Privacy Policy

A. Introduction

BVALUE Services Pvt. Ltd. operates under the brand name “Buddy Loan” (hereinafter referred to as the "Company" or “We” or “Us” or “Our”) collects information from the user accounts created by individuals on the Buddy Loan platform. It also collects data from other digital sources of information relating to such individuals (each a “User”) as set out herein. Buddy Loan uses the information to undertake, and accounts each Users’ credit worthiness which in turn may enable such Users to make applications for one or more credit facilities (each a “Application for Credit”) to credit providing financial institutions affiliated with Buddy Loan (referred as “Buddy Loan Partner”). Each of the credit worthiness assessment and the application for a credit facility form the part of services offered by Buddy Loan to Users and Buddy Loan Partners (individually and collectively the “Services”). The Company collects information from users at the time of account creation as well as an on-going basis from their emails, text messages, mobile phone address book, social media profiles and such other sources as authorized by the users and mingles it to create unique profiles for individuals that it uses in conjunction with proprietary algorithms to determine whether or not a particular individual should be offered the Service. We also provide risk evaluation and management services to the Buddy Loan Partners.

The Service also relies on other factors such as the amount/limit of credit facility (“Advance”) sought and other parameters/requirements set out by Buddy Loan Partners including their credit eligibility parameters. Kindly, note that all individuals whose information is collected by the Company will not be offered the Credit Facility of the Service because the Service provides a dynamic evaluation of risk. Hence, the Company or the Buddy Loan Partner independently may evaluate an individuals’ application and may allow him/her to submit an Application for Credit for a sum up to a specified credit limit, unique to that individual basis his credit analysis, to a Buddy Loan Partner but disallow submission of Application for Credit to another Buddy Loan Partner. Each offer of Service made by the Company is based on the Company’s proprietary and discretionary decision-making methodologies and also relies on the credit risk requirements specified by a Buddy Loan Partner.

The Company values your privacy and is committed to ensuring that you are aware of how your information is being used. The Company actively seeks to minimize the manual interventions and review of data as the Company wants to offer the Service in a real-time online environment with the parameters including, but not limited to the Company’s servers and your internet amongst others. Therefore, while the Company does not rule out the possibility that your information stored in the Company’s database will be accessed and reviewed by an employee or contractor of the Company in the performance of their official duties, your information will mostly be accessed, reviewed, analysed and modified by the Company’s computer programs, API or APKs. The Company will make reasonable efforts to ensure that human access to your information is stored in the Company’s databases is limited to that necessary for servicing your account following your requests from time to time.

The Company will collect, store and use your information only for providing the services to you as permitted by applicable law, to offer certain services to the Buddy Loan Partners concerning their transactions with you.

This Privacy Policy endeavours to inform you of the types of information that may be collected, and know-how such information is collected, used, processed, disclosed and maintained. This Privacy Policy must be read in conjunction with the Terms of Service, Terms of Use and any other terms and conditions about the Service that may be set out by the Company on its Website.

Please read and understand this Privacy Policy carefully. Your installation of the Buddy Loan mobile application and/or use or access of the Services shall constitute your agreement to this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with our policies and our practices as described in this Privacy Policy, your choice is to not use the Services. You will always have the ability to opt-in and opt-out of the Service by sending us a request at support@buddyloans.in. However, the Company will retain certain of your information to the extent required to maintain a “Do Not Contact/Do Not Offer” list.

BY ACCEPTING THE PRIVACY POLICY, YOU EXPRESSLY CONSENT TO COMPANY’S COLLECTION, RETENTION, ANALYSIS, USE AND DISCLOSURE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION FOLLOWING THIS PRIVACY POLICY.

B. Applicability of the Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy shall apply to all information the Company collects either from you or the Buddy Loan Partner(s). The information the Company collects for the provision of Services are as follows:

Contact or Identification Information

This includes but is not limited to your name, email, phone number, passport number or other similar heads of information that allow us to accurately identify you.

Transaction Information

This includes information such as historical data of your transactions with the Buddy Loan Partner, including the total number of Advance(s) availed, the total outstanding in a specific or across all the Advance(s) availed by you, the repayment schedule and the amount(s) repaid by you to the Buddy Loan Partner(s) as well as your consumption habits, items purchased, rides taken, tickets purchased, items you have selected for purchase, method of payment used or other similar heads of information based on the information stored on your mobile phone and other digital sources of Information that you provided the Company with access to. This information is collected to allow the Company to understand your transactional activity which in turn informs and allows the Company to refine the credit risk assessment associated with You.

