Getting Rid Of Usury

People’s right against exploitation is one of the 31 fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Nepal, 2015. Article 29 of the national charter clearly mentions that every person shall have the right against exploitation. As per this provision, exploitation on the basis of custom, tradition and convention or in any other form is prohibited. But many poor, uneducated and other underprivileged people belonging to different communities have continued to suffer from various types of exploitation in one way or the other. Loan usury has been a major source of economic exploitation in different parts of the country, with most cases recorded in the Terai region. This is a practice of lending money at irrationally high rates of interest. As loan sharks are found operating their business illegally, they are unable to sensibly use the legal system in order to recover their debts. This is the major reason why they mostly resort to blackmailing, threats and violence while recovering loans.