RBI cancels Acemoney (India's) NBFC licence citing violation of guidelines

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday cancelled the licence of Acemoney (India), a Delhi-based non-banking financial company (NBFC), citing irregular lending practices.

The banking regulator, which issued a Certificate of Registration (CoR) to the company in 2017, said the cancellation was based on account of violation of RBI guidelines.

It added that the company was not complying with the extant regulations pertaining to charging excessive interest and ensuring confidentiality of customer information.

“The CoR of the abovementioned company has been cancelled on account of violation of RBI guidelines on managing risks and code of conduct in outsourcing of financial services in its digital lending operations undertaken through third-party apps,” the RBI said.

The company has been directed not to transact the business of a Non-Banking Financial Institution (NBFI).

The names of some of the service providers or mobile applications associated with the company include ActLoan, AgMoney, NiceCash, CashLender, QuickRupee, among others.

The development follows a series of actions on other players in the industry on account of non-compliance.

For instance, in October 2023, the banking regulator asked Bank of Baroda to stop onboarding of customers on ‘BoB World’ mobile app due to concerns regarding the manner of taking on board customers.

In January this year, the RBI directed Paytm Payments Bank to stop deposit and credit transactions on account of persistent non-compliances and continued material supervisory concerns in the bank.

Similarly, last week, private-sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank was asked to stop taking on board new customers through its online and mobile banking channels and it was barred from issuing fresh credit cards.

The banking regulator said the action was necessary as the bank failed to plug gaps in its information technology (IT) systems.