The Reserve Bank of India Wednesday banned zero percent equated monthly instalment (EMI) scheme offered on credit cards for purchase of consumer goods.

"Since the very concept of zero percent interest is non-existent and fair practice demands that the processing charge and RoI charged should be kept uniform product/segment wise, irrespective of the sourcing channel, such schemes only serve the purpose of alluring and exploiting the vulnerable customers," the central bank said in a statement.

In the zero percent EMI schemes offered on credit card outstandings, the interest element is often camouflaged and passed on to customer in the form of processing fee, it added.

The RBI also said that no additional charges can be levied on payment through debit cards.

"There are instances where merchant establishments levy fee as a percentage of the transaction value as charges on customers who are making payments for purchase of goods and services through debit cards. Such fee are not justifiable," it said.

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