Eligibility criteria

Eligibility criteria.—

1. (1) The following eligibility criteria shall be applicable for the purpose of getting protection under this Act, namely:—
   • (i) the loan amount shall not exceed the maximum of five lakh rupees;
   • (ii) the total repayment amount including the loan amount, interest, penal interest and other incidental expenses shall not exceed the maximum of ten lakh rupees;
   • (iii) except the property mortgaged, the debtor and family, either himself or jointly, shall not have other properties or shall not have other means for repayment;
   • (iv) the total extent of land belonging to the debtor and family, either himself or jointly, shall not exceed five cents in Municipal/ Corporation area or ten cents in Grama Panchayat area;
   • (v) the annual gross income of the debtor and family shall not exceed the maximum of three lakh rupees;
   • (vi) after the date of raising of the loan, the debtor or family members shall not have transferred any of the properties belonging to themselves;
   • (vii) the person eligible to get the benefit shall be an Aadhar holder;
   • (viii) the protection shall not be available to those loans raised except for the purposes of education, treatment, marriage, house building/house renovation, agriculture and creation of livelihood for self-employment.
2. (2) The Government shall, by notification, have the power to amend from time to time the eligibility criteria under sub-section (1).
3. (3) In the case of taking over the repayment liability fully or partially by the Government, a family shall not be eligible to get such benefits for more than once.