House Building Loan Scheme for Employees of Government of Goa

What is the House Building Loan Scheme for Employees of Government of Goa?

House Building Loan Scheme for Employees of Government of Goa is an interest support scheme launched by the Debt Management Division, Department of Finance, Government of Goa, and implemented by the Directorate of Accounts in coordination with banks empanelled for the purpose.

The scheme is best understood as a transition arrangement, not a new housing loan. The Government of Goa previously ran a House Building Advance (HBA) scheme, lending directly to its own employees from state funds. When that scheme was withdrawn, employees whose HBA loans were still running needed somewhere for those loans to go. This scheme provides that route: the outstanding loan is taken over by an empanelled bank, and the Government continues to subsidise the interest so the employee is not worse off for the change.

According to the scheme design, the burden is split. The employee bears 2 percent of the interest plus the principal component. The Government bears the remainder of the interest charged by the empanelled bank, subject to a maximum of 5 percent. The practical effect is that an employee facing a 7 percent bank rate pays only 2 percent of it, and anything the bank charges above 7 percent falls back on the employee, because the Government's contribution is capped.

The scheme covers erstwhile House Building Advance beneficiaries whose loans were operative as on 15 May 2020. That date is the hinge of the whole scheme, and almost every eligibility question turns on it.

Who is eligible for the House Building Loan Scheme?

You can apply if:

• You are an erstwhile beneficiary of the House Building Advance whose loan was operative as on 15 May 2020.
• You fulfil the eligibility criteria put forward by the empanelled bank for a housing loan under this scheme. The bank applies its own credit norms independently of the Government's.
• If you shifted your housing loan to another bank when the earlier scheme closed, you ensure the loan account is now operated in one of the banks empanelled for the purpose of this scheme.
• You approach an empanelled bank for takeover of the existing loan, for an amount restricted to the sum outstanding as on the date of application after repayment of instalments from May 2020.

Special categories that remain eligible:

• An employee who availed a top-up or additional loan over and above the HBA amount sanctioned by the Government is eligible, but only to the extent of the HBA loan outstanding on the date of application. The additional borrowing is the employee's own liability.
• The 45 employees whose cases were sanctioned but who were awaiting drawal of the advance as on 15 May 2020 are eligible to apply under this scheme.

You cannot apply if:

• You foreclosed your earlier loan upon withdrawal of the earlier scheme. The scheme states plainly that such an applicant is not eligible for any benefits.
• You were never a House Building Advance beneficiary. This is not an open housing loan scheme for Government of Goa employees generally.
• Your HBA loan was not operative as on 15 May 2020.
• The empanelled bank declines you on its own credit criteria. Government eligibility does not override the bank's lending decision.

How does the interest sharing work?

Loan amount. The takeover is limited to the amount outstanding as on the date of application after repayment of instalments from May 2020. You cannot use this route to increase your borrowing.

How the Government's share reaches the bank. The Government's share of interest is credited to the empanelled bank in a pool account on a monthly basis. The cumulative share of all instalments due for the succeeding month is credited within a specified date, provided the bank raises the demand at least 20 days in advance. The Government's share commences from the month succeeding the sanction in which the employee is due for repayment, again provided the bank has raised the demand.

Duration. The Government's share continues until the employee attains superannuation, or for a maximum of 20 years of the total repayment period, whichever is earlier, taking into account instalments already paid by the Government. If the loan ends before superannuation, the bank submits a closure letter to the employee, the Head of Department and the Directorate of Accounts.

One Time Settlement adjustment. An employee who availed benefits under the One Time House Building Advance Settlement Scheme has that amount adjusted in the initial instalments. Until the adjustment is exhausted, the Government does not contribute its share and the employee bears the full burden of the instalments.

What are the employee's continuing obligations?

These conditions run for the life of the loan and each one carries a consequence:

• The employee must ensure his share of the EMI reaches the bank within the stipulated time.
• A delay of up to a maximum default duration of two months makes the employee ineligible to avail any further benefits under the scheme. This is the most serious ongoing risk in the arrangement.
• The employee must carry out all documentation and valuation required by the bank, and the Government will not bear any of those costs.
• The deed of mortgage or other collateral security executed in favour of the Government earlier must be transferred in favour of the empanelled bank, with a written undertaking from the employee that he willingly desires the transfer.
• If the employee ceases to be in service for any reason other than normal retirement or superannuation, or dies before repaying in full, the entire outstanding amount becomes payable forthwith by the employee or his successor.
• Failure to repay the housing loan, by the employee or the successor, entitles the bank to enforce the mortgage and take action to recover the outstanding amount.

