Ntsebeng Motsoeli
MASERU — Two money lending companies have filed separate applications in the High Court to resume loan deductions from salaries of civil servants.
The deductions were suspended in December 2010 after civil servants sued the companies, saying they were charging excessive interest rates.
The Court of Appeal ruled that the interest charges by the lending companies were illegal.
The court said the money lenders should not charge more than 25 percent interest on their loans.
At that time the money lending companies were charging as much as 60 percent on loans.
The court ordered that an independent accountant be hired to recalculate the loan amounts to find out if civil servants were still in debt or not.
They were to be refunded if they had overpaid their debt.
Blue Financial Services and Afrisure Personal Financial Advisors now want to resume the deductions.
The two companies have since made separate applications to the High Court to allow them to start deducting monies owed by the civil servants.
“Blue Financial Services has filed an application in the High Court in Case Nr: CCA/ 23/ 2012 seeking orders that deductions again be made from the salaries of the borrowers who had borrowed money from Blue Financial Services,” the company said in a newspaper notice.
Blue Financial Services said the deductions had been recalculated in accordance with the Court of Appeal’s directive.
In a similar notice Afrisure Personal Financial Advisors said “any borrower wishing to oppose the application, be required to give such notification in writing on or before 23 May 2012 at the offices of applicant’s (moneylender(s)) attorneys”.
The two companies have asked those who would like to oppose the decision to file opposing affidavits by Wednesday.
The companies said if borrowers don’t file their affidavits “they will carry on with the High Court application to resume the deductions”.