Hyderabad: Small traders find 'SAHULAT' in borrowing interest-free loans

Hyderabad: As against the widely accepted perception of getting finance from the State-run banks to carry out business, the interest-free loans being extended by the micro-finance institutions approved by the government are of great 'SAHULAT'. They are coming to the rescue of small traders in the City, whose survival solely depends on day-to-day vending, with a trifling return. One among such institutions is the City-based 'SAHULAT' Micro-finance Society that provides interest-free loans to hundreds of small traders, businesswomen and start-ups, based on their day-to-day behaviour.

Small time traders, needing a seed support of Rs 5,000 to Rs 1 lakh, are primary members of the institution. They find solace in repaying the borrowed amount that comes without levy of painful interest.

"Operating through 33 branches spread in Telangana, AP and Karnataka, the 'SAHULAT' Microfinance Society has a membership of over 46,000 with a loan disbursement of 362 crore benefitting around 46,647 small traders in the three States.

Established in 2012, the society's primary targets are kirana shops, cloth merchants, tiffin centres, tea stalls, fruit and vegetable vendors, tailors, embroiders, taxi cab and auto rickshaw drivers, cell phone/pan shops, automobile owners, chicken and mutton centres and footwear owners," informed Mohd Zakiuddin, regional director, 'SAHULAT' Microfinance Society, Hyderabad.

Having registered with TS MACS ACT, APMACS ACT and Karunya Sauharda Sahakari (Karnataka), it follows a regulated financial system from supervising the day-to-day performance of employees to monitoring the saving behaviour of member-traders since the last nine years, he said.

"This way we actually encourages a saving behaviours of traders and improves their entrepreneurship skills. To avail the facility, they need not approach us basically. The cash collectors appointed by the society would get in touch with traders at their business points and build a relationship that ensures a future financial marriage between SAHULAT and the entrepreneur. The only thing traders can do is to take a membership and start doing daily business with the society institution" explained Zakiuddin.

Said Mohd Afzal, a City-based activist, "in the absence of a proper mechanism to reach out to the tail-end small traders and business women, institutions, like SAHULAT, are really helpful to the government in providing a ease of business platform to active enterprises which can't afford interest-oriented loans from the mainstream banks and lands in the dragnet of money lenders after securing finance on heavy interest."

"These institutions are helpful in promoting entrepreneurship behaviour among small traders who are largely considered as poor performers by the mainstream banking institutions in terms of repayment of borrowed loans," he added.