Bullied by recovery agents over Rs 1,000 dues, Ropar widow dies by suicide

In a heart-rending incident that has shocked residents of Nangal town in Ropar district, a 45-year-old widow, Ranjana Devi, ended her life after allegedly being harassed by recovery agents of a private finance company. She jumped into the Nangal hydel canal on Wednesday evening after repeated threats from the agents who were pressing her to repay a remaining loan balance of just Rs 1,000.

Ranjana Devi, mother of two daughters, earned her living by stitching clothes at home. Her elder daughter Anchal told The Tribune that her mother had taken a loan of about Rs 30,000 from a private finance company based in Una district of Himachal Pradesh to buy a sewing machine.

“She repaid the amount through a middlewoman who had arranged the loan, but recently some recovery agents started visiting our house, saying the loan was unpaid. My mother could not trace the middlewoman and agreed to repay again, but she was short of Rs 1,000. The agents abused and pushed her. Terrified and humiliated, she jumped into the canal,” said a tearful Anchal, now left to fend for herself and her younger sister.

Locals spotted the body floating in the canal, a video of which surfaced on the social media. Though the body was yet to be recovered, the victim’s daughters identified their mother in the video.

The incident has triggered public outrage, exposing how a network of illegal and unregulated private financiers continues to operate in the region, exploiting poor borrowers desperate for small loans. Advocate Paramjit Singh Pamma said such companies were charging exorbitant interest rates ranging from 5 to 10 per cent per month, effectively 60 to 120 per cent annually, in clear violation of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines. “These agents recover money through threats and intimidation, and in some cases, they even pressure government employees by approaching drawing and disbursing officers. It is a well-established nexus of exploitation,” he alleged.

Following the incident, Anchal lodged a complaint at the Nangal police station, naming three recovery agents, Shubam, Sagar and Abhishek, all working for Satya Finance Company. Ropar SSP Gulneet Singh Khurana said the police had begun an investigation and strict legal action would be taken against the company and its agents.

The Reserve Bank of India regulates all registered Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs) under the Regulatory Framework for Microfinance Loans, 2022. The RBI mandates that all micro-finance loans must be collateral-free and issued only to households earning up to Rs 3 lakh per year. The RBI rules state the borrower’s total repayment obligations (including all loans) must not exceed 50 per cent of their monthly income to ensure they are not overburdened.

The RBI has also issued guidelines for all recovery agents employed by regulated institutions to follow a Code of Conduct for Recovery Practices under which no harassment, threats or physical intimidation are permitted. Experts say this case exposes a systemic gap between regulation and enforcement. Despite RBI’s detailed rules, local administrations often fail to identify and prosecute unlicensed financiers.

The suicide has sparked calls for immediate action not only to punish those responsible but to map the entire network of informal financiers operating in the region. For Anchal and her sister, however, justice may come too late. “We lost our mother for just Rs 1,000,” Anchal said.