(1.) In these writ petitions, the petitioners seek to challenge the validity of the Andhra Pradesh Micro Finance Institutions (Regulation of Money Lending) Act, 2011 (for short, 'the Micro Finance Act') as being beyond the competence of the Andhra Pradesh Legislature by reason of Article 246 of the Constitution of India and violative of Articles 14, 19, 20 and 21 of the Constitution of India.
(2.) Since the issues raised in these four writ petitions are similar, all the writ petitions were clubbed together, heard and are being disposed of by this common order. For the sake of convenience, the facts in Writ Petition No.25891 of 2010 may be noticed.
(3.) The petitioner is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956. The concept of micro finance was acclaimed all over the world and was introduced in the country some time in 2005. According to the petitioner, more than 800 micro finance institutions are functioning in India. The petitioner company has got 2226 branches all over India with a borrower membership of 73 lakh women. The petitioner disburses small loans ranging from Rs.2000.00 to Rs.12,000.00 repayable within one year. The loans are disbursed to a group of ten members without any collateral security and each borrower stands guarantee for the rest of nine. The loans are offered to the women belonging to lower strata of the society for various purposes. The activities of the petitioner company are spread over the States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa and West Bengal. The petitioner states that the recovery rate is 99% and hence the company is able to maintain the capital adequacy ratio of 28.3 as against the prescription of 15% by the Reserve Bank of India.