What documents are required?

At the time of application

For transfer of security

How to apply for the House Building Loan Scheme

1. Approach an empanelled bank. Banks empanelled for the scheme are notified separately by the Government. Ask the bank for takeover of your existing housing loan and obtain a letter stating the repayment period and the EMI fixed.
2. Obtain the prescribed proforma, either as a printout of the scheme proforma or directly from the empanelled bank.
3. Fill in all mandatory fields and attach self-attested copies of the House Building Advance sanction order, the loan account statement from your bank showing the outstanding after May 2020 instalments, and the empanelled bank's letter.
4. Prepare the security transfer documents, the deed of mortgage or other collateral executed in favour of the Government earlier, together with your written undertaking that you willingly desire its transfer in favour of the bank.
5. Submit the duly filled and signed proforma with documents to your Head of Department, who will verify it and forward the application to the Directorate of Accounts along with the prescribed proforma.

Why applications and interest support fail

• Loan foreclosed earlier. An employee who cleared the HBA loan when the earlier scheme was withdrawn is expressly ineligible for any benefit here.
• HBA loan not operative on 15 May 2020. The cut-off date is absolute.
• Loan sitting with a non-empanelled bank. If you shifted your loan elsewhere, it must be brought to an empanelled bank before the scheme can apply.
• Bank declines the takeover. The empanelled bank applies its own eligibility criteria, and Government eligibility does not compel a bank to lend.
• EMI default of two months. This ends further benefits under the scheme, leaving the employee carrying the full interest.
• Security not transferred. Without the mortgage deed transferred to the empanelled bank and the accompanying undertaking, the takeover does not complete.
• Top-up expectations. The Government's share applies only to the HBA outstanding, not to any additional loan taken above it.
• One Time Settlement not accounted for. Where OTS benefits were availed, the employee bears full instalments until the adjustment works through, and expecting Government support in those months leads to a shortfall.

Where to get help

• Your Head of Department, the first stop. The application is submitted here, verified, and forwarded onward.
• Directorate of Accounts, Government of Goa — the implementing authority for the scheme and the office that processes the Government's interest share. See accounts.goa.gov.in.
• Debt Management Division, Department of Finance, Government of Goa. The division that launched the scheme and notifies the list of empanelled banks.
• Your empanelled bank, for the takeover terms, repayment schedule, EMI, and the closure letter when the loan ends.

There is no application fee to the Government, but the bank's documentation and valuation costs are the employee's own, and should be factored in before committing to the takeover.

How to check your application status

This scheme runs on a paper file, not an online portal, so there is no tracking number or login where you can watch the application move. Status has to be chased through the same three offices the file physically passes through.

1. Start with your Head of Department. Your application begins here, and this office can tell you whether it has already been verified and forwarded, or whether it is still sitting with them for want of a document or a signature. This is usually the fastest check, since your own office holds the file for the shortest, earliest stage.
2. Follow up with the Directorate of Accounts, Government of Goa once your Head of Department confirms the file has been sent onward. The Directorate is the implementing authority that processes the Government's interest share, so it is the office that would know if the file has been logged, if the empanelled bank has been notified, or if something in the proforma needs to be corrected before it can proceed.
3. Check with your empanelled bank in parallel. Even while the Government side of the file is moving, the bank is separately working out the loan takeover: fixing the repayment period, the EMI, and issuing the letter the scheme requires. The bank can tell you whether it has received communication from the Directorate of Accounts and where the takeover itself stands.
4. Watch for the pool account credit as informal confirmation. Once the scheme is operational for your loan, the Government's share is credited to the bank's pool account monthly, provided the bank has raised its demand at least 20 days in advance. If your EMI statements start reflecting the reduced, employee-only share of interest, that is a practical sign the Government's contribution has started flowing.
5. Use the Debt Management Division, Department of Finance as the last resort. This division launched the scheme and maintains the list of empanelled banks, so it can be approached if the Directorate of Accounts and your Head of Department are unable to resolve a stuck file between them.

Because there is no helpline number specific to this scheme beyond the Directorate of Accounts and your Head of Department, keep a written record, an email or a noting on file, each time you follow up, so there is a paper trail showing when the application moved from one office to the next.