Recorded RBI impact
Fine: Rs 16.6 L
Monetary penalty · Fresh imposition
Published by RBI
7 Mar 2025
Case Brief
The Reserve Bank of India imposed a monetary penalty on Visionary Financepeer Private Limited by order dated February 25, 2025. RBI said the company was found, after scrutiny and follow-up proceedings, to have violated provisions of the Non-Banking Financial Company – Peer to Peer Lending Platform (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2017. The breaches included disbursing loans to individual borrowers without specific approval from individual lenders, not ensuring that lender-borrower loan agreements were signed, failing to disclose required borrower details to lenders, lacking a Board-approved policy for pricing services, shortcomings in service-provider agreements and annual reviews, and taking partial credit risk beyond the permitted scope for NBFC-P2P entities. RBI clarified that the penalty was imposed for regulatory non-compliance and not to pronounce on the validity of customer transactions.
Why RBI Acted
RBI imposed a monetary penalty after a scrutiny found sustained non-compliance with the ‘Non-Banking Financial Company – Peer to Peer Lending Platform (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2017’. The company disbursed loans to individual borrowers without specific approval of individual lenders, failed to ensure signed loan agreements between lenders and borrowers, did not disclose required borrower details to lenders, lacked a Board-approved pricing policy for services, did not ensure service-provider agreements preserved RBI inspection rights or conduct annual service-provider reviews, and took partial credit risk outside the permitted scope of activities for NBFC-P2P companies. The penalty was imposed under Section 58G read with Section 58B of the RBI Act, 1934.
Operating Impact
The company must absorb the monetary penalty and address the compliance gaps identified by RBI. While the release does not impose a new operational ban, the findings may trigger further supervisory or enforcement action, and the company is expected to strengthen lender disclosures, documentation, service-provider oversight, pricing governance, and adherence to the permitted NBFC-P2P business model.
Regulatory Basis
- clause (b) of sub-section (1) of Section 58G read with clause (aa) of sub-section (5) of Section 58B of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934
Action Facts
- Primary Impact
- Fine: Rs 16.6 L
- Order Date
- 25 Feb 2025
- Effective From
- 25 Feb 2025
- Entities Affected
- 1
- Entity Role
- Primary
- Entity Type
- NBFC