Claims:We claim:
1. A device (110) to facilitate dynamic repayment amount for a financed vehicle (100), said device (110) configured to,
monitor usage data of said vehicle (100) by any one of, directly using existing or additional in-vehicle sensors, or derived from Controller Area Network (CAN) bus of said vehicle (100), characterized in that, said device (110) configured to,
monitor trip related parameters from said usage data of said vehicle (100);
estimate total earning from said vehicle (100) based on said trip related parameters;
forecast cost towards maintenance of said vehicle (100) based on said trip related parameters, and
compute and facilitate a repayment amount based on said total earning and said forecasted cost.

2. The device (110) as claimed in claim 1, is configured to limit functionality of said vehicle (100) if said repayment plan is not met by an owner of said vehicle (100).

3. The device (110) as claimed in claim 1, is at least one selected from a group comprising an Engine Control Unit (ECU) (106) of said vehicle (100), a telematics unit (104) of said vehicle (100), a cloud (102), a communication unit (108) an external dongle and a combination thereof.

4. The device (110) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said trip related parameters are selectively chosen from a group comprising number of trips in a specified time frame, a distance covered per trip, a vehicle speed, a revenue earned per trip, a fuel/ energy consumed per trip, an expenditure for said fuel/energy per trip, and factors impacting the usage of said vehicle (100).

5. The device (110) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said device (110) further comprises computation of said repayment plan based on trust index score, wherein said trust index score is calculated by monitoring of driver data through an application, wherein said driver data comprises number of trip acceptance in specific time, number of trip rejection in specific time and customer ratings.

6. A method for facilitating dynamic repayment amount for a financed vehicle (100), said method comprising the steps of:
monitoring usage data of said vehicle (100) by any one of, directly using existing or additional in-vehicle sensors, and deriving from Controller Area Network (CAN) bus of said vehicle (100), characterized by,
monitoring trip related parameters from said usage data of said vehicle (100);
estimating a total earning from said vehicle (100) based on said trip related parameters;
forecasting cost towards maintenance of said vehicle (100) based on said trip related parameters, and
computing and facilitating a repayment amount based on said total earning and said forecasted cost.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6, comprises limiting functionality of said vehicle (100) if said repayment plan is not met by an owner of said vehicle (100).

8. The method as claimed in claim 6, is executed by at least one selected from a group comprising an Engine Control Unit (ECU) (106) of said vehicle (100), a telematics unit (104) of said vehicle (100), a cloud (102), a communication unit (108), an external dongle and a combination thereof.

9. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein said trip related parameters are selectively chosen from a group comprising number of trips in a specified time frame, a distance covered per trip, a vehicle speed, a revenue earned per trip, a fuel/ energy consumed, an expenditure for said fuel/energy, and factors impacting the usage of said vehicle (100).

10. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein computing said repayment plan is performed based on a trust index score, wherein calculating said trust index score is done by monitoring of driver data through an application, said driver data comprises number of trip acceptance in specific time, number of trip rejection in specific time and customer ratings
, Description:Complete Specification:
The following specification describes and ascertains the nature of this invention and the manner in which it is to be performed:

Field of the invention:
[0001] The present invention relates to a device and method to facilitate dynamic repayment plan for a financed vehicle.

Background of the invention:
[0002] The financial institutions are using traditional fintech instruments like constant EMI, fixed interest rate etc. without assessing the current landscape of gig economy and the constantly changing earning abilities of independent asset lessees. There is a need for providing an improved solution with respect to repayment of an asset, such as a vehicle under a loan.

[0003] A patent literature US2013018677 discloses a computer-implemented method and system for reporting a confidence score in relation to a vehicle equipped with a wireless-enabled usage reporting device. A computer-implemented method provides information about a financed, leased or insured vehicle having an onboard wireless-enabled usage reporting device for computing a risk associated with a financing, leasing or insurance obligation. The method entails receiving data from a remote computer to set parameters to be used by the device installed in the vehicle to measure real-time vehicle usage, computing on the device a confidence score based on the parameters and storing the confidence score in the device, the confidence score being indicative of a risk associated with the financing, leasing or insurance obligation of the vehicle, transferring the confidence score or information relating to the confidence score from the device to the remote computer in response to a command from the remote computer or automatically based on a predefined criterion, and displaying the confidence score to indicate the risk associated with the financing, leasing or insurance obligation.