Personal & Device Information

Buddyloan will collect Name, phone number, email ID, PAN, date of birth, pin code, nature of employment and name of employer, monthly income, marital status and relationship with the co-applicant (in case the loan is being sought by more than a single applicant). We or our Lending Partner may require you to share further information on a later date to confirm the veracity of your information or pursuant to any additional features added to the App.We may collect certain user documents and certain information about your mobile or computing device, communication device, browser information, IP address including, for example, the hardware model, operating system and version, software and file names and versions, preferred language, unique device identifier, advertising identifiers, serial number, device motion information, and mobile network information or other similar heads of information that allow us to accurately identify you. We may collect certain documents of the users and certain information about user mobile or computing device, communication device, browser information, IP address including, for example, the hardware model, operating system and version, software and file names and versions, preferred language, unique device identifier, advertising identifiers, serial number, device motion information, and mobile network information or other similar heads of information that allow us to accurately identify you. We may also collect specific types of information stored in the devices of the User, that enable the App and its Services; For Enabling Customer Support; For Research and Development; For Enabling Communications Between You and Us; For enabling Marketing and Outreach; For Automated Decisions; For Legal Compliance and Requirements.

Financial and KYC Information: For undertaking any financial transaction through Buddy Loan, you agree and acknowledge that, we may undertake customer due diligence measures and seek mandatory information required for KYC purpose which as a customer you are obliged to give in order to avail such services. You agree and acknowledge that Buddy Loan can undertake enhanced due diligence measures (including any documentation), to satisfy itself relating to customer due diligence requirements in line with the requirements and obligations. We and our Lending Partner collect the data you provide when you accept the tentative terms of the loans. This includes your photograph, Aadhaar Number, PAN, parents’ names, bank account number, IFSC, proof of address (which can be your electricity bill, rental/lease agreement, gas bill, passport or driver’s license, or voter’s identity card or any other document our App may be able to record).We may require one time access to camera and microphone and location or any other facility for onboarding and KYC purposes only with the explicit consent of the user .

Buddyloan app also allow the user to identify the right jobs which are matching with the user profile. By uploading the Text/Video profile, users will be allowed to use the service with no cost.

Card and Financial Information

For the provision of services, we will collect the following types of banking information from you, credit/debit card details such as the first six or the last four digits of your card number, wallet information (if you have a wallet with us), card details for quick purchase where you have selected the preference of letting us store information. However, for the avoidance of doubt, we would like to clarify that, we do not store or process information necessary to make online payments such as all the digits of a credit card number/bank account number, CVV numbers, one-time PIN numbers and similar payment authentication information. However, do note that such information may be collected, stored and used by the payment gateway service provider you choose to complete your transaction with. All such information will be subject to and processed following the payment gateway service provider’s terms and conditions.

All of the above information is collectively referred to as “User Information”. This Privacy Policy does not apply to, nor does the Company take any responsibility for, any information that is collected by including but not limited to any Buddy Loan Partner or any third party during Your use of the Services, or through any links you click and view during your use of the Services or through any of the advertisements on the Website/Application or through BOTS.

If you transact with multiple Partners of Buddy Loan or receive multiple credit facilities from a specific Buddy Loan Partner, we may collate and merge all the information we receive from all such Buddy Loan Partners to create a single profile to help provide you with better Services. The deletion/removal of your information by you from one Buddy Loan Partner’s database does not constitute the removal or deletion of your information from the Company’s Services.

Credit Report & Communication By accepting this Privacy Policy, you hereby authorise us/ our Partners (Lenders) to obtain your Credit Report from Credit Bureau or any other agencies authorised by Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”) in this behalf that hold credit history or related information and also give us/our partners (Lenders) the right to use your credit report, social media profile/content, cell phone data and employment data for authentication, credit scoring and credit decision purposes from time to time. Further, you hereby authorise us / our Partners (“Lenders”) to send both promotional and transactional communication.

Usage and Preference Information

We may collect information on your use of our Services, and any settings and preferences selected. We may also assign you with unique identifiers to enable us to identify you, each time you access the Services. This information shall not be deleted from our servers if you decide to discontinue using our Services, as it shall be the basic data with which we identify you and will be needed to ensure that your other information is not stored or analysed by Us when you transact with one or more Buddy Loan Partners.

C. Manner of Collection of Information:

You understand that the User Information collected by the Company, may be collected including but not limited to under the following methods:

The collection of data may in most cases be automatic.

COOKIE POLICY :

"Cookies" are files or software that would be placed in your computer system’s hard drive and browser and are intended to improve your experience when you use Services, by enabling the Company to track your usage and preferences. These cookies may track your usage of the Services, advertisements and links that you visit and other User Information. Most cookies the Company uses are for  tracking user preferences while the user is visiting the website. It is recommended that you accept the cookies.

You may also provide information to be published, displayed, posted, or transmitted to other users of the Services. Any such information is posted or transmitted to others at your own risk. Please be aware that the Company cannot control the actions of other users of the Services with whom you may choose to share information with.

D. Use of Your Information

The information that we collect from you will be used for including but not limited to following purposes:

If the Company determines that any information you have provided or uploaded violates the terms of this Privacy Policy, the Company has the right, in its absolute discretion, to delete or destroy such information without incurring any liability to you. The Company will not publish, sell or rent your personal information to third parties for their marketing purposes without your explicit consent. The Company will use the information collected primarily to provide the Service. The Company may also allow third parties to provide it with content and advertisements that the Company may display to you based on its analysis of your information.

