RBI Cancels Acemoney’s NBFC Licence For Irregular Lending Practices

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cancelled the non-banking financial company (NBFC) licence of Acemoney (India) over irregularities in lending practices.

“… The Reserve Bank has cancelled the Certificate of Registration (CoR) issued to… NBFC Acemoney… Acemoney shall not transact the business of a Non-Banking. Financial Institution (NBFI), as defined in clause (a) of Section 45-I of the RBI Act, 1934,” the central bank said in a statement on Monday (April 29). 

As per the RBI, the licence was cancelled as the NBFC flouted the central bank’s guidelines on managing risks and code of conduct in outsourcing financial services in its digital lending operations undertaken through third-party apps.

The company was also not compliant with the extant regulations on charging excessive interest and ensuring confidentiality of customer information, the statement added.

Incorporated in 2016, Acemoney (India) is a financial services company that offers multiple fee-based services to its clients. In addition, it also partners with third-party digital platforms to disburse loans and advances to customers. 

Acemoney received its NBFC licence in February 2017. As per the central bank, the NBFC has partnerships with online lending apps such as ActLoan, AgMoney, NiceCash, CashLender, among others.

This is not the first time that Acemoney (India) has come under the regulatory scanner. In 2022, Acemoney was allegedly one of the NBFCs whose defunct licence was used by illegal Chinese lending apps to enter the country and offer instant online loans. 

The latest development comes at a time when the RBI is tightening its oversight of digital lending in India. Last week, the central bank floated a draft framework to oversee the aggregation of loan products by lending service providers (LSPs). It has sought feedback on the proposed framework till May 31.

Besides, the central bank has been actively working with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to ban illegal digital lending apps.

In February, reports also surfaced that the RBI was mulling establishing a public register of whitelisted lending apps to steer users away from such apps. 

Despite this, the digital lending landscape continues to thrive in the country. As per Inc42, the homegrown lending tech opportunity is expected to reach a market size of $1.3 Tn by 2030.

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