Brief description of the accompanying drawings:
[0004] An embodiment of the disclosure is described with reference to the following accompanying drawing,
[0005] Fig. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a device to facilitate dynamic repayment amount for a financed vehicle, according to an embodiment of the present invention, and
[0006] Fig. 2 illustrates a method for facilitating dynamic repayment amount for a financed vehicle, according to the present invention.

Detailed description of the embodiments:
[0007] Fig. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a device to facilitate dynamic repayment amount for a financed vehicle, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The device 110 configured to monitor usage data of the vehicle 100 by any one of, directly using existing or additional in-vehicle sensors, or derived from Controller Area Network (CAN) bus of the vehicle 100 (such as through the OBD port), characterized in that, the device 110 configured to, monitor trip related parameters from the usage data of the vehicle 100, estimate total earning from the vehicle 100 based on the trip related parameters, forecast cost towards maintenance of the vehicle 100 based on the trip related parameters, and compute and facilitate a repayment amount/option based on the total earning and the forecasted cost. In addition, the device 110 also able to limit the functionality of the vehicle 100 if the repayment amount is not met by the owner of the vehicle 100. The owner is considered as driver of the vehicle 100. However, there may be instances where the owner hires a driver to drive the vehicle 100.

[0008] In accordance to the present invention, the financed vehicle 100 corresponds to the vehicle 100 under loan, lease, rent, etc. where the owner has a financial obligation towards the vehicle 100 bought or purchased through a financial institution (such as banks, a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFCs), etc.). The repayment amount (or plan) corresponds to the financial obligation which needs to be paid back through Equated Monthly Installments (EMI) or any other similar mode. The dynamic repayment amount corresponds to alteration or modification or adjustment in the repayment amount (such as EMI) dynamically as per the earning capability of the owner through the vehicle 100. Further, the vehicle 100 is bought/acquired for providing services under a fleet, such as taxi aggregators or operated independently as a taxi.

[0009] The trip related parameters are selectively chosen from a group comprising number of trips in a specified time frame, a distance covered per trip, a vehicle speed, a revenue earned per trip, a fuel/ energy consumed per trip, an expenditure for said fuel/energy per trip, and factors impacting the usage of the vehicle 100. Though, only trip related parameters are mentioned, the device 110 is also able to analyze other parameters of the vehicle 100 such as engine speed, fuel level, pressure sensors, Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) status, which are available in the CAN bus.

[0010] As indicated in Fig. 1, the device 110 is at least one of a cloud 102 (or server), a telematics unit 104, an Engine Control Unit (ECU) 106 of the vehicle 100, a communication unit 108 of the owner (driver), such as a smartphone or similar portable devices for communication, an external dongle (not shown) and a combination thereof. The device 110 is a control unit (or controller) comprising components such as memory element (not shown) such as Random Access Memory (RAM) and/or Read Only Memory (ROM), Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC), Digital-to-Analog Convertor (DAC), clocks, timers and a processor (capable of implementing machine learning) connected with the each other and to other components through communication bus channels. The components mentioned are just for understanding and the device 110 may have more or less components as per requirement. The memory element is pre-stored with logics or instructions or programs or applications which is accessed by the processor as per the defined routines. The internal components of the controller 110 are not explained for being state of the art, and the same must not be understood in a limiting manner. The device 110 is capable to communicate through wired and wireless means such as but not limited to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), 3G, 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, serial networks, Universal Serial Bus (USB) cable, micro-USB, and the like. In accordance to an embodiment of the present invention, if the cloud 102 is the device 110 for facilitating the repayment amount, then the cloud 102 is connected to the vehicle 100 through the telematics unit 104 or communication unit 108 through aforesaid wireless means. Further, the telematics unit 104 and the communication unit 108 may be interconnected through any of the wireless means or wired means. The processing of the repayment amount is possible to be performed by at least one of the cloud 102 (or server), the telematics unit 104, the ECU 106, the communication unit 108, which indicates that all the possible devices 110 are capable to perform the processing either alone or jointly.

