Independent Research and Policy Advocacy

Publications

Blogs

We produce blogs to discuss new research findings, ongoing projects, and even personal reflections on the research process. Our blogs are written for a variety of audiences, including other researchers, policymakers, practitioners, financial service providers, grassroots organizations, impact investors and the public. The format is simple and easy to grasp. The language is straightforward, and the tone is non-academic. Our blogs can be of varying lengths. We choose to write a blog when we don’t want to do a full- fledged study or follow a rigorous research process. Blogs may contain opinions and they can also be based on experiences. Some of our blogs may just share some observations, learnings, or challenges.

Our Work

January 4, 2022 | Dvara Research

In our response, we question the assumptions put forth by the discussion paper for the creation of DBs and the concomitant licensing and regulatory regime.

By Deepti George, Madhu Srinivas
December 9, 2021 | Dvara Research

Blog post series: This series of posts will attempt to do two things – first, to examine the definitional boundaries of social protection and where they relate to other financial services for low-income households, and second, to use this to arrive at a working definition of social protection for policymakers and research organisations such as Dvara Research. As a first step, we break down a few questions in this first post.

By Anupama Kumar
November 23, 2021 | Dvara Research

In this post, we investigate the mandates of the PCR as set out by the respective regulations and legislative instruments, associated reporting standards, and the operational features, including revenue models, if any.

By Dwijaraj Bhattacharya, Maria Fernandez
November 22, 2021 | Dvara Research

In this blogpost, we present the key differences in financial disclosures reported by HDFC Bank Limited in India and in the United States (U.S.). As of March 31, 2021, HDFC Bank Limited (henceforth the bank) had 18.65% of its shareholding in the form of American Depository Shares (ADS) that are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

November 19, 2021 | Dvara Research

In this post, we discussed the formulation of the Public Credit Registries.

By Dwijaraj Bhattacharya, Maria Fernandez
October 21, 2021 | Dvara Research

In this post, based on our earlier comments on the draft guidelines, we analyse whether the highlighted issues have been addressed and also highlight few other potentially impactful changes that are contained in the new framework.

By Madhu Srinivas
October 18, 2021 | Dvara Research

In this blog post, which is the second part of the two-part series, we studied the suitability formats of four life insurance companies and found many contrasts in the manner in which IRDAI’s suitability regulations of 2019 has been implemented.

By Deepti George, Anukriti Tiwari
October 13, 2021 | Dvara Research

This blog post, which is the first of a two-part series, aims to trace the history of IRDAI’s regulations regarding suitability assessments for life insurance.

By Deepti George, Anukriti Tiwari
October 4, 2021 | Dvara Research

In this post, to help enhance the efficacy of relevant frameworks, we lay out the key principles that the two primary actors, the banking sector regulator and the regulated lenders, must be guided by while designing policies to tackle debt distress caused by severe economic shocks.

September 30, 2021 | Dvara Research

In this blog post-through a case study, we analyse how microcredit borrowers availed the debt moratarium and through that identify how much they may have been impacted by COVID-19 and lockdowns.

By Rakshith S. Ponnathpur