The Repo rates are the interest
rates that banks have to pay to RBI
for their borrowings. Thus,
banks now will be able to
borrow at a cheaper rates
(50 basis points lesser)
and hence can lend
the same amount
to customers at
a cheaper rate.
At the same time
Reverse Repo rate
is the interest that the
RBI pays to banks on
the money deposited
with it. Thus banks will get
lower interest on their depos-
its which in turn will result in re-
duction of interest rates on
deposits given by their customers.
The ripple effect
May 2, 2009: Lakshmi VB bank has re-
duced the interest it will pay to depositors
by 25-50 basis points for all deposits except
for senior citizens.
May 1, 2009: Citibank has reduced its
prime lending rate by 25 basis points to
14.75; expect a minor revision in loan
rates soon. Punjab national bank has
reduced interest rates on Foreign
Currency Non-Resident deposit
schemes and increased rates for fixed
deposits
April 29, 2009: SBI has reduced its
interest rate on Educational loans by
between 25-200 basis points based on
the quantum of lending
April 22, 2009: Both ICICI bank and
HDFC bank announced rate cuts of up-
to 50 basis points on their products.