The Supreme Court on Tuesday listed for hearing on Friday a petition seeking clarification on whether NBFCs can give a moratorium on their loans.

A circular by the RBI dated March 27 has allowed banks to give such a moratorium but a realtors body wants to know whether NBFCs can also offer such relief.

A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, M.R.Shah and V. Ramasubramanium on Tuesday posted the matter for hearing on June 12.

The court was dealing with a petition filed by the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI) which had sought a clarification as real estate developers can take advantage of the moratorium if it applied to NBFCs from whom they had taken huge loans. The moratorium was valid till May but has now been extended till August.

The realtors association had also pleaded that the government and RBI should clarify whether the circular on moratorium was binding or discretionary.

The RBI circular had indicated it was not binding, whereas RBI governor Shaktikanta Das had stated it was binding.

The Supreme Court on April 30 had directed the Reserve Bank of India to ensure the moratorium be implemented in “letter and spirit”.

The apex court had passed the earlier order on a batch of PILs pleading that banks should not adopt any coercive step to recover dues and must abide by the circular.

The circular allows banks to declare a three-month moratorium on all term loans outstanding as on March 1, 2020, as well as on working capital facilities.

According to the realtors, the circular was not clear on the duties of NBFCs as many organisations and business houses had availed loans from them. The regulatory measures were intended to mitigate the burden of debt servicing brought about by disruptions on account of the Covid-19 pandemic and to ensure the continuity of viable businesses.

It was felt that there may be a temporary disruption in the cash flows and in some cases loss of income for the businesses and individuals.

The moratorium will work to bring relief to the businesses and individuals.

The apex court is also hearing another case on the moratorium that relates to whether the relief applies to interest on the loans.