RBI to regulate peer-to-peer lending firms
All peer-to-peer lending (P2P) platforms will be
regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), according to a government of
India notification.
The gazette notification stated that all the
P2P loan platforms will be treated as non-banking financial companies (NBFCs)
and will be brought under the ambit of the banking regulator.
The Reserve Bank of India, on being satisfied that it is
necessary to do so, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by... the Reserve
Bank of India Act 1934, (2 of 1934) with prior approval from the government,
hereby specifies, a non-banking institution that carries on the business of a
peer-to-peer lending platform to be a non-banking financial company
What is P2P?
Peer-to-peer
lending, sometimes abbreviated P2P lending,
is the practice of lending money to individuals or businesses through
online services that match lenders with borrowers. Since peer-to-peer lending
companies offering these services generally operate online, they can run with
lower overhead and provide the service more cheaply than traditional
financial institutions. As a result, lenders can earn higher returns
compared to savings and investment products offered by
banks, while borrowers can borrow money at lower interest rates, even
after the P2P lending company has taken a fee for providing the
match-making platform and credit checking the borrower. There is the risk of the
borrower defaulting on the loans taken out from peer-lending websites.
Also known as crowdlending,
many peer-to-peer loans are unsecured personal loans, though some of
the largest amounts are lent to businesses. Secured loans are sometimes offered
by using luxury assets such as jewelry, watches, vintage cars, fine art,
buildings, aircraft and other business assets as collateral. They are made
to an individual, company or charity. Other forms of peer-to-peer lending
include student loans, commercial and real estate loans, payday loans, as well
as secured business loans, leasing, and factoring.