[0011] In accordance to an embodiment of the present invention, different modes of implementation are described. When the cloud 102 is used as the device 110, the usage data of the vehicle 100 is received from the telematics unit 104 or the communication unit 108. The cloud 102 contains the instructions and handles the processing or computation of the repayment amount and sends the output to the owner or the financial institution or both. When the telematics unit 104 is used as the device 110, then the instructions are stored within a memory of the telematics unit 104. The telematics unit 104 may receive just an update through the cloud 102, however the entire processing is handled internally by the telematics unit 104. When the ECU 106 is used as the device 110, then the working is similar to the telematics unit 104, however an update (if any) is received through the telematics unit 104 which in-turn receives through the cloud 102. When the communication unit 108 is used as the device 110, then the communication unit 108 is interfaced/connected with the ECU 106 to capture or receive the usage data of the vehicle 100 for the processing. The instructions are stored in the communication unit 108 as an application. All the processing is performed by the application installed in the communication unit 108. When the external dongle is used as the device 110, then the external dongle is inserted to the OBD port of the vehicle 100 to retrieve the usage data of the vehicle 100 available in the CAN bus. The external dongle may be capable to perform the necessary processing or may communicate with cloud 102 or the communication unit 108 or the ECU 108 or the telematics unit 104 for assistance in the processing. In an embodiment, the processing is shared between multiple devices 110.

[0012] In accordance to an embodiment of the present invention and with reference to Fig. 1, the vehicle 100 is fit with the telematics unit 104 which acts as a communication bridge between the cloud 102, the communication unit 108 and the ECU 106. The cloud 102 is used as the device 110, however the device 110 is not limited by the same. The telematics unit 104 comprises a computational unit 112 and a transceiver 114. There are other components to a telematics unit 104 as known in the art, however only few components are described for the simplicity of the explanation. The telematics unit 104 is in connection with in-vehicle sensors either existing or additional and comprises the computational unit 112 capable of monitoring/analyzing/processing the usage data of the vehicle 100. The telematics unit 104 is capable of communicating to the cloud 102 over a wireless interface. The telematics unit 104 transmits the monitored values to the cloud 102 for further analysis. The trip related parameters (or trip statistics) such as number of trips, distance covered per trip, the vehicle speed, a revenue earned per trip, a fuel/ energy consumed per trip, an expenditure for the fuel/energy per trip, and factors/parameters impacting the usage of the vehicle 100. The trip related parameters mentioned above is not limited and may have other trip related parameters. The telematics unit 104 is also capable of controlling the vehicle 100, such as switching the vehicle 100 ON/OFF or any other method related to the working of the vehicle 100. For example, the telematics unit 104 is able to implement a speed control function of the vehicle 100.

[0013] In accordance to the present invention, the cloud 102 is configured to receive input data from the telematics unit 104. The cloud 102 provides financial management services and can be referred to as Financial Management Services Module (FMSM). The input data comprises information indicative of utilization/usage of the vehicle 100. The information is business indicator of the vehicle 100. Based on the usage data of the vehicle 100, the cloud 102 computes the total earnings from the vehicle 100 (but not limited to) on a per hour, day, week basis, etc. For example, the total earning is computed based on the total number of trips and distance covered per trip, etc. Further, based on the usage data of the vehicle 100, the cloud 102 implements an algorithm to forecast the earnings from the vehicle 100 on a per week / month / year basis. The algorithm also indicates the confidence interval of the forecast. For example, a linear regression method is used for financial forecasting. The cloud 102 computes the repayment amount based on the total earnings and financial forecasting. The cloud 102 considers the overall profitability index, risk factors and risk models while computing the repayment amount/plan. The profitability index, risk factors and risk models are interconnected in meaning and generally relates to a number that is indicative of the overall profit or loss that a given financial agreement will have if a payment is deferred and are commonly used by the financial institution. In case the owner of the vehicle 100 is not able to meet the financial repayment amount, the cloud 102 recommends some of the limiting options for the vehicle 100. For example, one option limits the usage of the vehicle 100 until the financial reconciliation happens.

[0014] In accordance to an embodiment of the present invention, the device 110 comprises computation of the repayment plan based on trust index score. The trust index score is calculated based on monitoring of driver data through an application. The application is installed in the communication unit 108 (such as smartphone) of the driver or in an infotainment system or dashboard of the vehicle 100. The driver data comprises number of trip acceptance in specific time, number of trip rejection in specific time and customer ratings. When the driver receives a notification for a trip during his business hours, the acceptance or rejection of this trip (or the total trips per day as compared to the platform average) would determine his/her trust index score. The trust index score helps keep in checking whether the ability to pay the repayment amount is solely due to the driver’s judgement or due to external factors (low demand, market landscape etc.). On the other hand, if the driver completes more trips than average, then the driver would be rewarded with benefits that would help pay out the repayment amount quicker. This again would help the owner of the vehicle 100 pay off the debts quicker thereby support his/her earning ability to the fullest potential.

