Finergo Episode 22 Dt 04may09

04 KALEIDOSCOPE

Ask your query I am using a Kerala registration bike in Chennai. 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.) During 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 address in Chennai can I change the registration or take an NOC. What should I do? Jadheer, Chennai

Hi Jadheer, 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 painful 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 probably 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. Do you need some unbiased and professional solutions to your personal finance issues related problems? Ask Doctor Finergo. Mail your queries to [email protected], Put subject as Doctor.

Mini Quiz Q1: Montek Singh Ahluwalia is the Deputy Chairman of? a.Reserve Bank of India b.Women’s Rights Commission c.Planning Commission d.Human Rights Commission Q2: FCNR stands for a.Foreign Currency Non-Resident b.Fully Convertible Net Ratio c.Foreign Country Non Resident d.Fake Currency Network Raiding Send your answers to [email protected] or SMS your answers to 92813 98889. For example if you choose A as the answer to question 1 and B as the answer to question 2 type it as 1A2B and send it. Winner will be chosen by lucky draw from all correct answers.

Answers for last week’s mini-quiz 1.RBI 2.TCS

ERGO Monday, May 4, 2009

Some light at the end of the tunnel PRADEEP YUVARAJ [email protected]

T

he RBI’s move to support the slowing economy by cutting the Repo rates and reverse Repo rates to 4.75 and 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 significant impact on both the private sector and public sector banks with many of them declaring rate slashes for their lending (housing loans, personal loans) and borrowing products (fixed deposits, FCNR deposits etc.). 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 deposits which in turn will result in reduction of interest rates on deposits given by their customers. The ripple effect May 2, 2009: Lakshmi VB bank has reduced 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 upto 50 basis points on their products.

RBI’s move to cut Repo rates and Reverse Repo rates has had a positive impact on housing loan rates