Fair Practices Code
Nigania Finance Private Limited ("the Company", "we", "us") is a non-deposit taking Non-Banking Financial Company registered with the Reserve Bank of India (Certificate of Registration B-14.02665). This Fair Practices Code ("the Code") is adopted in line with the Reserve Bank of India's directions on the Fair Practices Code for NBFCs and the RBI (Digital Lending) Directions.
The Code applies to every loan we make, whether sourced directly or through a Digital Lending App ("DLA") or Lending Service Provider ("LSP") acting on our behalf. It binds our employees and every LSP and agent we engage. Engaging an LSP does not reduce our responsibility to you: we remain the lender and are accountable for its conduct.
1. Applications for loans and their processing
- All communication with a borrower is in English or Hindi, or in another language the borrower understands.
- The application form and the information shown before it state the documents and information required, and enough about the product to allow a meaningful comparison with the terms of other lenders.
- We acknowledge every complete application and state the time within which it will be decided.
- If we decline an application, we tell the applicant so, along with the main reason for the decision, in writing (which includes an in-app message, SMS or e-mail).
2. Loan appraisal and terms
- Every application is appraised under our board-approved credit policy, taking into account the applicant's income, existing obligations and credit history, so that the repayment is one the borrower can afford.
- Before the borrower accepts, we provide a Key Fact Statement (KFS) in the standard format prescribed by the RBI. It states the loan amount, tenure, number and amount of instalments, rate of interest, processing fee and GST, the amount to be disbursed, the total amount payable, the Annual Percentage Rate (APR), penal charges, the cooling-off (look-up) period, and the contact details of our Grievance Redressal Officer.
- No fee or charge that is not stated in the KFS may be charged at any point during the life of the loan without the borrower's explicit consent.
- The sanction terms are conveyed in writing, and the borrower's acceptance is recorded through their electronically signed loan agreement. A copy of the loan agreement, the KFS and every document referred to in the agreement is provided to the borrower on or before disbursal.
3. Disbursal, repayment and changes to terms
- Loans are disbursed only into a bank account in the borrower's own name, and directly from our account. No disbursal passes through an account of an LSP or any other third party.
- Repayments are made directly from the borrower's bank account into ours. A loan is repaid either in a single instalment or in equated monthly instalments (EMIs), as stated in the KFS. No employee or agent may accept a repayment in cash or into a personal account or UPI ID.
- We give notice of any change in the terms and conditions, including the rate of interest or charges. Any change applies prospectively only, and never to a loan already disbursed unless the loan agreement expressly provides for it.
- Any decision to recall or accelerate payment is in accordance with the loan agreement.
- On full repayment we close the loan, issue a no-dues confirmation, and update the borrower's record with the credit information companies.
4. Penal charges
If a payment is late, we levy a penal charge, not penal interest. It is not added to the rate of interest, it is not capitalised, and no further interest is charged on it. The amount and the reason for every penal charge are stated in the KFS and the loan agreement and published on this website. There is no charge for prepaying or foreclosing a loan.
5. Cooling-off (look-up) period
After disbursal, the borrower may exit the loan within the cooling-off period stated in the KFS by repaying the principal and the interest for the days the money was held, without any penalty. The period is set by our Board and is never shorter than the minimum prescribed by the RBI for the loan's tenure. The processing fee may be retained only if this is disclosed in the KFS.
6. Collection and recovery
We collect fairly and without coercion. In particular:
- We do not resort to intimidation or harassment of any kind, verbal or physical, against the borrower or anyone connected to them, and we do not use abusive language.
- Calls and visits for recovery are made only between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., unless the borrower has asked otherwise.
- We do not contact the borrower's family, friends, referees or employer to recover a loan, and we never publish or threaten to publish a borrower's details.
- Before a loan is handed to a recovery agent, the borrower is told the agent's name and contact details. Agents carry an authorisation letter and identity card, are trained, and are bound by this Code.
- We give reasonable notice before taking any recovery action, except where the law allows otherwise.
7. Lending Service Providers and Digital Lending Apps
- Every DLA and LSP we engage is named on our website, together with what it does for us.
- The DLA shows the borrower, before they apply and at every stage after, the name of the Company as the lender.
- Any fee due to an LSP is paid by the Company. It is never charged to the borrower.
- An LSP may collect only the data needed for the loan, with the borrower's explicit consent, and may not access the borrower's contacts, call logs, messages, photographs or files.
- We do not increase a borrower's credit limit automatically, without their explicit consent.
8. Privacy and confidentiality
We treat borrowers' information as confidential and use or share it only as described in our Privacy Policy or as the law requires. We do not interfere in the affairs of a borrower except for the purposes set out in the loan agreement, or where information not earlier disclosed by the borrower comes to our notice.
9. Non-discrimination
We do not discriminate on the grounds of gender, religion, caste, disability or any other protected characteristic. This does not prevent us from designing products for particular segments of borrowers in their interest.
10. Grievance redressal
Complaints are handled under our Grievance Redressal Policy. Our Grievance Redressal Officer is:
E-mail: grievance@nigania.co.in
Phone: 011-4780 7710
Post: Nigania Finance Private Limited, A-1/118, 2nd Floor, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi, Delhi 110029
If a complaint is not resolved within 30 days, or the borrower is not satisfied with our reply, they may approach the RBI Ombudsman under the Reserve Bank — Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021, at cms.rbi.org.in.
11. Review
The Board of Directors approves this Code and reviews it, and the functioning of our grievance redressal mechanism, at least once a year. The current version is always published on this website.