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Finance Terminology

Acceleration Clause

A stipulation in hire-purchase agreements that upon default in payment of any one installment, the full outstanding balance of the loan shall immediately become due. The acceleration clause confers upon the owner the right, while keeping the agreement alive, to recover from the defaulting hirer the full unpaid balance of the hire-purchase price.

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Amortisation

This term is used in two senses:

  • The repayment of the principal and interest components of a loan, over a period of time.
  • Write-off of an expenditure (like issue cost of shares, pre-incorporation expenses) over a period of time.

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Back-loaded lease

A lease where the rentals are higher near the end of the lease tenure. This is also called 'rear-end loaded lease'.

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Balloon lease

In this type of lease agreement the rentals are low at the inception, higher during the middle period and again low during the end. The residual value in such lease contracts are usually very low.

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EMI

(EMI) Equated Monthly Installments are installment towards repayment of a loan, lease or hire-purchase agreement. As banks and finance companies conduct very high volumes of retail business it becomes easier for them to monitor and manage installments that are constant in amount. The EMIs are collected in advance as post-dated cheques.

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Escalation Clause

This is a clause in lease agreements which provides that the rentals shall increase on certain eventuality, e.g., on increase in interest rate or on non-availability of certain tax benefits.

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Flat Rate of Interest

This is a method of calculating the interest rate based on the total outflow of money. The method does not take into consideration the time value of money and is thus a crude measure. 'Flat rate of interest' is the percentage paid in excess of the finance amount, and is calculated on a per-year basis.

Flat rate of interest is the % paid in excess of the finance amount, and is calculated on per year basis.

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Working:

(1)Finance Amount = A
(2)Total Outflow = B
(3)Finance Tenure = C

Flat Rate (per annum) = ((B-A) / (A)*(C)) x 100

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Front-loaded lease

This is a lease agreement where the rental payments are higher in the initial period, going down towards the end of the tenure, which is the opposite of the back-loaded lease (or rear-ended lease).

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Hire Purchase Price

This is the total sum payable by the hirer under a hire-purchase agreement in order to complete the purchase of the goods to which the agreement relates, or the total of cash price and financing charges.

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Hirer

This is the person who hires the goods. If you purchase a car under a hire-purchase agreement with a finance company, then you become the hirer.

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Hypothecation

A hypothecation is an equitable charge on the goods without possession, but not amounting to a mortgage. The contract is done to secure a debt. Banks that give you a loan to purchase a car hypothecate the car in their name as security.

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Inception of a lease

The date of signing of the lease agreement where the property to be leased has been constructed or has been been acquired by the lessor. Where, on such date, the property to be leased has not been constructed or acquired by the lessor, the date on which such construction is completed or the property is acquired by the lessor, shall be the date of inception.

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IRR(Internal Rate of Return)

The internal rate of return of a project is the discount rate which makes its net present value equal to zero. The IRR method is a popular discounted cash flow method, that takes into account the time value of money and also considers the cash flow stream in its entirety.

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Late Payment Charges

When the monthly installment towards repayment of a loan is delayed the financier collects the installment along with the late payment charges. The late payment charge is also known as the delayed payment charges or the overdue payment charges. The late payment charges are fixed at the time of signing the finance contract.

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Lease Rental

In a purchase transaction, the commodity (as a tangible form) is purchased for money while in a hiring transaction the services of the commodity (intangible) are purchased. Economic parlance therefore refers to the payment on hire interchangeably as 'rent', 'rental' or 'lease payment'.

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Lease Rate

This is the equivalent simple annual interest rate implicit in the minimum lease rentals. This is not the same as the interest rate implicit in a lease, which reflects the compounding effect.

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Lease Term

The tenure or the period of the lease agreement is known as lease term.

