Fair Practice Code
The RBI Master Direction – Reserve Bank of India (Non-Banking Financial Company– Scale Based Regulation) Directions, 2023 for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) details the standards for fair business and corporate practices while dealing with their customers (as modified, amended and updated from time to time, the "Fair Practice Code").
The Fair Practice Code is intended to cover the following areas:
• Applications for Loans and their processing
• Loan appraisal and terms/conditions
• Disbursement of loans including changes in terms and conditions
• General Provisions
• Interest Rate Policy
• Grievance Redressal Mechanism
• Responsibility of Board of Directors
• Legal procedure for recovery of dues
• Lending against collateral of gold jewelry
1. Application for Loans and their processing
All pertinent loan information as prescribed by the Fair Practice Code has been made available in the respective application form(s). This information includes:
• Loan parameters such as minimum / maximum loan amount, tenure, mode of repayments, loan tariffs, all in costs of loans, all applicable charges and fees, etc
• Indicative list of KYC documents such as address proof, identity proof and income proof, etc. to be submitted together with the duly completed application form
All application forms have a perforated section which is issued to the applicant on receipt of completed application form. This is issued as an acknowledgement of receipt of the form. The terms & conditions will be explained in the language as understood by the borrower.
• Secured Business Loans: 20-30 working days
• Loan Against Gold: Immediate
• Personal Loan: 3 working days
All loans sanctions are subject to completion of credit appraisal and verification procedures. The applications that do not meet the requisite criteria are declined. The loan status whether a sanction or a decline is promptly communicated to the customer in writing or verbally.
All communications to the borrower shall be in the vernacular language or a language as understood by the borrower.
The application acknowledgement specifies the approximate timeframe for the loan to be processed. In the interim, the applicant may contact SBFC through the below communication channels:
• The Toll-Free Number 022-6831-3333. Customers can call on this number between 10am to 6pm from Monday to Friday.
• Saturday: 9.30 am to 3 pm Closed on all Sundays & Public Holiday
• E-mail us at customercare@sbfc.com
• Write to us at: SBFC Finance Limited, 1st Floor, C & BSquare, Andheri Kurla Road, Chakala, Andheri east, Mumbai – 400059
• Visit the nearest SBFC Branch. Monday to Friday: 10 am to 5.30 pm Saturday: 10 am to 3 pm Closed on all Sundays & Public Holiday
Applicants are welcome to contact SBFC at any stage of the approval process
2. Loan appraisal and terms / conditions
Loan applications are subject to the credit appraisal process followed at SBFC.
SBFC shall convey in writing to the borrower in the vernacular language as understood by the borrower by means of sanction letter or otherwise, the amount of loan sanctioned along with the terms and conditions including annualised rate of interest and method of application thereof and keep the acceptance of these terms and conditions by the borrower on its record.
At the time of loan sanction, a sanction letter indicating the loan amount sanctioned, the annualized rate of interest applicable, processing fee, loan tenor, EMI payable, all other applicable fees and charges and other loan details as applicable shall be conveyed to the loan applicant in writing. The loan disbursement process would be initiated on receiving the written acceptance of such terms and conditions. This written consent of the applicant shall be retained by SBFC and maintained in its records. A copy of the loan agreement shall be furnished to all borrowers at the time of disbursement of loans or sent along with the welcome kit.
3. Disbursement of loans including changes in terms and conditions
Any changes to the terms and conditions, including disbursement schedule, interest rates, service charges, prepayment charges etc shall be informed individually to the borrowers and terms and conditions relating to the same shall be captured in the individual loan agreements. Alternately the same made available on the SBFC website (www.sbfc.com ).
For account specific charges, the changes will be communicated individually to the borrower in writing. Other charges such as bounce cheque charges, late payment charges, cheque swap charges, statement of account, document retrieval charges, prepayment charges, re- booking charges, re-pricing charges, cancellation charges, PDC replenishment charges and other incidental charges are applicable depending on the product / scheme opted by the borrower. These charges shall be standard across customers irrespective of their credit worthiness and /or credit history.
Any change in the above applicable charges (including interest rate etc) shall be informed promptly to the borrower, shall be in accordance with the terms and conditions of the individual loan agreement and shall be affected prospectively.
Decision to recall / accelerate payment or performance under the agreement shall be in accordance with the terms and conditions in accordance with the agreement and duly acknowledged by the borrower.
