FAIR PRACTICES CODE
OF
FINAGLE FINANCIAL SERVICES PRIVATE LIMITED
(FINAGLE)
SUMMARY OF THE POLICY
Document Name
|
Fair Practices Code
|
Issue and Effective Date
|
01/04/2023
|
Date of Next Review
|
01/04/2024
|
Periodicity of Review
|
Annual
|
Owner/Contact
|
Compliance
Department
|
Approver
|
Board of Directors
|
Annexures
|
-
|
FAIR PRACTICES CODE (FPC)
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued guidelines on Fair Practices
Code for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) through Circular no. DNBR
(PD) CC.No.054/03.10.119/2015-16 dated July 01, 2015, and Chapter V of
Master Direction - Non-Banking Financial Company – Non-Systemically
Important Non-Deposit taking Company and Deposit taking Company (Reserve
Bank) Directions, 2016 which laying down standards for fair business and
corporate practices while dealing with their customers.
This Fair Practice Code is aimed to provide to all the stake holders,
especially customers effective overview of practices followed by the company
in respect of the financial facilities and services offered by the company
to its customers.
FINAGLE FINANCIAL SERVICES PRIVATE LIMITED (hereinafter referred to as “FINAGLE”and “company”)is a Non-Deposit taking Non-Systematically important Non- Banking Finance
Company registered with the Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”) engaged
in the business of facilitating Loan and advances.
FINAGLE FINANCIAL SERVICES PRIVATE LIMITED (FINAGLE) hereby furnishes the Fair Practices Code
(FPC) based on the guidelines issued by RBI. The Company shall also make
appropriate modifications in the FPC from time to time to confirm the
standards that may be prescribed by RBI. The Fair Practices Code, as adopted
herein below, is in conformity with the Guidelines on Fair Practices Code
for NBFCs as contained in the aforesaid RBI Circulars.
The Company's business will be conducted in accordance with prevailing
statutory and regulatory requirements, with due focus on efficiency,
customer-orientation and corporate governance principles. In addition, the
Company will adhere to the Fair Practices Code in its functioning, the key
elements of which are as follows:
PURPOSE
The Company has put in place the FPC with an endeavour to achieve
synchronization of best practices when the Company is dealing with its
stakeholders such as customers, employees, vendors, etc. The Company’s
Fair lending practices shall apply across all aspects of its operations
including marketing, loan origination, processing, and servicing and
collection activities. The Company’s commitment to the FPC would be
demonstrated in terms of employee accountability, monitoring and auditing
programs, training and technology.
The Company’s Board of Directors and the management are responsible
for establishing practices designed to ensure that its operations reflect a
strong commitment to fair lending and that all employees are aware of that
commitment.
DEFINITIONS
-
“Board” means Board of Directors of the
Company.
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“Company” means
FINAGLE FINANCIAL SERVICES PRIVATE LIMITED
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"Directors” means individual Director or
Directors on the Board of the Company.
-
“FPC” means Fair Practices Code.
KEY COMMITMENTS
The essence of the FPC lies in the following aspects that the Company shall
strive to follow in spirit and in letter:
-
To act fairly and reasonably in all the dealings with borrowers by
ensuring that:
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The Company’s products, services, procedures and practices will
meet the broad requirements and standards in the FPC;
-
The Company’s products and services will be in accordance with
relevant laws and regulations as applicable for the time being in
force;
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The Company’s dealings with its borrowers will rest on ethical
principles of honesty, integrity and transparency.
-
The Company will assist its customers in understanding as to what the
broad features of its financial products and services are and what are the
benefits and risks involved in availing the same by:
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Providing information about the products and services in simple
manner;
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Explaining the financial implications of using the products and
services.
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The Company will make every attempt to ensure that its customers would
have trouble-free experience in dealing with it. However, in case of error
of commission and/or omissions, it shall:
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Deal with the errors promptly and effectively;
-
Deal with the Grievances redressal in a quick and efficient manner
and to the satisfaction of the customers;
-
Promptly handle Complaints;
-
Have Escalation process, in the event of dissatisfaction of the
borrower in handling his complaint(s);
APPLICABILITY OF FAIR PRACTICE CODE
The FPC will be applicable to the following broad areas:
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Loan applications and processing thereof
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Loan appraisal and terms/conditions
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Disbursement of loans including changes, if any, in terms and
conditions
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Post disbursement supervision/monitoring
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Other general provisions
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Confidentiality of Information
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Language and Mode of Communicating Fair Practice Code
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Regulation of Rate of Interest
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Loan applications and processing thereof:
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Loan Application Forms will be made available to the prospective
borrowers.
