Kameti

Kameti & chit funds

People often ask whether Kameti is a "chit fund". The short answer: the tradition is the same, the structure is different. This page explains the difference honestly.

Last updated: September 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice — for your own situation, consult a qualified lawyer.

The tradition

Rotating savings circles are centuries old across India and the world — kameti, beesi, chit, committee, kitty. A fixed group contributes a fixed amount on a fixed schedule; each round one member takes the pot; the circle ends when everyone has had a turn. It works because it runs on trust between people who know each other.

What the Chit Funds Act 1972 regulates

The Chit Funds Act 1972 (and earlier provincial acts) regulates chit fund companies: businesses that conduct chits as their trade. Under the Act, a chit is a transaction — typically organised by a foreman — in which a number of people subscribe to a pool that is then given, by auction or lot, to one subscriber each round. The Act requires the foreman/company to be registered, to maintain prescribed records and margins, to lodge the chit agreement with a registrar, and it caps the foreman's commission.

How Kameti is different

  • No foreman, no company in the middle: a Kameti circle is formed by its own members among people who know each other. Kameti is software that keeps the ledger; it does not organise, promote, manage, or conduct the arrangement.
  • No money through the platform: a regulated chit company receives and pays out the pool. In a Kameti circle, money moves directly between members over UPI or in cash — Kameti never holds, pools, or transmits it.
  • Private and invite-only: circles are small private groups, not subscription products offered to the public.
  • Zero fees: the foreman's commission under the Act has no analogue here — Kameti charges nothing, so every rupee contributed comes back to the members.

The honest boundary

Laws differ by state, evolve over time, and turn on facts we cannot see — how a circle is formed, who benefits, and how it is marketed all matter. We built Kameti so that the platform's role stays that of a record-keeper for private groups. But we are not lawyers, this page is not legal advice, and using Kameti does not by itself make any arrangement compliant with any law. If you intend to run circles beyond a private group of people who know each other, take your own legal advice first.

Where to read the law yourself

The Chit Funds Act 1972 is available on India Code, the Government of India's official legislative database, along with the rules notified by individual states.

Questions

Write to support@kameti.in — we answer substantive questions about how Kameti works, and we will always tell you when something needs a lawyer instead of us.