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 Disha
Financial Counselling, a pioneering initiative in consumer
credit counselling, announced the launch of the Chennai branch.
The new branch is Disha's seventh financial counselling centre
and was inaugurated by F R Joseph, regional director, Reserve
Bank of India, Chennai, and B Madhivanan, senior general
manager, ICICI Bank.
Managed by Disha Trust set up under the aegis
of ICICI Trusteeship Services Limited, Disha Financial
Counselling provides financial education, credit counselling and
debt management services to consumers through centres at
Ahmedabad, Delhi, Kanpur, Ludhiana, Mumbai and Hyderabad.
Chennai Disha's services are absolutely free and available to
all, irrespective of the bank the customer deals with.
Disha's aim is to educate the masses through
free credit counselling, education and debt settlement services.
This new initiative is a part of ICICI Bank's Corporate Social
Responsibility activity.
B Madhivanan said, "Our entire focus is on transparency and
education. We see this initiative as the only sure way of
introducing financial literacy in India at the grassroots-level.
Consumer financing has just taken roots in India and it will be
an excellent opportunity to time this growth of financial
education with this development."
Disha would benefit the general public in numerous ways as it
would increase the awareness among people about financial
products thus promoting better understanding and more informed
decisions. The credit counseling centres will also assist
consumers to pro-actively manage their debt via out-of-court
procedures based on agreed repayment plan between the creditors
and debtors.
Financial education aims at providing information on various
new-age financial products like credit cards and personal loans
and imparting basic money management skills like saving,
budgeting and investing. Credit counselling aims at explaining
the pros and cons of credit cards, loans and various such credit
facilities. Debt management aims at guidance on dealing with
financial crises.
The financial counsellors at Disha are retired banking
personnel who work with Disha on a voluntary basis. The
counsellors conduct one-on-one sessions with those who come
seeking Disha's services, like financially distressed borrowers.
The counsellors guide consumers who have fallen into a debt
trap, showing them ways of reducing and eliminating their debts
and regaining control of their financial affairs. They create
repayment options and solutions for honest borrowers, sometimes
collaborating with both borrower and lender. They have given
counsel even over the phone when consumers called up from cities
that do not have a Disha centre. Disha also helps consumers in
cases of customer-service lapses by banks. Disha plans to open
centres in Kochi, Kolkata and Jaipur. R Rangaraj
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