The Reserve Bank of India has issued guidelines on a Fair Practices Code for NBFCs, setting standards for dealing with individual customers and serving as part of best corporate practice. Paisa in Hand, operated by Acolyte Finserv Limited, has adopted this code to provide transparency in its business dealings with borrowers.

This Fair Practices Code applies to all categories of products and services we offer, whether provided across the counter, over the phone, through an interactive electronic device, on the internet, or by any other method.

• Loan application forms include all information that affects your interest as a borrower, allowing a meaningful comparison with terms offered by other lenders.
• The application form indicates the documents required, and the sanction letter or Most Important Document (MID) discloses the basis for risk gradation and the rationale for the interest rate charged.
• We acknowledge receipt of all loan applications and, where possible, indicate the time frame within which the application will be processed.
• If a loan application is declined, we communicate the decision along with the reason(s) for rejection.
• The application form clearly states the information required to fulfil KYC norms and comply with legal and regulatory requirements.

We convey the sanctioned loan amount, along with the terms and conditions including the annualised rate of interest and the method of its application, in writing through a sanction letter. Your acceptance of these terms is kept on record. All communication, including the sanction letter, is provided in a language understood by you. Any penal interest charged for late repayment is mentioned clearly and in bold in the loan agreement.

We notify borrowers of any change in terms and conditions, including disbursement schedule, interest rate, service charges, or prepayment charges, and ensure that such changes apply only prospectively. Any decision to recall a loan, accelerate repayment, or seek additional security is taken in accordance with the loan agreement. On full repayment, we release all securities held against the loan, subject to any legitimate right of set-off for other claims, which will be communicated to you with full particulars.

Where a person is asked to stand as a guarantor or co-applicant for a loan, we inform them in writing – through a letter or deed of guarantee – of the terms of their liability and of any default by the borrower for whom they have stood as guarantor.

We make our loan products available to all qualified borrowers and do not discriminate on grounds of sex, caste, or religion in the matter of lending. This does not preclude our participation in schemes designed for specific sections of society.

We refrain from interfering in a borrower's affairs except as provided for in the loan agreement, unless new information not earlier disclosed by the borrower comes to our notice. In the matter of recovery, we do not resort to undue harassment, such as persistently contacting borrowers at odd hours or the use of intimidation, and we do not employ coercive recovery methods.

Requests for transfer of a borrower's account are responded to, with our consent or objection conveyed, within 21 days of receipt, and any such transfer follows transparent contractual terms consistent with law.

As a measure of customer protection and in line with regulatory guidance on uniformity across banks and NBFCs, we do not charge foreclosure or prepayment penalties on floating-rate term loans sanctioned to individual borrowers. We will also inform borrowers in the event of closure or shifting of a branch office.

If you have a complaint or grievance, you may write to us at the contact details on our Grievance Redressal page. We aim to resolve all complaints relating to our products and services within 30 days of receiving complete details of the grievance.

If the response is unsatisfactory or no response is received within this period, you may escalate the matter to our Grievance Redressal Officer, and thereafter, if still unresolved, to the Officer-in-Charge of the Regional Office of the Department of Non-Banking Supervision, Reserve Bank of India.

A consolidated report on periodic compliance with this Fair Practices Code, and on the functioning of the grievance redressal mechanism at various levels of management, is placed before our Board or a Committee of Directors at regular intervals. A copy of the loan agreement is furnished to every borrower at the time of loan disbursement.