Sreshta Chit Funds Private Limited was founded by Smt. Kotha Vijaya Lakshmi by drawing inspiration from her father Sri. Kotha Raju, with a view to meet the immediate financial needs of small and medium business units in Bhimavaram, which is one of the fast growing towns in the West Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh.

Small enterprises have been historically wedged between the money lenders, with their exorbitant cost of loans, and banks, with their stringent procedures. Chit funds are a welcome measure for such enterprises to overcome their financial constraints. This is evident from the enthusiastic participation of small businessmen in the chit funds.

Chit funds are the Indian equivalent of the Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCA) that are famous throughout the world. Chit Funds are the easy means to ’save and borrow’ at the same time for common business and employed class. It is considered one of the best instruments to cater to the needs of the poor.

In view of the importance of this source of finance and the obvious advantages it presents to the small enterprises Smt. Vijaya Lakshmi and her team to do the business in more systematically and organized fashion, where more people are helped rather trapping into the nets of rural credits.

From her long association of her father’s business management she understood the blindsides of the chit fund industry and recognized the importance of clear vision and understanding while doing the business of the credit creation and saving. She relentlessly studied many financial products and services before the formation of the company through which she wants the positive aspects of chit funds to be brought to local entrepreneurs and common people.

'Chit Fund' How Does It Works

A Chit fund is a kind of savings scheme practiced in India. A Chit fund company means a company managing, conducting or supervising, as foremen, agent or in any other capacity, Chits as defined in Section 2 of the Chit Funds Act, 1982. According to Section 2(b) of the Chit Fund Act, 1982, "Chit means a transaction whether called chit, Chit fund, Chitty, Kuri or by any other name by or under which a person enters into an agreement with a specified number of persons that every one of them shall subscribe a certain sum of money (or a certain quantity of grain instead) by way of periodical installments over a definite period and that each such subscriber shall, in his turn, as determined by lot or by auction or by tender or in such other manner as may be specified in the chit agreement, be entitled to the prize amount".

How Does It Works

Different chit funds operate in different ways. The basic necessity of conducting a Chit Fund is a group of needy people called subscribers. The Foreman the Company or Person conducting the chit Fund brings these people together and conducts the Chit Fund. Foreman is also the person responsible for collecting the money from subscribers, presiding the auctions and keeping records of subscribers. He is compensated a fixed amount (generally 5% of gross Chit amount) monthly for his efforts other than that the foreman does not have any specific privileges, he is just a subscriber of the Chit Fund.

The General pattern of the Chit Fund can be readily noticed by a simple formula:

Monthly Premium * Duration in Months = Gross Amount

Eg: 1000 * 50 = Rs 50,000/-. Where Rs 1000 is the maximum monthly contribution needed from a subscriber, 50 is the duration of the Chit Fund in months and Rs 50,000 is the maximum sum assured. The duration also equals the number of subscribers, as there must be (not more or less) one subscriber to receive the price money every month.

The Chit Fund starts on an announced date, every subscriber come together for the auction/lot. As per Maharashtra Chit Act, the minimum prize money of an auction is limited to 70% of the gross sum assured that is Rs 35,000 in the above example. When there are more than one person willing to take this minimum sum, lot are conducted and the 'Lucky subscriber' get the price money for the month. If there is no person is willing to take the minimum sum, then a reverse auction is conducted where subscribers open-bid for lower amounts; that is from Rs 50,000 >> Rs 49,000 >> Rs 48,000, and so on. The person bidding lowest sum get bid amount.
In both the cases the auction discount, that is the difference between the gross sum and auction amount, is equally distributed among subscribers or is deducted from their monthly premium. For example if the auction is settled on a sum of 40,000, then the auction discount of Rs 10,000 (Rs 50,000 – Rs 40,000) is divided by 50 (the total number of subscribers) and every one gets a discount of `200. The same practice is repeated every month and every subscriber get at least a chance of receiving money.

Illustration:

Functioning of Chit funds are better explained using an example. Take a typical chit fund with 25 members contributing Rs 100 per week. This fund will run for 25 weeks. On the first week all members will contribute Rs 100. An auction meeting will be conducted, and the foreman of the chit fund will preside over it. The total amount will be Rs 2,500. The auction will start with this amount. Bidders will start bidding by discounting this amount (reverse bidding). Let us consider that lowest any person bids is Rs 2,150 (a discount of Rs 350). This amount (Rs 2,150) is given to this winning bidder. Rest of the amount (Rs 350) is divided by 25, bringing the discount per person to Rs 14. This discount amount is returned back to each member. Sometimes a part of this may be kept by the foreman as service charges, usually in organized chit funds.