The Lanka Microfinance Practitioners’ Association (LMFPA) in consultation with the State Ministry of Samurdhi, Household Economy, Microfinance, Self-Employment and Business Development, launched a ‘Microfinance Helpline’ to encourage the stakeholders to take timely corrective measures to address any issues and grievances faced by microfinance clients.
The launch took place at the auditorium of State Ministry of Samurdhi, Household Economy, Microfinance, Self-Employment and Business Development, 1st Floor, Sethsiripaya Stage II, Battaramulla, recently.
Recently there have been adverse media reports about the microfinance industry. The LMFPA was concerned about these media reports as they could have serious implications on the industry as a whole. LMFPA is the umbrella network in Sri Lanka representing 53 Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) who are engaged in microfinance services that serve over two million low income households in the country with a loan portfolio of over Rs. 80 billion.
When similar media reports appeared on several occasions in the recent past, LMFPA responded to these institutions with the good intention of fact finding and to take any remedial measures if any. LMFPA as a responsible body wishes to safeguard the key industry stakeholders, especially the poor and low income clients, who are considered to be the most vulnerable segment, who are facing the impact of COVID 19 pandemic too while ensuring the sustainability of the member organisations and the industry at large, a media release from the Association stated. The procedure of the customer complaint handling system:Complaints can be made in either Sinhala or Tamil.Only complaints from direct borrowers will be entertained for follow up actions.
Verbal telephone complaints to be followed up with written complaints and are to be sent to LMFPA either through WhatsApp/Viber/email or by post. If the complaint is against an LMFPA member, then it would be notified to the respective member organisation to take remedial action within two weeks. For complaints regarding non-LMFPA members, LMFPA would still write to them as an Industry Association to take action and a copy to be sent to the State Ministry of Microfinance for follow up action.