HELB Extends 100% Penalty Waiver to June 2022

The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) has extended the Covid-19 100% penalty waiver until June 30, 2022.

The waiver dubbed 'Kamilisha Malipo Ya HELB,' which was meant to span from March 1 to April 30, 2022, has now been extended for two months until June 30, 2022.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, May 4, HELB Chief Executive Officer Charles Ringera stated that the waiver's deadline coincided with the start of the school year, prompting multiple requests to extend the waiver to provide loan borrowers more time to take advantage of it.

According to Ringera, the Covid-19 epidemic has caused the Kenyan economy to stall, impacting repayments.

"Kenya's economy, like many others around the world, has slowed in the last two years as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak. We recognise that unemployment and underemployment have impacted Helb payments," Ringera stated.

He noted that the student lending board has faced a variety of challenges, including a lack of funds from the National Treasury.

According to Ringera, HELB was compelled to extend the deadline due to the challenging economic circumstances.

"Given the current difficult economic environment, and the fact that the penalty waiver's initial expiration date of 30 April 2022 also falls during the back-to-school season, Helb has received numerous requests to prolong the waiver," Ringera explained.

When the #KamilishaMalipoyaHelb waiver was originally launched, Ringera noted that the purpose was to urge loanees to repay their debts so that the facility could help more students.

In 2013, the loans board granted a 100% waiver to 10,110 beneficiaries who paid off Ksh1.3 billion in loans. The exercise also resulted in loan repayments totaling Ksh870 million from 9,998 beneficiaries in 2018.

How to Take Advantage of the 100% HELB Waiver

If you want to repay your HELB loan, you can contact them or visit their offices to discuss payment arrangements.

You can also check your current waiver and interest rate on their website. Here is a step-by-step guide to getting started:

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• On your browser, go to the HELB website.
• Click on the “Login” button and enter your login credentials. If you don’t have an account register to proceed.
• Once you’re logged in click on “Services” then navigate to “Penalty Waiver” and click on “Get Waiver”

• Depending on the loan balances, the system will process your request and provide feedback.

• Select “Print waiver request”, and a sample PDF will be generated, as seen in the screenshot below.

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