Kolkata, May 7 -- In the Regional Consultation session organised on MSMEs' access to finance and the delayed payment provisions of the MSMED Act, entrepreneurs were livid with criticism of banks for indulging in unfair practices.

MSMEs questioned the logic of getting their collateral securities assessed every year not by one but by two or three valuers at the time of annual renewal of credit limits and being forced to pay the fee of valuers.

"When an informed customer confronts, the banks reduce the charges or reduce the number of valuers from three to two, which itself shows that these are arbitrary fleecing tactics by banks", said one of the participants.

The consultation was hosted by the Federation of Small & Medium Industries (FOS...