Singh’s wife settled into family life and took a break from work after the couple had a child in late 2005, thereby curtailing the household income. “I started feeling the pinch as the EMIs would go up every eight months. I started with paying Rs 10,585 per month in January 2004, while today it has gone up to Rs 13,841 per month at 11.5 per cent and the term has increased to 25 years from 20 years,” says Singh.

With added responsibilities, Singh is finding it tough to match up to the aspirational standards he had set for himself. The bank did not do anything to ease his pain either, feels Singh.

“The bank would intimate me about the EMI and the term, but would never suggest me as how I could make a strategy to pre-close my loan. Several times I called up the customer service executives to find out if I could move to fixed interest rate, but they would always say, ‘do that if it suits your needs’. That is not helpful as all customers of the bank are not financial wizards,” complains Singh.

“With prices rising every day, I have cut down on some of my personal expenses. We have to pay Rs 27,000 per year towards the play school fees of my son, Aaryan. My wife has also tightened the household budget, but nothing seems to ease the pain. I want to own a house in Pune, as my parents live there, but now the repayment of this loan is prohibiting me from making any investment,” Singh says.

... contd.