| What is Chit Funds? |
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| Chit Funds is a 1000 years old (Simcox 1894) financial instrument used for both borrowing and saving money. Chit Funds flourish in both urban and rural settings, especially where formal financial institutions seem to fail to meet the needs of a large fraction of the population. Learn more |
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| Is Chit Funds a microfinance instrument? |
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| Yes. Chit Funds is a unsung microfinance hero. It has helped several people to alleviate from poverty, helped them to go to school, take their business to next stage, buy better household things (like TV sets, Computers, ..) and improve their quality of life. |
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| Where Chit Funds is practiced? |
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| Chit Funds is has been practiced for several centuries in several developing countries, primarily in India, Africa and south-east asia. It's equivalent to Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCA). |
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| How big is Chit Fund Market? |
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| It's very big market. Bouman (1979), estimates that, in central African countries, about 20% of household savings are accumulated in informal Roscas. In the South-Indian state of Tamil Nadu with a population of 62 million, the turnover in chit Funds has been estimated about 2.5 billion US dollars, in 2001 (G. Ranga Rao, 2001). According to recent report submitted to Indian Finance Minister by Institute for Financial Management and Research (IMFR), total Chit Funds turnover in Andrapradesh (another state in India) is 1.6 Billion USD. There are several other states in India in which chit funds is practiced. |
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| What does word "chittai" means? |
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| Word "Chittai" in the tamil language means 'piece of paper to keep track of things'. Chittai.com is an online platform where several Chit Funds group can run their operation effectively and efficiently. Chittai.com is not a chit funds group by itself. |
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| What facilities does Chittai provide to a Chit Fund Foreman? |
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- Chit Fund Foreman can send online invitation to subscribers to join the chit fund group
- Chit Fund Foreman charge subscriber's PayPal accounts to pay their due amount on a periodic basis
- Chit Fund Foreman can award prize money to the Subscriber
- Chittai will do all the accounts and book keeping
- All the reports and transaction history are available at his disposal
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| Can I start Chit Funds in Chittai? |
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| You need to have a valid PayPal account with confirmed United States address and agree with our legal terms and conditions. You will have to submit a Legal Consent document from an attorney in United States, stating that you are eligible to run Chit Funds |
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| Can anyone outside of United States start Chit Funds in Chittai? |
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| Not at this time. But we have future plans to extend it to other countries. |
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| Can I subscribe to a chit Funds that is run in Chittai? |
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| Subscription is based on invitation. Chit Fund Foreman will have to send you an invitation to subscribe to the Chit Funds. More over you need to have a valid PayPal account and agree with our legal terms and conditions. |
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| Is Chittai.com or PayPal liable, in case Chit Funds Organizer commits any fraud? |
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| No. Chittai.com and PayPal is not liable for any frauds committed but the chit fund organizer. Chit Fund Organizer is liable for all transactions made on the system. For further details refer to Terms of Use |
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| Who is liable for chargeback's, returns or refunds? |
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| Chit Fund Organizer is liable for all the chargeback's, returns or refunds. Chittai or PayPal isn't liable for it. |
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| How do Chittai charge for its services and what are those fees? |
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| At this point there are no charges for using Chittai services. Chittai will remain as free service till end of Dec' 2010. |
If you have further questions, feel free to contact us at support@chittai.com |