[0015] The application also enables the owner to switch from the regular repayment plan to dynamic repayment plan, and thus help in managing the process internal to the financial institutions. If the owner of the vehicle 100 proceeds to pay the repayment amount as per the agreement discussed by both parties (the financial institution and the owner), then the principal amount, tenure and the interest rates would remain the same until the end of the payment. However, if the owner is not able to pay the pre-determined amount as per the financial institution’s repayment amount/plan, then the device 110 facilitates the driver to switch over to the dynamic repayment amount which considers the usage data/metrics of the vehicle 100, and base the new repayment amount on the same. For example, in case of the loan, the new amount generated would adjust the EMI, i.e. the principal amount (per month), the interest amount (per month) and/ or the tenure to pay the total amount after carefully considering the usage data/metrics derived and the ability of the owner to pay the amount. The ability is measured with the trust index score that is assessed by understanding factors of the driver data.

[0016] The device 110 records and analyses the various usage parameters of the vehicle 100 (such as revenue-earning trips per day, kms travelled per day, fuel consumed per trip, cost of fuel per trip etc. and other such parameters) and further uses these inputs to provide a realistic estimation of the repayment components (principal, interest and payback period) to be recovered for that particular period. The device 110 also records the driver data (trips accepted or rejected, customer rating etc.) in order to create the trust index score that helps assess the risk mitigation aspects of the payment.

[0017] In accordance to the present invention, a working of the invention is described in brief below. The owner acquires the vehicle 100 (asset) based on a funding from a financial institution through a financial instrument such as a loan, a lease, or a rent, etc. The financial institutions along with the owner of the vehicle 100 defines an agreement that describes the repayment terms and conditions. The agreement of the repayment may have multiple conditions, such as the vehicle 100 will be monitored for usage / wear-and-tear and any other parameters that impact either the overall business based on the vehicle 100 or the management / maintenance cost of the vehicle 100, a misuse of the vehicle 100 would be immediately reported to both the financial institution and the owner, etc. Thus, assuming that “X” is the earnings from the vehicle 100, “Y” is the spend towards acquiring the earnings (also referred as the marketing cost and/or customer acquisition cost) and “Z” is the maintenance cost of the vehicle 100, the repayment amount is a percentage of (X – [ Y + Z). The repayment amount (R) = a * (X – [ Y + Z]). The value “a” is modulated/adjusted based on the total earning and forecast cost, in dependence of the usage of the vehicle 100. The solution entails the use of either the telematics unit 104 that tracks the usage of the vehicle 100 or derive the usage data through the On-Board diagnostics (OBD) CAN bus of the vehicle 100. The EMI amount is then calculated considering the usage data/metrics (such as number of trips in a specified time frame, revenue earned per trip, fuel/ energy consumed and expenditure for the same etc.) of the vehicle 100.

[0018] In accordance to the present invention, the working of the device 110 is explained with an example. The context of the present invention is mobility service provider like (taxi aggregators or groups or fleets), and the vehicle 100 is the primary mode of earning for the owner/driver. Based on how much the owner can earn from the vehicle 100, the financials associated with the vehicle 100 is calculated. The usage of the vehicle 100 is linked to the earning capability of the owner/driver. Based on the data from the telematics unit 104, the cloud 102 computes how much business or revenue the vehicle 100 is earning for the owner. For example, if the vehicle 100 is taken for 10 trips of 15 kms and the per kms cost is say Rs. 10, then the total earning is 10 x 15 x 10 = Rs. 1500. Let us say the owner does Rs. 1500 business every day. So, in 30 days, the owner might earn Rs. 45K and cover a distance of 450 kms. The telematics unit 104 is also used to calculate the wear and tear of the vehicle 100. For example, a wear algorithm determines how long a brake shoe will last. If the brake shoe costs Rs. 5000, the owner needs to replace the brake shoe every 400kms. So, at the end of month the brake shoe will be replaced. Also consider the fuel cost is say Rs. 100 / Lt. and the average mileage of the vehicle 100 is 10kms/Lt. So the fuel consumed for 450 kms is (450 / 10) * 100 = Rs. 4500 (assume Rs. 5000 for simplicity). So, the net/total earning of the driver is 45000 – 5000 – 5000 (for brake shoe) = Rs. 35000. As per the regulation, the bank can charge a EMI of only 40% of the total earnings. In the above case the earning of the driver is Rs. 35000 and 40% of that amount is Rs. 14000.