All securities pertaining to the loan would be released on receipt of full and final payment of the loans, subject to any legitimate right or lien, and set-off for any other claim that SBFC may have against the borrowers. If such right of set-off is to be exercised, the borrower shall be given prompt notice about the same, with full particulars about the remaining claims and the conditions under which SBFC is entitled to retain the securities until the relevant claim is settled / paid.
Any changes to the above charges standardized across customers shall be made available on our website of SBFC (www.sbfc.com). The website address is also available on the application form.
4. General Provisions
SBFC shall refrain from interference in the affairs of the borrower except for the purposes provided in the terms and conditions for of the loan agreement (unless new information, not earlier disclosed by the borrower, has come to the notice of SBFC).
In case of receipt of request from the borrower for transfer of borrower account, the consent or otherwise i.e. objection of the SBFC, if any, shall be conveyed within 21 days from the date of receipt of request. Such transfer shall be as per transparent contractual terms in consonance with law.
In the matter of recovery of loans, SBFC and its representatives shall not resort to undue harassment viz. persistently bothering the borrowers at odd hours, use of muscle power for recovery of loans, etc. SBFC shall ensure there is no rude behavior from its staff towards customers for which staff will be adequately trained to deal with the customers in an appropriate manner.
The instructions issued vide RBI circular DNBS(PD).CC.No.101/03.10.001/2019-20 on ‘Levy of foreclosure charges/pre-payment penalty is not allowed for any Floating Rate Loans sanction for purpose other than business to individual borrower with or without co-obligants. Further, the floating rate term loan sanctioned to proprietorship/ partnership firm, even as the principal borrower, should not to be treated at par with individuals as far as extending the benefit of the said circular is concerned.
5. Interest Rate Policy
The borrower will be communicated the annualized rate percentage in the sanction document while communicating the approval of a loan.
This rate of interest is arrived at through SBFC interest rate model which takes into account relevant factors such as cost of funds, margin and risk premium.
We take a comprehensive approach to the gradation of risk that does not discriminate between classes of borrowers, but rather tailors the interest rate to each loan.
The decision to give a loan and the rate of interest thereon are carefully assessed on a case by case basis based on multiple factors which may include the borrower's cash flows (past, current and projected), borrower's other financial commitments, the borrower's credit record, the security for the loan as represented by underlying assets or other financial guarantees etc.
Such information is gathered based on information provided by the borrower, credit reports, market intelligence and information gathered by field inspection of the borrower's premises.
The approved Interest Rate Policy is published on the website.
6. Responsibility of Board of Directors
SBFC has laid down an appropriate Grievance Redressal Mechanism within the organization. Such a mechanism ensures that all disputes arising out of the decisions of SBFC are heard and disposed of at least at the next higher level. The Board of Directors of SBFC also reviews the compliance of the Fair Practices Code and the functioning of the Grievances Redressal Mechanism at various levels of management.
7. Grievance Redressal
SBFC’s policy is to treat and service all the clients consistently and fairly. SBFC has laid down the appropriate grievance redressal mechanism within the organization to resolve disputes arising in this regard. This mechanism shall ensure that all disputes arising in connection with any matter pertaining to business practices, lending decisions, credit management and recovery decisions shall be heard and the response would be sent for such complaint / grievance.
Customer can forward the complaint through any of the four modes of communication namely
• The Toll-Free Number 022-6831-3333. Customers can call on this number between 10am to 6pm from Monday to Friday. Saturday: 9.30 am to 3 pm Closed on all Sundays & Public Holiday
• E-mail us at customercare@sbfc.com; customercare_dhfl@sbfc.com & customercare_rel@sbfc.com.
• Write to us at: SBFC Finance Limited., 1st Floor, C & B Square, Andheri Kurla Road, Chakala, Andheri east, Mumbai – 400059
• Visit the nearest SBFC Branch. Monday to Friday: 10 am to 5.30 pm Saturday: 10 am to 3 pm Closed on all Sundays & Public Holiday
All the customer queries and complaints registered through the above channels shall be reviewed, monitored and resolved to the satisfaction of our customers. The focus shall be to ensure all grievances are resolved in a timely basis and to the full satisfaction of our customers.
SBFC has appointed a Grievance Redressal Officer who can be approached by the public for resolution of complaints against the Company.
All SBFC branches / places where business is transacted a notice will display the following information prominently, for the benefit of their customers:
Grievance Redressal Officer- Ajay Ashtikar SBFC Finance Limited.,
First Floor, C & B Square,
Andheri Kurla Road, Chakala, Andheri east, Mumbai – 400059 Landline – 022 6787 5313, Email ID: management.sbfc@sbfc.com
If the complaint / dispute is not redressed within a period of one month, the customer may appeal to RBI Ombudsman. The complete contact details are as follows.