-
Loan documentation set will, inter alia, include the broad features and
the terms and conditions governing the loan which would include necessary
information, which affects the interest of the borrower, so that a
meaningful comparison with the terms and conditions offered by other NBFCs
can be made thereby helping the borrower in making an informed decision.
The said Form shall also specify the documents required to be submitted by
the borrowers
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The Company has system of giving acknowledgement for receipt of all loan
applications.
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All the loan applications shall be disposed of within a period of 90 days
from the date of receipt of duly completed Loan Application Forms together
with the requisite documents and subject to receipt of all documents
complying with prevailing rules and regulations by the borrower.
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All communications to the borrower shall be in vernacular language or a
language as understood by the Borrower.
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Loan appraisal and terms/conditions:
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The Company shall consider all the loan applications keeping in mind the
risk-based assessment procedures adopted by it and
-
The Company, before sanctioning the loan, would assess the ability of the
borrowers to repay the loan and thereby approving the same on merit
basis.
-
The grant of the loan shall be communicated to the borrowers in writing
in a vernacular language or a language as understood by borrower by means
of a Sanction Letter or otherwise, the amount of loan approved along with
the terms and conditions, including the annualized rate of interest and
method of application thereof.
-
The penal interest charged for late repayment will be mentioned in bold
in the loan agreement.
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The borrowers shall give their acknowledgement in writing in token of
their acceptance of terms and conditions governing the loan.
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A copy of the loan documents including loan agreement and annexures
thereof shall be made available to the borrower.
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If the Company cannot provide the loan to the customer, it shall
communicate in writing the reason (s) for rejection thereof.
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Disbursement of Loan and Change in Terms & Conditions:
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Disbursement of amount of loans sanctioned may be made available to the
borrowers on demand subject to completion of all formalities including
execution of loan documents.
-
The Company shall give notice to all its borrowers in vernacular language
or a language understood by the Borrower of any change in the terms and
conditions – including disbursement schedule, interest rates,
service charges, prepayment charges etc.
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The Company shall also ensure that changes in interest rates and charges
are affected only prospectively. A suitable provision in this regard is
incorporated in the loan agreement.
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Post Disbursement Supervision:
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The decision, if any, of the Company to recall/accelerate payment or
performance of loan shall be in accordance with the terms and conditions
of the Loan Agreement.
-
The Company shall give reasonable time to the borrowers before recall the
loan or asking for accelerating the payment or performance subject to the
terms and conditions contained in the Loan Agreement and other related
documents.
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The Company shall release all securities on repayment of its full dues or
on realization of the outstanding amount of loan subject to any legitimate
right or lien for any other claim the Company may have against its
borrowers. If such right of set off is to be exercised, the borrower shall
be given notice about the same with full particulars about the remaining
claims and the conditions under which the Company is entitled to retain
the securities till the relevant claim is settled/ paid.
-
Other General Provisions:
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The Company will refrain from interference in the affairs of the borrower
except for the purposes provided for in the terms and conditions of the
loan agreement (unless new information, not earlier disclosed by the
customer, has come to the notice of the Company).
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The Company will not discriminate loan applications based on grounds of
gender, caste and religion.
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In case of receipt of request from the borrower for transfer of borrower
account, the consent or otherwise – i.e., objection of the Company,
if any – shall be conveyed to the borrower within 21 days from the
date of receipt of any request. Such transfer shall be as per transparent
contractual terms in consonance with law.
-
In the matter of recovery of loans, our Company staff is adequately
trained to deal with customers and shall not resort to any harassment
– such as persistently bothering the borrowers at odd hours, use of
muscle power for recovery of loans, etc.
-
The Company has laid down appropriate internal principles and procedure
in determining interest rates, processing fees and other charges. The
Company has adopted an Interest rate policy taking into account relevant
factors such as cost of funds, margin, risk premium etc. to determine the
rate of interest to be charged on annualised basis for loans and advances
and same is disclosed to the borrower in the loan application form and the
sanction letter and also provided on the website of the Company
-
The rate of interest and the approach for gradations of risk and
rationale for charging different rate of interest to different categories
of customers shall be disclosed in the loan application form and
communicated explicitly in the sanction letter.
-
Confidentiality of Information
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All the personal information of the Company’s customers shall
be treated as private and confidential by the Company and all of its
employees.
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Except under the following circumstances, the Company shall not
disclose any transaction detail of the borrower to any third
party:
-
When the Company has an obligation under any statutory or
regulatory laws to provide such information to any statutory body,
law enforcement agency, CIBIL, CERSAI, CKYC or the RBI or any
other state, central or regulatory body, including courts and
tribunals with jurisdiction.
-
When the customer has given due consent to the Company to share
such financial data.
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When sharing of such information will be in public interest.
