India is in the middle of a boom in financial inclusion with an increasing number of households getting access to credit. No wonder, household debt has scaled its peak of 42% of the GDP. The ease of credit from a rising number of digital lending platforms and fintechs pushed the share of final private consumption expenditure (PFCE) in GDP to 61.5% in FY26. But the surge in the new-to-credit borrowers has exposed gaps in the traditional lending practices, especially in terms of collections. Without strong collection practices, lenders run the risk of accumulating NPAs. They rely on third-party collection agencies, which largely operate through inefficient manual processes. The middlemen they deploy are infamous for unethical tactics like harassing and intimidating borrowers. Seeing the challenges in this highly fragmented space, Ananth Shroff and Ranjith BR spotted an opportunity to build the rails for a tech-based collections platform. In 2022, the duo founded DPDzero to offer lenders a plug-and-play solution that could help them handle recoveries in a transparent, efficient and ethical manner. The name DPDzeo was adapted from the mission of ‘zero days past due’ that helps lenders to collect every payment on time. The concept has attracted investor interest with… Read MoreInc42 Media
