When Dang district-based entrepreneur Neelhar Rajaure needed funds for his business, he approached the Ghorahi branch of NIC Asia Bank for a loan. The bank went through the process and invested in him. He had been paying regular installments and interest to the bank as per the loan agreement when the pandemic struck.

According to local media reports, the bank repeatedly pestered him for installments and interests even at the height of the pandemic. NIC Asia also set the interest rate at three percent higher than had been agreed.

“How can they suddenly increase the interest rate without informing me? NIC Asia seems to have this tendency to increase interest rates at will,” Rajaure says. “We should stand against this malpractice.”

Shiv Puri of Tulsipur is a client of NIC Asia Ghorahi branch. In his case too the bank suddenly started charging a higher interest rate, which went up to 12.61 percent from the previously agreed 9.91 percent. A distraught Puri contacted the branch manager as well as the regional manager, but to no avail.

In recent times, there have been many complaints against NIC Asia’s interest fluctuations. The bank allegedly charges higher interest than other banks on lending and gives less interest in deposits. It has been found that the bank charges up to 13 percent on loans and gives as little as two percent on deposits.

Recently, more than 40 entrepreneurs in the district have urged the Nepal Rastra Bank to take action against NIC Asia Bank for arbitrarily increasing interest rates.