I have taken a home loan from ICICI in 2004 at a rate of 7.0%. I was offered the same rate from other nationalised banks(SBI, Canara, etc). But due to the easiness of getting the loan sanctioned I went with ICICI. I have been paying the EMI without any default for last 7 years. During this time I saw my interest rate skyrocketing to 14.5%. They were also increasing the tenure for the loan eachtime the rate was increased and my total tenure to close my loan with regular payment of EMI stands at 478 months which was 240 when I started the loan. This is bound to rise in future as the rate increases and never going to go down.
RESULT: You will NEVER be able to pay the loan through regular EMI in your life time. The interest rate has been going up even during the recession when RBI reduced their rates. ICICI never reduce their rate and will be very quick to increase the rate when RBI raise their rates. They would never reduce when RBI lowers their rate.
I checked with other nationalised banks to see how much the interest rate has increased for those who took loan from them about the same time as I and surprised to see that they still have a healthy 10% which is a hefty 4.5% less that what I am paying ICICI now.
I suggest everyone not to go with ICICI for home loans or any other loans as they just rip you off. They even have other charges associated with it for prepayment and closure of the loan accounts. Noway you can have sound sleep once you have a banking relationship with them. I have already closed all my accounts with ICICI and am going to close my home loan too at the earliest.