Beneficiaries must shift to revised scheme or lose financial support
PANAJI
The State government has set 31 March 2025 as the deadline for beneficiaries of the old House Building Allowance (HBA) scheme who have not yet transferred their housing loan to the revised scheme.
Under the new scheme, the government’s share is limited to a maximum of five per cent of the loan interest. Any interest beyond this, along with the principal amount, must be paid by the beneficiary.
The Finance Department has issued a notification stating that applications will not be accepted after the deadline.
“In order to provide a time limit for the erstwhile beneficiaries of House Building Scheme, who have not yet shifted their housing loan for benefits under the Scheme, Government has decided to fix 31/03/2025 as cut-off date for applying under House Building Loan Scheme for erstwhile beneficiaries,” Under Secretary Finance Pranab Bhat said.
“Beyond this cut-off date, no application of erstwhile beneficiaries shall be considered for benefits under the scheme,” he added.
The State government introduced the revised HBA scheme in 2021 for beneficiaries of the previous scheme, which was discontinued in May 2020.
Under the old HBA scheme, government employees had to pay only two per cent of the loan interest, while the State covered the rest.
In the revised scheme, the government’s contribution will continue either until the employee retires or for a maximum of 20 years, whichever comes first, taking into account the instalments already paid by the government.
In May 2020, the State government suddenly discontinued the HBA scheme, which had been in place since 1988. This led some government employees to challenge the decision in the High Court.