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Language and Mode of Communicating Fair Practice Code
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The Company shall upload this Fair Practices Code in the vernacular
language or a language as understood by the borrower on its website
for the reference of its various stakeholders.
-
The Company shall ensure that all additions or changes to this Code
uphold the spirit of the RBI’s guidelines on Fair Practices
Code.
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Regulation of Rate of Interest
-
The Company’s Board shall adopt an interest rate model
considering assorted factors such as the cost of funds, risk premium,
margin, etc., the determine the interest rates for its different loan
products and advances.
-
The Company has also drafted a separate “Interest Rate
Policy” to lay down the principles and guidelines for
determining its interest rates and other charges.
-
The Company shall also disclose to its borrower in the application
form, the rate of interest and approach for gradations of risk and
rationale for charging different rate of interest to different
categories of borrowers. The same shall also be communicated
explicitly to the borrower in the Loan Sanction Letter.
-
Information regarding the rate of interest and the approach for risk
gradation, or any changes thereof shall also be made available on the
Company’s website or otherwise published should be updated
whenever there is a change in the rates of interest.
-
The rate of interest shall be annualised rate as a measure to inform
the borrower about the exact rates applicable to their borrower
account.
GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL MECHANISM
The Board of Directors of the Company shall be responsible to lay down a
proper grievance redressal mechanism to handle the dispute arising out of
the internal decision making. The purpose of such a robust mechanism will be
to ensure that all the disputes relating to the Company’s lending
decisions and other functions are heard and disposed of promptly atleast at
the next higher level.
The company also lay down the proper grievance redressal mechanism to
handle complaints/grievances of its borrowers/customers.
The Company shall display the information pertaining to its grievance
redressal mechanism, details of its Grievance Redressal Officer and the
information of the Regional Office of the RBI prominently at its websites,
office/place of business for resolution of complaint of its customers.
Further, the Company has also laid down a comprehensive robust Grievance
Redressal Mechanism for the speedy disposal/ remedy of its customers’
complaints/grievances. The same has been adopted, and approved, by the Board
in detail under the Grievance Redressal Policy.
ESCALATION PROCESS
If the customer is not satisfied with the customer care channel, they can
raise their concerns by following the escalation procedure explained
hereinafter. In order to escalate a complaint to the next
level, the customer will be required to share their ticket/ complaint number. Further,
the turnaround time mentioned under each escalation stage shall apply only
when the aforesaid escalation matrix is followed
The Company shall provide for a below Grievance Redressal Mechanism to
resolve any of its customers query or grievance:
Level 1: Grievance Redressal Officer
If customer is not satisfied by the resolution provided by the customer
care department then that customer may register their query/ complaint to
the Grievance Redressal Officer. The details of the Grievance Redressal
Officer are given as follows:
(Between 10:00 a.m. and 6:30 P.M., from Monday to Saturday (except on public
holidays)
Complaint to GRO shall be filled within 10 working days from the date of
last resolution from customer care department.
Level-2: Nodal Officer of the Company
If the customer is not satisfied with the resolution provided by Grievance
Redressal Officer or the complaint is not resolvedsatisfactorily then
customer may register their query/ complaint to Nodal officer of company.
The details of nodal officer is given below:
(Between 10:00 a.m. and 6:30 P.M., from Monday to Saturday (except on public
holidays)
Complaint to NO shall be filled within 15 working days from the date of
last resolution from GRO.
Level-3: Reserve Bank of India
If the customer is not satisfied with the redressed provided by
above-mentioned channels then customer may register complainant within 30
days from the date of receipt of receipt of communication of Award or
rejection of the complaint to RBI NBFC Ombudsmen on below mentioned
address:
The Reserve Bank of India
RBI Ombudsmen,
C/o Reserve Bank of India
6, Sansad Marg, Sansad Marg Area, New Delhi, Delhi 110001
FORCE MAJEURE
The various commitments outlined and made by
FINAGLE FINANCIAL SERVICES PRIVATE LIMITEDshall be
applicable under the normal operating environment. In the event of any Force
Majeure circumstances, the Company may not be able to fulfil the objectives
under the FPC to the entire satisfaction of the borrowers, the stakeholders
and the public in general.
REVIEW
The Board of Directors will annually review the compliance of this Fair
Practices Code and the effectiveness of the Company’s Grievance
Redressal Mechanism. The Board shall also make appropriate modifications in
the FPC from time to time in conformity to the changes or additions to the
guidelines as issued by the RBI.
DISCLAIMER
The Company is abide by all guidelines, directives, instructions, and
advice of the Reserve Bank of India as in force from time to time. The
content in this document shall be read in conjunction with these guidelines,
directives, instructions and advices. The Company will consistently apply
better practice so long as such practice does not conflict with or violate
Reserve Bank of India regulations.