Raj Vikash Verma

Raj Vikash Verma died on Friday 16 October 2026, aged 72. The Economic Times reported that he died in his sleep that morning. Aadhar Housing Finance and Veritas Finance informed the stock exchanges the same day, describing his death as sudden and unexpected and an irreparable loss. No cause of death was made public, and the place of death has not been reported.

Tributes came from AU Small Finance Bank, which recalled a respected banker and regulator with a career of more than four decades; from the PFRDA, which said his vision and contributions had played an important role in its growth; and from SBI Pension Funds, which said his leadership had strengthened India's pension ecosystem. Funeral arrangements were not publicly reported.

Raj Vikash Verma was born in about 1954; reports of his death give his age as 72, and his exact date and place of birth have not been published. He completed his graduation and post graduation in economics at the University of Delhi, taking his master's degree at the Delhi School of Economics, and earned a Master of Business Administration from the Faculty of Management Studies at the same university. He was a Certified Associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers (CAIIB).

Verma began his career at the Reserve Bank of India and moved to the National Housing Bank (NHB), the body that regulated and refinanced housing finance companies. He served there in several capacities, including as executive director from 2000, and became chairman and managing director in 2010. He led the bank until 2014.

At the NHB he anchored the government's mandate to build an ecosystem for low income and affordable housing, conceptualising social housing programmes and financing schemes for the informal sector and micro housing finance. He was a long standing advocate of mortgage guarantees and mortgage backed securitisation. In September 2011 he told The Hindu BusinessLine that the NHB had found a technical partner for a four way mortgage guarantee joint venture with the Asian Development Bank and the International Finance Corporation; India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation was established in 2012, and he later served as its chairman. He also promoted reverse mortgages for senior citizens.

Verma was the founding managing director, chief executive and Central Registrar of the Central Registry of Securitisation Asset Reconstruction and Security Interest of India (CERSAI), and was instrumental in setting up the Asia Pacific Union for Housing Finance, which he chaired for two terms.

In May 2014 the Finance Ministry appointed him Whole Time Member (Finance) of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), the first whole time member named after the PFRDA Act was notified. He was officiating chairman of the authority from 16 May to 6 October 2014 and remained a member until January 2017. He later worked as a consultant to the World Bank Group on housing, real estate and mortgages, and was a member of an advisory committee of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India, as well as several committees of the government and the RBI.

As an independent director he joined the board of AU Small Finance Bank in January 2018 and was its part time chairman from April 2020 until his tenure ended on 29 January 2024. In May 2025 he joined Aadhar Housing Finance as an independent director and became its non executive chairperson. He was also non executive chairman of Veritas Finance and chairman of Encore Asset Reconstruction Company, and a director of SBI Pension Funds, RMBS Development Company and Sewa Grih Rin.

Verma kept his private life out of the public eye, and the names of his family members have not been published. The companies he served extended condolences to his family and loved ones. Colleagues described him as a mentor; Rishi Anand, managing director of Aadhar Housing Finance, said he had always guided him through difficult situations.

Verma is remembered as one of the architects of modern housing finance in India. His advocacy laid groundwork for mortgage guarantees and mortgage backed securitisation, leading to India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation in 2012, and he helped shape national programmes for affordable and low income housing. He was also the founding head of CERSAI and the first whole time member of the PFRDA under its 2013 Act. In later life he guided a new generation of lenders serving first time and low income borrowers, including AU Small Finance Bank and Aadhar Housing Finance.