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Lessee

The user of the leased asset is called the lessee. The lessor (finance company) is the owner of the asset. Under the Motor Vehicles Act of 1930, the lessor was considered as the owner of the vehicle and was subject to the liabilities of owner under the act. Thus the lessor was liable for any criminal action or other offence, even though the lease agreement shifted this burden to the lessee. This position has been reversed under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. Although the legal ownership vests in the lessor, the lessee is regarded as the owner for all purposes under the Act.

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Lessor

Under the lease agreement, the finance company who is the legal owner of the asset is known as the lessor. The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 - Section 51 contains special provisions regarding motor vehicles subject to hire-purchase agreement, etc. In case of vehicles financed under hire-purchase, lease or loan agreement, the name of the lessor is mentioned as a financier.

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Lien

A lender's claim on assets offered as security for a loan. It is a right which a person, to whom a sum of money is owed by another, is given in law over the goods of that other', to secure payment of the sum owed. A lien may be possessory, i.e., exercisable only as long as the goods are in the possession of the claimant, and equitable, i.e., enforceable irrespective of the possession by the creditor.

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Margin Amount

Most financiers finance upto 90% of a car's value. The remainder has to be paid as a down payment which is also called the Margin Amount. The resale values of cars differ and financiers determine the extent of finance and the margin amount based on their perception of security of the asset. Thus for small cars like the Maruti 800, financiers demand only 10% of the car's value as the margin amount. For premium cars that have lower resale values, the financier hedges against future risk by collecting a bigger margin amount of 20-30% of the car's cost.

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Margin Amount

Minimum Payment Clause

A clause in hire-purchase agreement imposing a liability on the hirer to make a payment over and above the arrears of hire-rent, in the event of the agreement or the hiring being terminated before the property in the goods has been passed to the hirer. The payment may be expressed to be for depreciation of goods or by way of liquidated damages or compensation for loss of profit.

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NPV(Net Present Value)

The value of cash flows discounted using the time and risk value of money is the Net Present Value. It is the real value of a receipt or payment in future, deflated because of interest. It is a method of evaluating investment proposals.

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Operating lease

This is a short-term cancelable lease agreement which is not fully amortised. It is a lease, other than a finance lease wherein the lessor seeks to recover his investment in a lease by leasing the equipment to more than one lessee. For financial accounting purposes, an operating lease is a lease which does not meet the criteria for a capital lease or direct financing lease. Also, used generally to describe a short-term lease whereby a user can acquire use of an asset for a fraction of the useful life of the asset. The lessor may provide services in connection with the lease such as maintenance, insurance and payment of taxes.

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PDC(post dated cheque)

Most financiers collect post dated cheques towards the repayment of the lease rentals or the installments (EMIs) for a lease/hire-purchase/loan contract. The post dated cheques not only provide convenience, but also protect the financiers by making the issuer of the cheques liable to honour them as per the Negotiable Instruments Act .

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Promissory Note

As a matter of precaution, the lessee/hirer/borrower is required to execute an unconditional promissory note in favour of the financier, for full amount of the installments / rentals payable under the agreement. The promissory note is counter-guaranteed by the guarantor where applicable.

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Residual Value

This is the market value of the equipment purchased prevailing at the end of the lease term.

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Security Deposit

A security deposit is typical to hire-purchase agreements offered by non-banking finance companies. The party seeking finance (hirer), is offered finance upto 100% of the car's cost. The security deposit can vary from 15% to 35% as per the scheme selected. The security deposit earns an interest of 14% simple or 14% compounded quarterly, for the period of the agreement (tenure). At the end of the tenure the security deposit is refunded along with the interest earned through the tenure. Unlike Fixed Deposits which can be terminated and a refund sought before maturity, the security deposit is linked to the car hire-purchase agreement and is refunded only on termination of the hire-purchase agreement and not before.

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Termination Schedule

Leases sometimes contain provisions permitting a lessee to terminate the lease during the lease term in the event the leased equipment becomes redundant or obsolete to needs. The liability of the lessee in the event of such termination is set forth in a termination schedule which values the equipment at various points during the lease term. If the equipment is sold at a price lower than set forth in the schedule, the lessee pays the difference.

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