'Can't outsource recovery agents': RBI cracks the whip on M&M Financial

This is probably the first time the regulator has cracked down on lenders on recovery by coercive methods, which is typically a hallmark of outsourced recovery agents

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday barred non-banking financial services company Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services (MMFSL) from outsourcing recovery agents, days after a 22-year-old pregnant woman died in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh while trying to block loan recovery agents from taking away her father’s tractor and was crushed under the vehicle. The loan was taken from M&M Financial.

“The RBI has… in exercise of its powers under Section 45L(1)(b) of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, directed MMFSL, Mumbai, to immediately cease carrying out any recovery or repossession activity through outsourcing arrangements, till further orders,” the RBI said.