E. Disclosure of Your information

The User Information you provide may be disclosed by the Company including but not limited to its agents, employees, subsidiaries and affiliates, or to other third-party service providers of the Company or any government authority or body including but not limited to Reserve Bank of India, the Income Tax department, and any other authority that requires the information for the purposes of operating and maintaining the Company’s platform for the provision of Services in compliance with all applicable laws. Particularly, the Company will disclose the User Information to the Buddy Loan Partner to the extent necessary for such Buddy Loan Partner to process and approve an Application for Credit submitted by you.

The Company will comply with requests and directions of such governmental, law enforcement, or regulatory authorities, to which it applies to any applicable law. Such compliance may include providing User Information whether it is personally identifiable information or not, to such agency or authority, with/without prior intimation to You. By providing any information to the Company, you consent to the Company providing such information to any governmental, law enforcement or regulatory authorities who exercise jurisdiction over the Services provided and the Company.

The Company owns the sole right to all the market analysis, projections, studies, and user behaviour analytics that it derives from Your individual or collective usage of the Website.

F. Data Security

The information that you provide, subject to disclosure in accordance with the Company’s Privacy Policy, shall be maintained safely and securely. The Company’s databases and information are stored on secure servers with appropriate firewalls.

As a User of the Services, you also have the responsibility to ensure data security. You should use the Services offered responsibly. Do not share your username or password with any third person. You are solely responsible for all acts done under the username you are registered under.

Given the nature of internet transactions, the Company does not take any responsibility for the transmission of information over the internet including User Information shared and collected. Any transmission of User Information on the internet is done at your risk. The Company does not take any responsibility for you or any third party circumventing the privacy settings or security measures it has in place or those provided to you during the use of the Services.

While the Company will use all reasonable efforts to ensure that the User Information and other information submitted by you is safe and secure, it offers no representation, warranties or other assurances that the security measures are adequate, safe, fool proof or impenetrable.

THE WARRANTIES OF THE COMPANY WRT THE WEBSITE, APPLICATION AND THE SERVICES STATE AT OUTSET THAT EACH OF THESE ANY RELATED THERETO ARE ALL PROVIDED ON “AS IS” BASIS.

G. Accessing and Updating Your Information

You can change, alter or otherwise modify or update certain types of User Information at any time if the information is factually incorrect or has changed by changing the information in your User account or by contacting us. For example, you can ask the Company to update your telephone number or email address.

You may also change and/or delete any of the information you have submitted. Do note, however, the Company reserves its rights to retain any information about your usage of the Services and information that you have shared with the Buddy Loan Partners as is necessary to ensure the proper and accurate functioning of the Services. You are not entitled to seek the deletion of the same to the extent that it would affect the ability of the Services to analyse and make recommendations on risk. Such information including your information collected from Buddy Loan Partners may be used by the Company to determine whether or not the Services offered may be availed by you.

The Company at its sole discretion may permit or deny the change of any information if it believes the same is required to observe applicable laws.

H. Contracting & Age Restrictions

The Services provided by the Company or the Buddy Loan Partner (as applicable) are only intended for Users who are persons registered in India, citizens of India, solvent, mentally and fit under all parameters to contract for Services hereunder and 18 years of age or older. If you are not of the requisite age you are not to provide any User Information or other information to the Company. If it comes to the Company’s attention, that any User Information or information shared pertains to an individual under the age of 18 years, such User Information or information will be deleted without notice to you.

I. Amendments to the Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy is subject to modification or change at the Company’s sole discretion. All such modification will be made as per the updated RBI guidelines .The effective date of the changes to the Privacy Policy will be announced by a notice announcing the date of the modification on the top part of the page of the Privacy Policy. Buddy Loan shall not be liable to point out or mention the exact changes effected to the Privacy Policy or its linkage to or draft of any other policy.

Any modifications to these terms and conditions shall be updated on this page of Buddy Loan with the date of update or the date of last modification. You shall be required to visit this page regularly and acquaint yourself with the modifications to the Privacy Policy from time to time and Buddy Loan is not to be liable to intimate you upon any update or modification of this Privacy Policy.

J. Suggestions and Complaints

If you wish to place a complaint about privacy requirements or laws, access any of your Information that we hold or would like to correct any errors in your User Information, please contact our Grievance Cell at info@buddyloan.in so that we can consider and respond to your request. All requests will be addressed no later than thirty (30) days from the date request.

K.Use of Profile Picture

When you use our platform, we ask for your profile picture in order to verify the user details. This information is required to access our services without any complications. Our primary goal is to offer you smooth & efficient services which will meet all your needs. More importantly, we do not share your photo with any third-party service provider during your use of the service which ensures the complete safety & security of your personal data. The shared information will remain associated with your Buddy Loan profile until you modify, update or delete it.

L.GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL MECHANISM

If you have any issue and/or dispute regarding this platform and its usage, please feel free to contact the authorised representative of the Company as stated below.

Grievance Redressal Officer

Customers are requested to address all their grievances to the Grievance Redressal Officer. The contact details of the Grievance Redressal Officer are:

You may contact the Grievance Officer in relation to any grievances that you may have in relation to this Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Policy was last updated on: 22 FEB 2023