Dvara Research is an independent, non-partisan, not-for-profit policy research institution based in India. Its mission is to ensure that every low-income household and every small enterprise has complete access to suitable financial services and social security through a range of channels that enable them to use these services securely and confidently.
We are uniquely positioned to study the state of financial customer protection in India, and to devise solutions that will enhance customer experience and trust.
Our work has benefited from inputs from stakeholders in the UPI ecosystem and we are grateful for their contributions. We are keen to engage further with financial service providers to help them achieve customer safety and satisfaction, as we believe our insights can support them in fuelling innovative product design and delivery.
The research and the formulation of the outputs under In-app UPI GRM, a Dvara Research Initiative, involved the efforts of core members – Deepti, Aishwarya, Achyutha and Narayan.
Our research team
Deepti George
With 15 years of experience, Deepti’s research and advocacy include consumer protection and institutional conduct, financial inclusion, and retail and wholesale financial services in domestic and international jurisdictions.
She has been a member of several national committees such as the Reserve Bank of India’s Mor Committee (2014), SEBI’s Working Group on Social Stock Exchange (2020) and the CGAP’s Coalition on Consumer Protection.
Currently, Deepti serves as a member of the SEBI Investor Survey Advisory Committee, and as the convenor for the Special Committee- C20 on Financial Issues as part of India’s 2023 Presidency of the G20.
Deepti is ranked in India’s top 100 women in finance by the Association of International Wealth Management of India, 2019.
Aishwarya Narayan
Research Associate Aishwarya is passionate about building welfare systems that are equitably accessible for all and redistributive. Aishwarya’s research and advocacy include digitisation in social protection, last-mile delivery systems, and grievance redress mechanisms in digital finance and social protection. An overarching theme across her research is methods to unlock easy access to government and financial services for the most marginalised citizens.
Aishwarya holds a Master’s in Applied Economics from the National University of Singapore. Before Dvara Research, she was a Research Associate at the Asia Competitiveness Institute, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.
Achyutha Sharma
Achyutha has over 18 years of experience in research, strategy and design. He has led large teams in UR/ UXR and closely collaborated with leadership to drive business impact. He has built depth in research and strategy through his work in the social sector; especially among the billion-users demographic across sectors such as livelihoods, education, water & sanitation, B2C products and health. Furthermore, his commercial sector experience has given him invaluable insights into Indian consumers and B2B markets.
Achyutha’s work has been published in books such as ‘Feminist Futures’, and ‘History of UX Research in India’. Achyutha is also the founder of User Research India, a platform to educate and engage tech stakeholders about the value and impact of user research.
Narayan Gopalan
With over 16 years of experience, Narayan has helped startups, SMEs, and worldwide corporations transform ideas into innovative digital products and services. His expertise lies in Interaction Design; creating engaging user experiences that cater to the unique needs of each client. He is currently the founder of Interaction Design Ideas, a design consulting firm working across sectors.
Narayan is also the co-founder of DesignUP, India’s largest conference for designers. His role was crucial in growing the attendee count from 200 in 2016 to 2000 in 2020.