The Supreme Court on Friday set aside the 2008 judgment of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) which while capping the interest rates on the credit card dues at 30 per cent, had said that the banks charging interest in excess of 30 per cent on credit card dues would amount to unfair trade practice.
The 2008 NCDRC judgment was set aside by a bench of Justice Belas M Trivedi and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma. The copy of the judgment is awaited.
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In 2008, the NCDRC took strong exception to the banks for charging interest rates between 36 per cent to 49 per cent on credit card dues. The national consumer forum had said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) failed to regulate this practice.
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission had observed that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had not issued specific guidelines capping the interest rates that banks could charge on credit facilities, including credit cards.
This lack of regulation, the NCDRC had said, allowed the banks to set high interest rates, potentially exploiting consumers, especially those in vulnerable financial situations.
