Pahal Financial Services Pvt. Ltd

Financial support for women in rural and urban India

India

The microfinance institution Pahal Financial Services Pvt. Ltd (Pahal) started operating in the state of Gujarat in 2011. Pahal disburses loans to women on low incomes to help them develop income-generating activities, pay off debts, repair their houses or fund their children's education. In 2014, Pahal had a portfolio of more than 45,000 clients.

Pahal focuses on lifting women in disadvantaged areas out of poverty by giving them access to finance. Pahal has incorporated the Fair Practices Code and the guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India into its own code of conduct which is communicated to staff and during supervisory visits.

Pahal has put client monitoring high on the agenda. It has set up, for example, internal control systems, including staff-client interaction monitoring and unannounced visits to meetings and branches. Pahal also actively aims to prevent multiple lending to and over-indebtedness among borrowers.

Pahal has been an Oikocredit partner since 2014.