Finding Their Feet

Lobby groups in finance will need to make a cultural shift as they become self-regulatory organisations, reports Raghu Mohan

- Raghu Mohan

Last week Sa-dhan — the self-regulatory organisation (SRO) for microfinance companies — released a manual on customer redress based on global best practices. Set up in 1999 as a trade and policy advocacy body, it got the status of an SRO from Mint Road a decade ago. "There's equal role for the development of the sector and strengthening institutions," says Jiji Mammen, Sa-dhan's executive director and chief executive officer (CEO). Two committees — on enforcement and grievance redress — guide Sa-dhan in ensuring responsible lending and dispute resolution among members.

The Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment (FACE) was waved in as an SRO last year. Its CEO, Sugandh Saxena, is "broadening the scope of app-monitoring beyond loan apps... fraudulent apps continually find new ways to deceive customers, and promptly removing them is crucial for maintaining trust in digital financial services". FACE has standards and oversight, and enforcement committees: They function within the parameters of a board-approved policy.

Then you have the Business Correspondent Forum of India (BCFI); it is to partner with the India Fintech Forum to co-create a stronger SRO. For industry support, it has teamed up with the Internet and Mobile Association of India and formed a chapter with their help: IAMAI-BCFI. "Both as an SRO and industry body, we are gearing up for data dissemination; it may give deeper insights to aggregate and share the data," says Anand Kumar Bajaj, founder-managing director and CEO, PayNearby.

Heavy lifting begins