Dhani (company) explained

Dhani Services Limited
Type:	Public company
Owner:	Sameer Gehlaut
Traded As:
Founded:	1995
Hq Location City:	New Delhi
Hq Location Country:	India
Area Served:	India
Key People:	Sameer Gehlaut^[1]
Industry:	Financial technology Healthcare E-commerce Information technology Retail
Subsid:	Dhani Loans & Services Limited Dhani StocksLimited Dhani Healthcare Limited
Num Employees:	10000+ (2021)

Dhani is an Indian software company. Its app provides digital financial and healthcare services.^[2]

History

The company was founded by Sameer Gehlaut in 1995, as Indiabulls Ventures Limited which was later renamed Dhani Services Limited in October 2020 to accommodate the consumer business of the Indiabulls Group under one brand name.^[3] In 2017, one of its subsidiaries, Indiabulls Consumer Finance Limited launched an app-based lending platform primarily focused on the personal loans' domain.^[4] In October 2020, the subsidiary also adopted a new name as Dhani Loans & Services Limited.^{[5] [6]} Another subsidiary, Indiabulls Securities Limited adopted a new name Dhani Stocks Limited in 2020^[7] and a new company Dhani Healthcare Limited was incorporated to offer telemedicine and online pharmacy services.^[8]

Funding

• In October 2020, Dhani raised ₹1.47 billion by issuing 8.4 million shares to New York-based NWI Management.^[9]
• Again, in October 2020, the company raised ₹12 billion from General Catalyst Partners, Think Investments, Ribbit Capital, First Royalty Ventures, and the founder Sameer Gehlaut.^[10]

Services

Dhani's super app combines an online wallet with buy now, pay later facility plus a subscription fee^[11] & primary healthcare services under OneFreedom. In Dhani OneFreedom's subscription business model, depending on how much credit limit the customer is granted irrespective of the actual limit utilization, the interest charged on it which is termed a monthly subscription exponentially rises.^[11] In its gamified ecosystem, customers use multiple products within the app to perform mobile recharge, loan repayments, and insurance payments. The platform now also offers direct investments in stocks listed on Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange of India.^{[12] [13]}

In 2020, the company integrated online pharmacy with its super app. Within it Dhani Doctor, a telemedicine service including instant video consultations with in-house doctors was added.^[14]

In 2021, Dhani's super-app was rated as one of the best personal loan applications in India by The New Indian Express.^[15]

Controversies

• In November 2023 Times of India news report, a man from Kalamboli was allegedly defrauded of Rs 90,000 by a cybercriminal while attempting to secure a loan through the Dhani Finance App.^[16]
• In mid-February 2022, many non-users reported that they have faced issues over the misuse of their permanent account number details by unknown third parties on the Dhani app to avail loans without their consent and knowledge.^{[17] [18]} Complainants said their credit scores were harmed because credit reports displayed loans they never took as defaults.^[19]
• In April 2021, many non-users of the Dhani app received a text message to pay for a loan that was never taken by them. The company later apologised to its users for this tech glitch.^{[20] [21]}
• In December 2020 Times of India news report, it was revealed that women doctors on various Indian online doctor consultation portals face "sexual harassment" from patients. At that time, the company "expressed inability" to issue any "formal statement".^[22]
• In 2019, Securities and Exchange Board of India impounded ₹8720,000 from the former non-executive director of the company and her husband in an insider trading case.^{[23] [24]} Together, they possessed unpublished price-sensitive information that they used to trade the stocks in 2017–2019.^[25]

