Fair Practices Code

1. Introduction

Billionloans Financial Services (“Company” or “Billionloans”) has formulated this Fair Practices Code (“the Code” or “Code”) to guide its interactions with its customers, and it shall be updated from time to time. Billionloans shall adopt all the best practices and make appropriate modifications as necessary to this Code to conform to the standards so prescribed. This Code is approved by the Board of Directors and shall be published on the Company’s website.

2. Purpose

The purpose of Fair Practices Code for Billionloans is:

  • To make available to all eligible qualified applicants, without discrimination on the basis of race, caste, colour, religion, sex, marital status, age or handicap all financial products, either directly or through subsidiaries and / or associates.
  • To offer assistance, encouragement and service to all its clients in a fair, equitable and consistent manner.
  • To act fairly and reasonably in all dealingswith its customers by ensuring that:
    • Its products, services, procedures and practices meet the commitments and standards in this Code.
    • Its products and services meet relevant laws and regulations in letter and spirit as applicable.
    • Its dealings with its customers rest on ethical principles of honesty, integrity and transparency.

3. Applicability of the Code

This Fair Practices Code shall apply to the following categories of products and services offered by the Company (currently offered or which will be introduced at a future date).

  • Loans and credit facilities of all types, as permissible under extant regulations and laws.

The Code shall be applicable to the above irrespective of whether the same is provided physically, over the internet or by any other method whatsoever, existing or futuristic.

4. Key Commitments

The key commitments which the Company promises to follow in its dealings with its customers are:

  • The Company shall make every attempt to ensure that its customers have a trouble-free experience in dealing with it; but in the case of errors, the Company shall deal with the same quickly and sympathetically.
    • Mistakes shall be corrected quickly.
    • Complaints shall be handled quickly.
    • In case a customer is not satisfied with the way a complaint is handled, the Company shall guide the customer on how to take the complaint forward.
    • The Company shall reverse any charges including interest applied to a customer’s account due to an error or oversight on its part.
  • The Company shall guide its customers in choosing products and services which meets his / her requirements.
    • Before the customer relationship is established, the Company shall:
      • Give the customer information explaining the key features of the services and products the customer has shown interest in.
      • Give information on accounts, products and services which will suit the customer’s needs.
      • Clearly state the information that the Company requires to collect from the customer to fulfil its ‘Know Your Customer’ norms and to comply with legal and regulatory requirements in force from time to time.
      • Request for additional information about the customer and his / her family to build a database; but this information will be furnished by the customer only if she / he wishes to do so.
    • The Company shall provide information on the various channels that can be used to access its products and services.
    • The Company shall guide its customers on their rights and responsibilities specific to the mode of operation under which the product is taken.
  • The Company shall ensure that all advertising and promotional materialis clear, fair reasonable and not misleading.
  • The Company shall ensure that its staff are adequately trained to deal with the customers in an appropriate manner for/ during the loan recovery and shall not resort to harassment viz., persistently bothering the borrowers at odd hours, using coercive methods for recovery of loan, etc.In this regard, the Company shall ensure that its employees and agents appointed by it comply with Code of Conduct applicable to their respective job description.
  • Billionloans shall not reveal any information relatingto the customers to any third party without the consent of the customers except in the following circumstances:
    • If the Company has to provide the information by statutory or regulatory laws.
    • If there is a duty to the public to reveal this information or in public interest (e.g. fraud prevention).
    • If customer has given consent / concurrence to provide/ share such information to its group / associate / entities or companies or external entities for providing other products or services.

5. Fair Practices for Loan Sanction & Disbursal

  • The terms of the sanction of a loan shall be communicated to the borrower in a language understood by the borrower including, where necessary, in the primary vernacular language of the state in which the loan is disbursed.
  • The Company’s sanction letter shall contain the amount of loan sanctioned along with the terms and conditions including annualised rate of interest, penal charges and when these will be applicable.
  • Penalty for non-compliance of material terms and conditions of the loan agreement by the borrower shall be treated as ‘penal charges’ and shall not be levied in the form of ‘penal interest’ that is added to the rate of interest charged.
  • The Company shall furnish a copy of the loan agreement as understood by the borrower along with a copy each of all enclosures quoted in the loan agreement to borrowers at the time of disbursal of the facility.
  • The Company shall give notice to the borrower in a language understood by the borrower of any change in the terms and conditions including disbursal schedule, interest rates, service charges, prepayment charges etc.
  • Any changes in interest rates and charges shall be effected only prospectively and not retrospectively.

6. Grievance Redressal Mechanism

The Company has adopted this Grievance Redressal Mechanism to ensure that customer grievances are addressed promptly and effectively. Below are the steps which the customer needs to take for resolving his/ her grievances:

  • Registration of complaints/ grievances – As a first step, the customers shall lodge their grievances/ complaints by sending an email to grievancecell@billionloans.com. The Company shall examine the complaint and shall respond to the customer in writing/ email/ phone within 7 working days, from the date of receipt of the complaint. The company shall also provide suitable justification in case the complaint resolution requires more than the time stipulated above.
  • Addressing or handling of complaints – In case the customers are not satisfied with the response received, or in case where the customers have not received any response within 7 working days, then they shall reach out to the Grievance Redressal Officer of the company as mentioned below:
  • Designation Grievance Redressal Officer (including fintech partners/digital lending grievances): Mr Yallappa SN
    Contact No. +91-70193 55464

    Calls will be taken between 10.00 am to 5.00 pm on all working days and at the time of making such calls, clients need to provide details such as Customer ID, etc.
    Email id yallappa@billionloans.com
  • All the branches shall have a suggestion and complaint box in their premises where the clients can share their grievances.
  • Escalation of complaints - If any complaint/dispute is not redressed within a period of 30 (thirty) days, or is rejected wholly or partly by Billionloans and the customer is not satisfied with the reply, then the customer can lodge a complaint over the Complaint Management System (CMS) portal under the Reserve Bank-Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS) using the link https://cms.rbi.org.in or send a physical complaint to “Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre, 4th Floor, Reserve Bank of India, Sector-17, Central Vista, Chandigarh - 160017”.

7. Review of the Code

The Board of Billionloans will periodically review its compliance to this Fair Practices Code, in light of change in regulatory compliance and business reasons. The developments/ changes, if any shall be communicated to the customers and relevant stakeholders as and when necessary.