Panaji: The Government of Goa has introduced a One Time Scheme for providing relief to Interest-Free Education Loan beneficiaries from the payment of penal interest. The scheme shall be effective from 1 February 2026 and shall remain in force till 31 July 2026.
The Goa Education Development Corporation (GEDC) has been implementing the Interest-Free Education Loan (IFEL) Scheme for higher education since 2005. Overall, a large number of beneficiaries financed under the scheme have repaid or are in the process of repaying their loans regularly. However, there are several others who have not repaid their loans and therefore have been charged penal interest as per the norms of the IFEL scheme.
The objective of the scheme is to provide relief to IFEL beneficiaries who have not repaid their loans on time due to various factors beyond their control.
Beneficiary loanees desirous of availing benefits under this scheme shall submit their applications while the scheme is in force, along with details of repayments made, to close the loan account as per the terms outlined below.
For beneficiary loanees beyond the payback period, the payment timeline shall be as follows: outstanding principal plus 5 percent interest on the principal outstanding within two months; outstanding principal plus 10 percent interest on the principal outstanding within four months; and outstanding principal plus 15 percent interest on the principal outstanding within six months.
For beneficiary loanees in the payback period, all due unpaid EMIs till date shall be paid as per the repayment schedule. The entire penal interest charged due to non-repayment of EMIs on time shall be waived off. Subsequent EMIs shall be paid on time as per the repayment schedule within three months.
To be eligible under the scheme, the beneficiary loanee shall pay the amount and apply within the timeline of the scheme.
The cases of beneficiary loanees who have completed repayment of the principal loan amount and whose only outstanding payment is penal interest shall be closed. Penal interest already paid prior to the notification of this scheme shall not be refunded. Such beneficiaries may apply for a No Dues Certificate from the Corporation.
The total number of default beneficiaries who would come under this OTS scheme is approximately 1,402, and the total outstanding amount in these cases is approximately Rs. 21,30,75,623.
