Ex-PNB chief Sunil Mehta floats credit rating agency Acer; NPCI’s Ajay Choudhary, MS Sahoo on board

This is the first new credit rating agency licence granted by SEBI in ten years.

After nearly a decade, India has a new entrant in its credit rating industry. Former Punjab National Bank (PNB) MD and CEO Sunil Mehta has floated a new credit rating company with backing from financial institutions Indian Overseas Bank and Central Bank of India as promotors.

The move marks the first new credit rating agency licence granted by SEBI since 2015, expanding a space long dominated by Crisil, Icra, Care Ratings, India Ratings and among others. According to filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) reviewed by Moneycontrol, Acer Credit has received SEBI registration and is gearing up to begin operations in the coming months.

Sources said the promoters, including Mehta and the participating financial institutions, have together invested around Rs 25-27crore in equity to capitalise the venture, which will operate from Gurugram and Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex.

A seasoned banker, Mehta had previously led the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) as CEO. He currently holds key positions, including chairman of PSB Alliance, and independent director at Jio Financial Services, Jio Payments Bank, and Juniper Hotels.

With Mehta at the helm, Acer’s board comprises several senior financial sector professionals, including Ajay Kumar Choudhary, former Executive Director of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and current board member at the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). MS Sahoo, former Chairperson of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) and Giriraj Prasad Gupta, former Controller General of Accounts (CGA) have also been roped in.

Kamlesh Taneja, a former IBBI official and insolvency professional, serves as Executive Director.
Detailed queries sent to Acer team did not elicit a response.

Operational scope

According to Acer’s Memorandum of Association (MoA) filed with the RoC, the company’s objectives include providing credit ratings for short-term and long-term instruments, structured finance products, mutual fund schemes, and resolution plan ratings.

The MoA also outlines activities such as ESG and SME ratings, expected-loss-based evaluations, credit monitoring for large borrower accounts, and independent credit evaluations (ICE). The company is permitted to act as a consultant to other rating agencies and to collaborate with regulators and government bodies, including SEBI, RBI, and IBBI.

In addition to ratings, Acer may also offer valuation, economic research, and financial advisory services, as well as develop analytical software and risk management tools.

New entrant

India’s credit rating industry is currently dominated by the likes of Crisil, Icra, Care Ratings, and India Ratings, which together account for a majority of the market. Other players include Acuité Ratings and Research and Infomerics Ratings.

This is the first new credit rating agency licence granted by SEBI in ten years. The last being Infomerics Valuation and Rating, approved in 2015. Before that, Acuité was registered in 2011.
The development also comes at a time when SEBI has proposed major changes to the regulatory framework for credit rating agencies (CRAs). In a consultation paper issued on July 9, 2025, the market regulator suggested allowing CRAs to undertake rating of financial products and instruments governed by other financial sector regulators (FSRs) such as the RBI, IRDAI, PFRDA, IFSCA, MCA, and IBBI, even where those instruments do not currently have specific rating guidelines.

The paper proposes that such non-SEBI-regulated activities be carried out only through Separate Business Units (SBUs), ring-fenced by “Chinese walls” from SEBI-regulated operations, with distinct staff, record-keeping, grievance redressal mechanisms, and audit trails.

CRAs would also have to make explicit upfront disclosures that SEBI’s investor protection framework does not apply to those activities. The proposal further requires CRAs to transfer any existing non-SEBI rating work to separate units within six months of the new norms being notified.