Coronavirus Outbreak: Centre allows NBFCs, including HFCs and NBFC-MFIs to operate with minimum staff during lockdown

The government has allowed non-banking financial institutions (NBFCs), housing finance companies, and microfinance institutions to operate with bare minimum staff during the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown. “Non-Banking financial institutions, including housing finance companies(HFCs), and microfinance institutions(NBFC-MFIs) [can operate], with bare minimum staff," the ministry of home affairs said in its latest order. [caption id=“attachment_8216711” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational Image. PTI[/caption] The MHA has also allowed cooperative credit societies to operate during the time of lockdown. During his address to the nation on 14 April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had extended the countrywide lockdown till 3 May. The lockdown has been extended to restrict the spread of novel coronavirus. Only essential services will be operating during the lockdown. The decision of allowing NBFCs and MFIs to operate comes after they reached out to the government to grant them permission to function like banks with skeletal staff. During the first phase of lockdown that ended on 14 April, the government had only allowed banks to operate. They operated with revised working hours and maintained social distancing. The Ministry of Home Affairs in its revised guidelines had mentioned that banks, insurance, including IT vendors for banking operations, banking correspondent and ATM operation and cash management agencies, would operate as usual from 20 April. The government said that the revised guidelines, however, would not be allowed in the containment zones. “If any new area is included in the category of containment zone, the activities allowed in that area till the time of its categorisation as a containment zone  will be suspended except for those activities as are specifically permitted under the guidelines of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW),” the government said.