Reduced loans please
I need Gulf News’ help. I took a personal loan from RAKBANK on November 8, 2012, amounting to Dh144,405 and have to pay Dh3,875 in 48 equated monthly instalments (EMIs), which is exactly 50 per cent of my salary.
When the bank’s salesperson approached me for the loan, he explained how flexible his bank is and that I would not face any difficulties. However, understanding the risk of having this big an EMI, I partially paid my loan, hoping that my EMI could be readjusted.
However, due to unavoidable circumstances I had to change my job in February 2013 and I am now working for a contracting company in Sharjah for a smaller salary. My EMI is more than 50 per cent of my salary.
My EMI started in February 2013 and since then, until February 2014, I have consistently paid the EMI without any default. As I settled my loan partially, my current outstanding after paying for 12 months is Dh69,000.
Once I started paying the loan, I felt I could not carry out the same EMI for the rest of my tenure with my other commitments here and in my home country. Therefore, I approached many banks to get a new loan so as to settle RAKBANK’s loan completely.
Unfortunately, due to the non-listing of my present company, I am unable to do so.
Therefore, I finally approached RAKBANK to get a solution for reducing my EMI to a manageable amount. However, they refused to give me any solution and insisted that I have to continue with the same EMI.
Due to this, I am now facing great difficulties with managing day to day expenses, rent and family expenses in my home country. I seek Gulf News’ assistance to help me overcome this crisis.
From Mr Mohan Gamage
Sharjah
Mr Ian Hodges, head of personal banking at RAKBANK, responds:
Thank you for giving us an opportunity to justify our stance on the issues raised by Mr Gamage, RAKBANK customer. Mr Gamage has applied for a personal loan with RAKBANK and is now requesting to reduce his loan instalments due to financial constraints. On review of Mr Gamage’s request, we have exceptionally approved rescheduling his loan, subject to submission of complete documents. He has agreed to our proposal and will visit us to take it forward.
Mr Gamage responds:
I am happy to inform that RAKBANK has approached me regarding my claim on the loan. They accepted my request to reschedule my loan with a reduced EMI. It’s a great relief for me. So I am writing this to thank Gulf News and RAKBANK for the support.
Unfairly billed
I got my first etisalat connection in January 2012. It was an e-Vision account that I later upgraded in April to e-Life. As per my agreement with etisalat, I would be charged a fixed amount for the wireless router for a period of 12 months.
In October 2013, I visited etisalat’s business centre and discovered that I was still being charged for the router every month, even after the completion of 12 months. I first raised the matter to etisalat’s customer care on November 7, 2013. The issue is still pending. For all my reminder emails, I just get replies stating their regret and that the matter has been escalated.
I am very sure that I am still being charged for my router. I wish I had the option to shift to du but the network in my area does not allow me to do so.
In addition, I have paid an excess amount of Dh175 towards my e-Vision account. I followed up with etisalat many times and I am very sure that no money was owed. I have requested for my bills and payment history but received no reply. Additionally, etisalat does not provide detailed bills — I have even registered online, but in vain.
I request Gulf News to kindly take up this issue on my behalf as I find it to be unfair.
From Mr Amith Shekar
Dubai
The management of etisalat responds:
Kindly note that the customer’s issue was resolved.
Mr Shekar updates:
I would like to thank the newspaper for helping me resolve my issue with etisalat. I received my complete refund from etisalat and my issue has been resolved.
Editor’s note: Do you have similar issues that you would like to raise with us? You can write to us at readers@gulfnews.com
