This is Part 3 of a 3-part series on the recently released NCAER-MFIN report, "Assessing the Effectiveness of Regulated Small Borrowing in India". In this blog, we examine issues related to measurement and empirical strategy.
This is Part 2 of a 3-part series on the recently released NCAER-MFIN report, "Assessing the Effectiveness of Regulated Small Borrowing in India". In this blog, we turn to some of the broader claims advanced in the report regarding the wider benefits of microfinance and assess whether these claims hold up when situated in a broader empirical context.
This is Part 1 of a 3-part series on the recently released NCAER-MFIN report, "Assessing the Effectiveness of Regulated Small Borrowing in India" (March 2026).
In response to the public consultation, we argue that borrower over-indebtedness is a customer protection concern that must be explicitly recognised in the revised E&S Framework.
On 10 April 2026, the Reserve Bank of India released the “Draft – Reserve Bank of India (Non-Banking Financial Companies – Registration, Exemptions and Framework for Scale Based Regulation) Second Amendment Directions, 2026”. The Draft Amendments provide a new methodology to classify Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) in the Upper Layer of the scale-based regulatory framework, […]
In this response, we present our comments to the paper. We divide our comments into three sections.
Static safeguards, targeting discrete acts of fraud, will only spur fraudsters to probe other vulnerabilities
Liquidity support by the Centre may offer symptomatic relief, but India’s microfinance sector needs a structural recast. Without reforms to address recurring cycles of over-lending and loan stress, another credit guarantee package will only postpone the next crisis in this fragile sector.
In this response, we present four recommendations to the Draft Amendments.
The paper explores what RTAI means in the context of digital lending. The first section compiles principles of RTAI along with its essential components. The next section maps relevant tools for each principle. These tool recommendations can help lenders implement RTAI practices in their operations.
In all our research efforts, we strive to maintain an independent voice that speaks for the low-income household and household enterprises. Our ability to perform this function is significantly enhanced by our commitment to disseminate as a pure public good, all the intellectual capital that we create.
