If you are itching to own a super bike but are worried about how to fund the purchase, here is a way out. Few banks in India offer special loans for buying super bikes. While Axis Bank is the latest one to join the bandwagon, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and Yes Bank have been lending in this segment for quite some time.

Eligibility and tenor

Super bike loans are offered to salaried individuals as well as to the self-employed. SBI also offers this product to agriculturists. Each bank has its own critieria for eligibility. For instance, if you are a salaried individual or an agriculturist, SBI requires that the net income of you and your co-applicant (if any) put together should be ₹6 lakh. If you are self-employed, the net profit or gross taxable income should be ₹6 lakh per annum.

Axis bank has an age limit. You can apply only if you are in the 21-58 age bracket and with minimum two years work experience. While eligibility criteria vary across banks, most of them offer loan up to 85 per cent of the bike cost. They also provide additional funding for the accessories. HDFC Bank offers an additional ₹2 lakh for accessories. Axis Bank offers 95 per cent of the total cost (including the accessories). The maximum loan tenor for super bikes is five years.

Documentation

The basic documents required for Know Your Customer (KYC) like identity proof, address proof, income proof (salary slips, Form 16), bank statements etc are to be submitted if you are a salaried individual. the self-employed should furnish documents relating to their business as well. This includes income-tax return documents for two years as in the case of HDFC Bank and SBI; proof of business like Shop and Establishment Act certificate or a sales tax certificate as in case of Axis Bank For an agriculturist, the income-tax return document is mandatory to get a super bike loan with SBI.

Interest rates, other charges

Interest rates offered by most banks start upwards of 10 per cent. SBI charges 11.65 per cent (3.65 per cent above the 8 per cent one year MCLR) while Axis Bank and ICICI Bank charge 10.5 per cent and 11 per cent respectively.

But HDFC Bank offers super bike loans from as low as 8.85 per cent. A processing fee and other charges also add to the overall loan cost. ICICI Bank levies 1 per cent of the loan amount or a maximum of ₹5,000 as a non-refundable processing fee for super premium vehicles. SBI, charges 2 per cent of the loan amount. It ranges from a minimum of ₹5,400 to a maximum of ₹17,800.

Pre-closure and pre-payment charges are also applicable.

Five per cent of the outstanding loan is levied as a pre-payment or pre-closure charge at Axis Bank.

However, pre-payment comes with conditions.

You can make only two pre-payments in a loan calendar year and only one in a month in Axis Bank; the pre-payment amount should be equal to one EMI and to a maximum of 25 per cent of the principal outstanding.

Where it scores

Super bike loans score well when compared to personal loan or a usual two-wheeler loan on two counts. First, rates on super bike loans tend to be relatively lower.

At HDFC Bank, the super bike loan interest rate begins from 8.85 per cent, whereas for a personal or a normal two-wheeler loan in the same bank, the minimum rate is at least a percentage point higher at 9.5 per cent.

Second advantage is the higher loan amount. SBI caps the loan to a salaried individual on its normal two-wheeler loan to a maximum of six times net monthly income.

Say the bike cost is ₹5 lakh and if your net monthly income is ₹50,000, you can get loan up to ₹4,25,000 (85 per cent of cost) under SBI’s super bike loan scheme.

But under a normal two-wheeler loan, you cannot get more than ₹3,00,000 (six times the net monthly salary).

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