Centralized Receipt and Processing Centre, Reserve Bank of India,
4th Floor, Sector 17, Chandigarh – 160017 E-mail– crpc@rbi.org.in
Complaint Portal (https://cms.rbi.org.in)
Toll-free number – 14448 (9:30 am to 5:15 pm)
Escalation Matrix:
Level 1: Customer Care Team First level of escalation to be done on customercare@sbfc.com
Level 2: Service Head If you are not satisfied with the response given by customer care team, you may write on servicehead@sbfc.com which is managed by
our Head of Service.
Level 3: Grievance Redressal Officer If your concerns still remain un addressed then you may write to our Grievance Redressal Officer on management.sbfc@sbfc.com
8. Legal procedure for recovery of dues
• In case of non-payment of dues by the customer, SBFC shall have right to initiate legal action against the Borrower in accordance with provisions of the loan agreement and applicable laws. Before initiating any such legal action, SBFC shall send notice to the applicant / Borrower as required under applicable laws.
• The recovery process of enforcement of mortgage/securities, including but not limited to, taking possession and sale of the mortgaged property in accordance with the procedure prescribed under the Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (SARFAESI Act) or under any other law, is followed purely under the directions laid down under the respective law. Intimations / Reminders/ Notices(s) are given to customer/s prior to initiating appropriate legal steps for recovery of over dues, by the various legal tools like Negotiable Instruments Act, Civil Suit, SARFAESI Act etc.
9. Lending against collateral of gold jewelry
• In line with the RBI guidelines on lending against collateral of gold jewelry, SBFC has a board approved Loan against gold policy. The said policy covers the following:KYC guidelinesAssaying procedure for the jewelry received
• Internal system to satisfy ownership of gold
• Adequate system for storing of jewelry in branches
• Insurance coverage of the collateral
• Transparent auction process
• Auction is announced to the public by issue of advertisement in two newspapers, one in vernacular and another in national daily newspaper
• SBFC or its employees are not eligible for participation of auction
• Gold Pledged shall be auctioned through auctioneers approved by Board
• Auction procedure is defined in Loan agreement
• SBFC shall obtain copy of the PAN card of the Borrower for all transaction above 5 Lakhs.
• Documentation across branches is standardized
• SBFC shall not issue misleading advertisements like claiming the availability of loans in a matter of 2-3 minutes.
10. SBFC shall adhere to the following stipulations of Master Direction – Reserve Bank of India (Non-Banking Financial Company with respect to penal charges Scale Based Regulation) Directions, 2023 penal charges in loan accounts
• Penalty, if charged, for non-compliance of material terms and conditions of loan contract 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 on the advances. There shall be no capitalisation of penal charges i.e., no further interest computed on such charges. However, this will not affect the normal procedures for compounding of interest in the loan account.
• SBFC not introduce any additional component to the rate of interest and ensure compliance to these guidelines in both letter and spirit.
• SBFC shall formulate a Board approved policy on penal charges or similar charges on loans, by whatever name called.
• The quantum of penal charges shall be reasonable and commensurate with the non-compliance of material terms and conditions of loan contract without being discriminatory within a particular loan/product category.
• The penal charges in case of loans sanctioned to ‘individual borrowers, for purposes other than business’, shall not be higher than the penal charges to nonindividual borrowers for similar non-compliance of material terms and conditions.
• The quantum and reason for penal charges shall be clearly disclosed by SBFC to the customers in the loan agreement and most important terms & conditions/Key Fact Statement (KFS) as, in addition to being displayed on websites of SBFC under Interest rates and Service Charges.
• Whenever reminders for non-compliance of material terms and conditions of loan are sent to borrowers, the penal charges shall be communicated. Further, any instances of levy of penal charges and the reason therefor shall also be communicated.
• The instructions in this section will be implemented in respect of all the fresh loans availed from April 01, 2024 onwards
• In the case of existing loans, the switchover to new penal charges regime shall be ensured on next review or renewal date falling on or after April 01, 2024, but not later than June 30, 2024.
11. Application of the Code
The Fair Practice Code applies to all products and services offered across our company's operational and service locations, including branches, regions, and corporate offices. It is mandatory for all authorized personnel, partners, subsidiaries, and outsourcing partners to strictly adhere to the Fair Practice Code. This applies whether interacting in person, over the phone, by post, through interactive electronic devices, online, or by any other means.