The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said Monday it has superseded the board of Aviom India Housing Finance Pvt. Ltd, a mortgage lender backed by several impact investors and private equity firm Sabre Partners, and will start an insolvency resolution process.
The RBI said in a statement it superseded the board due to governance concerns and defaults in meeting various payment obligations.
The central bank also appointed Ram Kumar, the former chief general manager of state-run Punjab National Bank, as the administrator for Aviom.
The development comes about two months after Aviom India informed its creditors about the discovery of fraudulent transactions in the company.
In November 2024, the company’s auditor flagged potential discrepancies in its books of accounts after receiving complaints about irregularities. After the fraud was discovered, Aviom submitted a report to the National Housing Bank (NHB), which regulates the mortgage finance industry. It also filed a complaint with the Economic Offences Wing.
Further, the company said it was facing liquidity issues and expected a delay in the payment of interest. The NHB then appointed a third-party forensic auditor to investigate further.
Aviom had also said the audit might lead to “restatement of previously submitted financial data.” The company’s previous auditor SCV & Co. LLP had formally directed Aviom to not use the previous years’ Auditor's Report.
Aviom India, founded in 2016 by Kajal Ilmi, offers home credit and loans against property, particularly to women, through a branch model. The company provides loans for construction, improvement, sanitation, and renovation of homes, at an average ticket size of Rs 2.5-3 lakh.
In an interaction last year, Ilmi said the firm’s assets under management in 2023-24 had grown to Rs 1,752 crore as of March 2024 from Rs 1,035 crore a year earlier. Aviom India aimed to double its AUM to about Rs 3,400 crore by the end FY25.
The social impact-focused lender has raised capital from global investors across multiple rounds. In its Series D round concluded in June 2023, Aviom secured $30 million from US-based investment manager Nuveen while also providing a partial exit to one of its early backers C4D, an impact investment firm. C4D had invested in Aviom in Series B round in 2019, along with Japan’s Gojo & Company.
In 2021, Aviom raised $8 million in its Series C round from Sabre Partners. Another impact-focused venture capital fund Insitor Impact Asia Fund had backed the non-banking lender in its Series A. Insitor exited in subsequent rounds.
In August last year, Aviom had said it it planned to raise about Rs 250 crore ($30 million) in another equity round that would include a new global investor.
The NBFC reported revenue from operations of Rs 417 crore for FY24, nearly 72% higher than Rs 242 crore in FY23. Its FY24 profit nearly tripled year-on-year to Rs 47 crore. However, the numbers could change once the fraud investigation is completed.