[0019] If one assumes that the regular EMI fixed by the bank is say Rs. 15000. But, depending on the driver’s earning in the current month, he can only pay Rs. 14000. The device 110 and method of the present invention modulates the EMI based on the usage of the vehicle 100 and the maintenance cost etc. The balance of Rs. 1000 is added to the “principle due”. If in the next month if the driver earns say Rs. 40,000 (after deducting fuels cost and maintenance cost if any), then 40% of this amount is Rs. 16000. So, the driver pays an EMI of Rs. 15,000 + additional Rs. 1000 balance from previous month is recovered. The device 110 may allow a carry forward of the balance amount for certain months before interest is charged, or the driver can/may pay more EMI than agreed with the bank (for e.g., the driver can pay say Rs. 20,000 for a month), if the driver has earned more and the balance of Rs. 5,000 can kept in ESCROW (interest based) to be either used as a “compensating finances” when he earns less or can also be accounted for against the principle.

[0020] Fig. 2 illustrates a method for facilitating dynamic repayment plan for a financed vehicle, according to the present invention. The method comprises multiple steps, of which a step 202 comprises monitoring vehicle 100 usage data by any one of, directly using existing or additional in-vehicle sensors, and deriving from Controller Area Network (CAN) bus of the vehicle 100 (such as through the OBD port). The method is characterized by, a step 204 which comprises monitoring/analyzing trip related parameters from the vehicle 100 usage data. A step 206 comprises estimating the total earning from the vehicle 100 based on the trip related parameters. A step 208 comprises forecasting cost towards vehicle 100 maintenance based on the trip related parameters. A step 210 comprises computing and facilitating the repayment plan based on the total earning and the forecasted cost. The method also comprises limiting the vehicle 100 functionality if the repayment plan is not met by the owner of the vehicle 100.

[0021] The method is executed/performed at least one selected from a group comprising the Engine Control Unit (ECU) 106 of the vehicle 100, the telematics unit 104 of the vehicle 100, the cloud 102, the communication unit 108 of the owner, the external dongle and the combination thereof. The trip related parameters are selectively chosen from a group comprising number of trips in a specified time frame, the distance covered per trip, the vehicle speed, the revenue earned per trip, the fuel/ energy consumed, the expenditure for the fuel/energy, and factors impacting the usage of the vehicle 100. The trip related parameters are not related and may comprises other based on requirement. The step of computing the repayment plan is performed based on the trust index score. The calculation of the trust index score is based on monitoring of driver data through the application. The application is installed in the communication unit 108 of the driver or the infotainment system of the vehicle 100. The driver data comprises number of trip acceptance in specific time, number of trip rejection in specific time and customer ratings.

[0022] In accordance to the present invention, the device 110 and the method provides digital interventions to track the usage metrics of the vehicle 100. The earning abilities of the owner/driver is assessed in providing repayment plans that are dynamic and more in tune with the current economic and market landscape. The device 110 could be cloud 102 based framework (OBD CAN), that not only tracks the metrics for analysis but also converts the collected data (using mathematical functions) into the repayment plan that is more viable for the owner of the vehicle 100. This repayment plan is varied based on the business and is adjustable based on the ever-changing market landscape. This in turn supports financial institutions to provide vehicles 100 under a financial instrument (loan/lease/rent/others) after assessing the various trip related parameters. Further, it also helps the asset owners/ leases who can be forgiven with lower repayment amounts during bad business landscape and/ or uncontrollable market effects. The device 110 and method enables calculation of the EMI component based on the utilization of the loaned vehicle 100.

[0023] It should be understood that embodiments explained in the description above are only illustrative and do not limit the scope of this invention. Many such embodiments and other modifications and changes in the embodiment explained in the description are envisaged. The scope of the invention is only limited by the scope of the claims.