February 23: The number of cases filed in the Debt Recovery Tribunal, which was set up for recovering bad loans of banks and financial institutions, is increasing. The number of cases has increased as banks and financial institutions have stepped up debt recovery. 

As of January of the current fiscal year, 123 cases have been registered in the tribunal. A total of 125 cases were registered in the last fiscal year. 

The process of debt recovery of the banks were affected last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, the number of cases is increasing in the current fiscal year. 

"Compared to the previous year, the number of cases has increased this year," said Kul Prasad Dahal, information officer of the tribunal, "The number of cases may have increased this year due to the impact of the pandemic in previous years." 

According to the tribunal, a total of 371 cases have been registered in the tribunal as of January this year. Of them, 248 cases are from the previous fiscal year. 

Out of this, only 89 cases have been settled till December and 282 cases are yet to be decided. 

The tribunal was established in 2060 to facilitate the recovery of loans as per the Debt Recovery Act 2058. Banks and financial institutions can file a case in the tribunal if the principal amount above Rs 500,000 is to be recovered.  

Banks can register case in the tribunal if they fail to recover the debt. Such cases must be registered within four years after the defaulter crosses the time given for repaying the debt.

So far, the tribunal has recovered Rs 31.17 billion from the defaulters. It has collected Rs. 443 million in the current fiscal year alone. 

Although the number of cases in the tribunal has increased, the number of decisions made has decreased. While 45.54 percent cases were decided in the fiscal year 2071/72, only 17.58 percent cases were decided in the last fiscal year.