P2P lending: will light touch regulation work in India?

Indian regulators have been procrastinating about framing regulations for crowdfunding in India, which includes the peer-to-peer (P2P) lending segment. The first paper on the issue was released by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) back in June 2014, but guidelines are yet to be finalised. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also been examining P2P lending for some time now and is finally set to put out a concept note for public comments by the end of April.

Ahead of guidelines being finalised, there is talk within the industry that regulators should opt for ‘light touch’ regulation, which will allow the segment to grow but in a safe way. However, that is always easier said than done.

It may be worthwhile to look at some of the issues that need to be tackled.

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Ira Dugal is assistant managing editor , Mint.