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Fair Practice Code

BJS is committed to deal with its clients in a fair and transparent manner. The fair practices code of BJS incorporate the RBI guidelines and also follow the code of conduct of Sa-dhan.

General

  • The Fair Practices Code in vernacular language shall be displayed by the organization in its office and branch premises.

  • Training if any, offered to the borrowers shall be free of cost. Field staff shall be trained to offer such training and also make the borrowers fully aware of the procedure and systems related to loan/ other products.

  • The organization shall comply with the KYC Guidelines of RBI and due diligence shall be carries out to ensure the repayment capacity of the borrowers.

  • The organization shall not collect any security on any loan.

  • The organization should not discriminate against clients on the basis of gender, race, caste, religion or language.

  • The organization ensures adequate safeguards for its clients for not be aggressive or abusive treatment by staff particularly during debt collection process.

  • The clients will be treated with dignity and respect by the staff of the organization.

Applications for Loans and their Processing

  • All communications by the organization to the clients shall be in the vernacular language or a language as understood by the clients.

  • Loans application forms provided by the organization should include necessary information which affects the interest of the clients, so that a meaningful comparison with the terms and conditions offered by other MFI can be made and informed decision can be taken by them. The clients have to submit the following documents along with the application :

  • KYC documents as per prescribed by the RBI (For both ID and Address Proof).

  • Passport size photography of the clients and the spouse/Guardian.

  • The authorised staff of the organization shall verify the loan application along with all the sureties and approvals, applicable as the policies of the organization. The staff should also make sure that the following information is filled completely :

  • Borrower identification particulars

  • Date of application

  • Loan amount

  • Purpose of the loan

  • Term of the loan

  • Applicable interest rate

  • Repayment particulars

  • Income details

  • Details of indebtedness

  • Nominee details

Loan Appraisal and Terms and Conditions

  • BJS shall evaluate the information and documents provided by the applicant on the basis of the pre-defined eligibility criteria for the financial products and services.

  • BJS staff shall be trained to make necessary enquiries with regard to existing debt of the borrowers.

  • Due diligence shall be carried out to ensure the repayment capacity of the borrowers.

  • If the clients have loans from two separate MFI, then BJS will not be the third lender to that client.

  • BJS should lend in the context that urban and rural household annual income is not to exceed of 1, 20,000 and 60,000- respectively.

  • BJS should lend in the context that total indebtedness of the borrower not to exceed of 50,000

Disbursement Procedure of Loans

  • The organization should complete the following documentation at the time of disbursement of the loan :

  • Mutual Agreement

  • Group Acceptance

  • The acceptance of the terms and conditions by the borrower – rate of interest, processing fees, repayment terms etc.

  • The organization shall keep the acceptance of these terms and conditions by the borrower and all the other concerned documents on its record/safe custody by the authorized persons.

  • All sanctioning and disbursement of loans should be done only at branch office and minimum two officers of BJS should be present at the time of disbursement.

  • Loan passbook will be given to every borrower for each loan. The loan passbook would contain the repayment schedule, interest rate and processing charges and insurance premium etc.

  • The organization will not charge any penalty on delayed payments and prepayment is allowed with no penalty.

  • The organization will give notice to the borrower in the vernacular language as understood by the borrower of any changes in the terms and conditions including disbursement schedule, interest rates, processing charges etc.

Non-coercive Methods of Recovery

  • Recovery of the loan should normally be made only at group meeting.

  • Staff shall be allowed to make recovery at the place of residence or work place of the borrower only if the borrower fails to appear at group meetings.

  • In no circumstances, any borrower can be met at her residence or work place before sunrise and after sunset.

  • No harsh language will be used even with the default client.

  • The staff will patiently explain the procedures and need for timely repayment of the loans availed in a polite manner. If the staff is convinced that there is a genuine reason for non-payment/ delayed payment, appropriate measures for the repayment will be discussed with clients concerned and implemented with their consent.

Regulation of Interest Rate Charge

  • BJS follows the Rules of Reserve Bank of India for all the activities related to microfinance

  • The organization shall adopt interest rate model with the Executive Committee Approval by taking into account the relevant factors such as Cost of Funds, Margins and Risk Premiums etc.

  • Charging different rates of interest for different product shall be disclosed in the loan application form and loan sanction letter to the borrower.

  • The organization shall adopt interest rate model with the Executive Committee Approval by taking into account the relevant factors such as Cost of Funds, Margins and Risk Premiums etc.

Privacy of Client Information

  • BJS must keep personal information of the client strictly confidential.

  • Client information may be disclosed to the third party subject to the following :

  • Client has been informed about such disclosure and written permission has been obtained.

  • If the data is legally required to do so.

Grievance Redressal Mechanism

  • BJS has adopted “Grievance Redressal Mechanism”. In case any staff is involved in any kind of misbehaviour, disciplinary action against such staff shall be taken immediately.

  • For all the client related grievances, clients can make phone call between 10.00 am to 5.00 pm on all working days to the Help Line No. 09874662614 at Head Office. At the time of making calls the clients have to provide the information of their ID and branch name. Clients also make call to the mobile number of respective Regional Manager and Branch manager which are also written in resolution book in each group.

  • All the branches have a ‘Suggestion and complaint Box” in the premises of branch offices where the clients can drop their complaint or suggestion.

  • All the branches have a “Complaint Register”, the clients can write their complaint or suggestions in the register.

  • All the clients have access to the higher level staff (i.e. Branch Manager, Regional Manager and Manager Operation) to highlight and discuss their issues/grievances if any. The senior staff at field level has been empowered to take certain actions/decisions to address the needs/issues of the clients immediately.

  • All the grievances shall be attended within 48 hours for all the complaint received over phone and for all the grievances given in the complaint box will be resolved within a week to fortnight time on a case-to-case basis.

  • The subcommittee little ‘Grievance Redressal Committee” shall review the compliance of the Fair Practices Code and the functioning of the grievance redressal mechanism at various levels of management once in quarter.

Client Education

  • BJS will have a dedicated process to raise clients’ awareness of the options, choices and responsibilities vis-a-vis financial products and services available.

  • BJS imparts awareness training to all its clients in batch of 30 -40 clients in every month in every Branch for financial products, leadership development, health & sanitation, etc.

  • New clients must be informed about the organization’s policies and procedures to help them understand their rights as borrowers.

  • BJS ensures regular checks on client awareness and understanding of the key terms and conditions of the products/ services offered / availed, Client Protection Principle. (As part of internal audit systems or through some other regular monitoring)

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