Notes and References

1. https://www.cnbctv18.com/business/companies/sameer-gehlaut-to-resign-from-indiabulls-housing-finance-board-by-march-31-11847032.htm Sameer Gehlaut to resign from Indiabulls Housing Finance board by March 31
2. Book: Gupta. Ashish. India FinTech Sector:A Guide to the Galaxy. Shah. Viral. Credit Suisse. 2021. Mumbai. 63. en.
3. Web site: 6 October 2020. Indiabulls Ventures Limited is now Dhani Services Limited. 18 February 2022. EquityBulls.
4. News: 25 October 2017. Indiabulls Ventures' subsidiary launches mobile application 'Dhani App'. Business Standard India. 18 February 2022.
5. Web site: IFIN. 18 February 2022. ifinltd.in.
6. Web site: Shethia. Himanshu. Agarwal. Sanjay. 7 April 2021. CARE Ratings: Loans and Services Limited. 18 February 2021. IDBI Trusteeship.
7. Web site: Harsha. Sree. Patwardhan. Anil. 18 December 2020. Rating Rationale: Dhani Stocks Limited (erstwhile Indiabulls Securities Ltd). 18 February 2022. Brickwork Ratings.
8. Web site: Indiabulls' healthcare arm to offer Rs 90-crore of non-critical drugs in Covid aid . 18 February 2022. ETHealthworld.com. en.
9. News: 6 October 2020. Dhani Services raises Rs 147 cr by issuing shares to foreign investor. Business Standard India. 18 February 2022.
10. News: Dhani Services to raise Rs 1,200 crore from General Catalysts, others. The Economic Times. 18 February 2022.
11. https://emicalculator.net/dhani-onefreedom-card-disguising-interest-as-subscription-fee/ Dhani OneFreedom Card: Disguising Interest as Subscription Fee
12. Web site: Dhani Stocks launches new platform. 18 February 2022. Business Line. 2 February 2022 . en.
13. R Kavitha. R. Rajeswari. 20 August 2021. QM wallet Chain: Blockchain Traceability using Working Vacation Queueing Model in Mobile Wallet. Turkish Online Journal of Qualitative Inquiry. en. 12. 8. 2876–2889. 1309-6591.
14. Web site: The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital healthcare services: Nikhil Chari, Dhani Healthcare. 18 February 2022. The Financial Express. 25 August 2021 . en.
15. Web site: 10 Best Personal Loan Apps in India (February 2022). 18 February 2022. The New Indian Express. en.
16. Web site: Mendonca . George . Man loses Rs 90k in loan scam . The Times of India . 2023-11-13 . 2024-04-19.
17. Web site: Singh . Ritu . 15 February 2022 . PAN misuse? Indiabulls' Dhani app disbursed loans 'without consent', claim users . 3 March 2022 . cnbctv18.com . en.
18. Web site: Bureau . BL Mumbai . Complaints of fraudsters using PAN of other people to obtain loans from Dhani app hit social media . 3 March 2022 . Business Line . 16 February 2022 . en.
19. Web site: Unnikrishnan . Dinesh . Explainer How Dhani fake loan episode exposes big holes in digital lending . 2022-05-10 . Moneycontrol . 17 February 2022 . en.
20. Web site: Way to go 'Dhani': A utility application asking non-users of the app to repay loan which they never took. 18 February 2022. Free Press Journal. en.
21. Web site: Khan. Sami. 7 April 2021. Indiabulls Dhani spamming people with payment reminders. Problem: Non-users getting them too. 18 February 2022. ibtimes.co.in. en.
22. Web site: 29 December 2020. Rema. Nagarajan. Women docs sexually harassed during e-consultations, websites try to hide it India News. 18 February 2022. The Times of India. en.
23. Gautam . Shweta . Sharma . Arya . 2020–2021 . Insider Trading: A Reality of Indian Security Market . Jus Corpus Law Journal . 1 . 466 . HeinOnline-Wikipedia Library.
24. Web site: Indiabulls insider trading: Sebi impounds Rs 87.2 lakh from ex-director, spouse . 4 March 2022 . The Financial Express . 25 May 2019 . en.
25. Fazli . Sarim . 2021 . Behavioral Finance & Insider Trading in Securities Market . Jus Corpus Law Journal . 2 . 327 . HeinOnline-Wikipedia Library.