While the SMEs that have managed to get timely finance from banks prefer not to comment on the difficulties in getting the support, there are many that are not even aware of the support system.

According to an IFC survey, there are about 55 million registered SMEs, of which just about 35 per cent are in the banking system.

“The rest are either not aware of the loan products or find the banks’ norms too rigid to seek support,” said Jyotsna Vasudevan, an erstwhile banker and founder of SME online finance portal Quickrupee.com.

Jyotsna and HD Sheriff, founders of the Chennai-based start-up said they specifically decided to address this gap when they mooted the venture.

The portal, which went live in August has till date registered 5,000 visitors.

“We have received thousands of applications of which 424 are under process; 25 applications have been sanctioned with disbursements totalling ₹4.3 crore. We expect another 75 applications to get closed before end-December,” Jyotsna said.

Interestingly, the applicants are from tier-II and III towns, including Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Erode and Ahmedabad among others.

“Some of them have never availed a loan earlier and have therefore no track record. We help such people and other eligible seekers. visitors to our site can do a self-assessment of their credit rating as soon as they come on board and within 2 -3 minutes. The eligibility All details are displayed in the portal itself,” she said.

Quickrupee has tied up with 16 bankers (mostly private banks and NBFCs) and another seven are in the pipeline, Jyotsna said.

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