10.11 Dharmasthiyam - Non payment of Debts

Mahabharat excerpt:

Yaksha : What is the biggest tension for any person. Dharmaraj Yudhishthir - Unpaid Debt

This chapter lays down the rules regarding debts and interest. Interest varies from personal to commercial use cases, overcharging the interest rates is also punishable. Other malpractices regarding non fixation of interest rates, charging interest rate over the fixed rate etc. is punishable as well. Repayment of debts or non-adherence to repayment is also taken into account, and various situations in which the repayment may be written off is specified. An important actor in the debt ecosystem is the witness, in front of whom the terms of repayment are set, like interest rate, duration etc. This chapter also covers various situations that may arise with the witness. The witness may turn hostile or may lie about the rate of interest etc. The ways to handle the situation is described. The views of Purvacharya's like Usana and Manu are mentioned regarding punishment to be given to witnesses in case of malpractices, at last Kautilya lays down his view on punishment.