DHFL is a housing finance company that has taken the road less travelled. The journey began on the 11th of April 1984. On this day, Mr. Rajesh Kumar Wadhawan began his mission to correct what had troubled him for years, the sad truth that most Indians couldn't get a housing loan on fair terms. The Founder Chairman saw the owning of a home as a critical element to the building of identity and confidence of every Indian. DHFL was only the second housing finance company to be set up in the private sector in India. And its stated business objective was to provide access to housing finance to lower and middle income Indians. Most experts lauded Mr. Wadhawan's altruism but shook their heads at his apparent lack of business acumen. Especially as in the beginning DHFL disbursed funds from its own equity contribution and had a return on equity of less than 8% at a time when the interest rates were about 18%. But that is the difference between those who see things as they are and the visionaries who see things as they can be.
DHFL – Today:
25 years have passed since the company's inception, on its 25th Silver Jubilee year DHFL arguably stands strong as the third largest housing finance company & the second largest housing finance company in the private sector, and is still profitably doing what its Founder intended it to do. It has got a purpose driven team of enthusiastic people who are willing to carry on the founder's vision & transform the housing scenario in India by providing affordable housing finance.
Today, DHFL with its Corporate Office at Mumbai & 5 Zonal offices strives continually to reach out to its customers through its extensive network of 74 Branches, 78 Services Centers, 35 Camps managed by 7 Reginoal Processing offices spread across the length and breadth of the country. DHFL has also a tie – up with Punjab & Sind Bank, a leading Public Sector Bank, to provide home loans to customers through a Joint Venture. DHFL has also setup up its representative offices at London & Dubai to serve the increasing NRI population in these regions. It has also tied – up with UAE Exchange to offer its home loan products through the various UAE Exchange centers in the GEC countries.
A Gross Income of INR 69359.23 lacs, Profit After Tax (PAT) of INR 8631.83 lacs with disbursements recorded over INR 224,054 lacs and Asset size of INR 639450.93 lacs (as on 31.03.09), it can be confidently said that DHFL and its vision did make good business sense and has contributed to changing the lives of more than 300000 customers.
DHFL is listed on BSE & NSE and has been rated AA+ (CARE), FAAA (BWR) & P1+ (CRISIL) indicating high standards of business management.
Being Human – with Winsights
Insights that help us and our consumers win The Founder Chairman had a unique and timeless insight into the character of the majority of Indians who are generally dismissed as high credit risk. They respond unequivocally to trust. They have a very emotional relationship with the idea of an 'own home.' To them it isn't an investment. It is a sanctuary. A symbol of who they are. They will not do anything to jeopardize this symbol of security. This insight was the prime mover behind DHFL.
Customer Focused Product Innovations: DHFL has always been customer driven; in doing so it has continually innovated & endeavored to reach out to the vast majority of the Low & Middle income group. DHFL has been continuously introducing new products and variants for its customers. The Company introduced "A Non-Income Proof Scheme called 'Samarth' for self employed individuals and has been the first company to introduce a Reverse Mortgage scheme called 'Saksham' for the senior citizens in India. Along with housing finance, the Company provides a free Triple Protection Plan* (terms & conditions apply) to secure the interest of its customers in case of damages due to natural causes and personal accident. DHFL in association with SBI Life, ICICI Lombard & ICICI Prudential also offers unique home loan linked insurance plans that come at premium; it provides security to the family of the borrower in the unfortunate event of the death of the borrower.
Customer Focused Credit Policies: Our credit policies are conducive in helping people with affordable housing finance, the policies have been designed keeping in mind the various fall – outs that customers in the LMI category feels intimidated about when they approach a normal bank for housing finance. Our policies look around the regular framework of credit policies and go few steps further by assessing the customer's willingness to re – pay and thus try and maximize its efforts at serving his requirement.
A social vision achieved, a business vision vindicated. Today DHFL is the first name on the lips of people as we are seen as a Housing finance company which is more welcoming by our customers due to our transparent business practices and since none of our business processes have been outsourced we ensure consistent delivery. This faith in our customers has been amply rewarded looking at the profits that the company has made with a very low bad debt ratio of 1.01%.
