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Restructuring 2.0 let banks change the loan plan (stretch the tenure, lower the EMI, or pause payments for a while) for individuals, small businesses, and MSMEs who were classified as Eligible accounts generally had to be classified as 'Standard' by the lending institution as of March 31, 2021, subject to the other conditions of the framework. This became ₹50 crore on June 4, 2021, when RBI revised the Resolution Framework 2.0 threshold from ₹25 crore, with all other provisions unchanged. In total loans and dues across all lenders (what RBI calls aggregate exposure), a limit that mattered mostly for small businesses rather than individual borrowers.

It's worth saying plainly, upfront: this was never a permanent product. It was a one-time, time-bound relief measure tied to a specific national emergency. The framework had a fixed deadline for invoking the resolution process: September 30, 2021. If you're reading this in 2026 hoping to still apply, you can't, and understanding why means looking at how it actually differed from the scheme RBI introduced nine months earlier. RBI didn't build Restructuring 2.0 from nothing. It built on lessons from the first round, and changed who it reached. That difference is where most of the confusion around these two schemes comes from.

No. Both Framework 1.0 and Framework 2.0 had hard application deadlines, and both passed years ago. Framework 1.0 and Framework 2.0 were time-bound COVID-era measures and their invocation windows have expired. They are not current application schemes.

A lot of people still search this term assuming it's an ongoing facility. That's understandable. The scheme got heavy news coverage through 2021, when it genuinely mattered to millions of borrowers. But it was always designed as a one-time pandemic response, not a standing option you can apply to today, the way you might apply for a personal loan.

So what happens if you search for it now and click through to a bank's website? You'll usually land on a page explaining that the window has closed, sometimes with a note about what current options look like instead. That's not a dead end. It just means the conversation has moved from "which COVID scheme applies to me" to "what can my bank actually offer me right now, under its own current policy." That's a different, still-real question, and it has a real answer.

Today, restructuring is governed by the lender's applicable policies and RBI's prevailing regulatory framework for resolution of stressed assets. There is no single COVID-style restructuring window with uniform eligibility for all borrowers.

That distinction matters in practice. The COVID frameworks established specific eligibility conditions and permitted resolution features, while lenders still had to assess and implement individual resolution plans. Eligibility, available options and approval depend on the lender's applicable policy, regulatory requirements and assessment of the borrower's circumstances. Two people with similar loans at two different banks could get two very different answers. This is one of several legal ways to bring an EMI down, alongside balance transfers, tenure extension, and consolidation, and it's usually worth asking about first if your account hasn't slipped far behind yet.

One rule hasn't changed. Under Framework 2.0, lenders were required to report implemented resolution plans as 'restructured due to COVID-19', with the borrower's credit history then governed by the applicable credit information company's policies. That mark on your credit report isn't tied to which scheme, if any, was used, it applies whenever a lender formally changes your loan's terms, COVID-era or not.

Start with your own lender. Contact your bank or NBFC's restructuring or relationship manager team directly, not a recovery agent, and ask what's currently on offer under their own policy. This is the fastest, cheapest first step, and it costs you nothing to ask.

If restructuring isn't approved, or if the real issue is that you're juggling several loans across different lenders rather than one loan that needs different terms, FREED's Loan Consolidation Plan may combine eligible unsecured debts into a more manageable repayment arrangement. with one lender and one due date. FREED has counselled over 20,00,000 customers and managed more than ₹3,200 crore in debt through this and its other programs.

If repaying in full has genuinely become impossible, not something you'd prefer to avoid, but something that's actually stopped being realistic, that's a different situation. That's when FREED's Loan Settlement Plan ("Settle My Loans") applies. If full repayment has genuinely become unaffordable, FREED's Loan Settlement Plan may be considered after other repayment options have been assessed. Settlement can affect your credit report. This step comes last, after restructuring and consolidation have genuinely been ruled out, because it does affect your CIBIL report.