Moratorium

noun (countable)

/ˌmɒrəˈtɔːrɪəm/

A legally authorised delay or suspension of an obligation, activity, or right for a specified period. In Indian law, moratoriums arise in insolvency proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (Section 14 — automatic moratorium on debt recovery upon admission of insolvency petition), in loan repayment (RBI COVID moratorium, March–August 2020), and as a legislative or constitutional device freezing delimitation of constituencies.

✍️ Usage in a UPSC answer

The RBI's COVID-19 moratorium on EMI repayments, announced in March 2020, provided temporary relief to borrowers, though the Supreme Court in Gajendra Sharma v. Union of India directed that interest-on-interest accrued during the moratorium must be waived.

Synonyms

suspensiondeferralfreezepostponementstandstillreprieve

Antonyms

enforcementaccelerationimmediate recoveryresumption

🌱 Word Family

moratory (adjective), moratorium (noun), demur (cognate verb), demurral (cognate noun)

🔡 Root

Medieval Latin moratorium ← morari (to delay) ← mora (delay) ← Latin morari (to linger)

📜 Etymology

From Medieval Latin moratorium, the neuter of moratorius (that which delays), derived from morari (to linger, to delay), from mora (delay). The legal sense of a government-authorised delay in payment obligations emerged in 19th-century banking law during financial crises.

🧠 Memory Hook

MORATORIUM has MORA (delay) at its root. Think of a morose (slow, gloomy) delay — a MORATORIUM slows or freezes obligations. 'MORA-torium': the place (torium) where time slows (mora) down.

⚖️ Polity & Constitution 📖 Seen in: Preamble of the Indian Constitution

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