He had moved out of Jaipur in 2006 for better career options. Currently, he’s in living in a rented accommodation in Gurgaon with a family of three —wife (a homemaker) and a two-and-half-year-old kid. Says Jain, “My salary has risen from Rs 30,000 to Rs 38,000 during these two years, but once I adjust it for the inflation and the rise in my EMI component for the home loan, there is barely any increase in my salary. Thus my net position is where I stood two years ago.”

To make the ends meet, he has cut down on family outings. Also, for last few weeks instead of driving his car to office, Jain is riding his bike. “Nearly 25 per cent of my salary is going towards payment of rent. We spend nearly Rs 5,000 on fuel. With expenses mounting, my savings have almost gone nil,” says Jain, adding, “I also resort to my credit cards whenever I need.”

 Despite all this, Jain has managed to honour his monthly instalments and has never defaulted. Even with credit cards, he has never defaulted and uses them judiciously. With the absence of any credit rating mechanism in the country, why should people like Jain, who pay all their dues in time, suffer?

Tomorrow: Rising interest rates force Architect to sell her dream home.