How Trust Works on Proqure
Trust is behavioral, not financial
The Core Philosophy
Good markets don't eliminate risk.
They reward good behaviour and remember bad behaviour.
In traditional steel trade, trust exists — but it lives only in people's heads. Once a relationship breaks, there's no memory. Once a trader moves on, the history disappears.
Proqure preserves that trust and makes it visible, portable, and actionable.
We deliberately chose behavioral trust over financial intermediation.
Why We Don't Use Escrow or Payment Guarantees
What Escrow Does
- • Shifts responsibility away from market participants
- • Adds friction and cost to every transaction
- • Changes natural credit behavior
- • Weakens trade discipline
- • Makes the platform a financial intermediary (NBFC)
- • Hides bad behavior behind guarantees
What Behavioral Trust Does
- • Preserves accountability and discipline
- • Reflects how real steel trade works
- • Makes reputation visible and portable
- • Rewards good actors progressively
- • Makes bad behavior expensive over time
- • Strengthens the market, doesn't replace it
Steel trade runs on relationships and routine credit (5-30 days). Escrow would fundamentally change that. We chose to organize trust, not replace it with financial intermediation.
The Proqure Trust Index
The Proqure Trust Index is not a credit score. It is a behavioral reputation system that captures how traders actually perform over time.
Trust is built from observable behavior:
For Buyers
- • Payment discipline: Do they pay on agreed terms?
- • Dispute behavior: Fair or unreasonable?
- • Order consistency: Repeat behavior over time
- • Specification clarity: Clear RFQs or vague requests?
For Sellers
- • Fulfillment accuracy: Do they deliver what they quoted?
- • Delivery consistency: On-time or delayed?
- • Quality issues: Complaints or clean track record?
- • Dispute resolution: Responsive or evasive?
Critically Important:
- • Trust is contextual, not absolute: A buyer trusted for ₹5L orders may not be trusted for ₹50L orders initially
- • Exposure is progressive, not binary: Trust grows gradually based on consistent performance
- • Trust is portable: Your reputation follows you across categories and time
This mirrors how experienced traders operate offline — they assess risk contextually and increase exposure gradually.
Verification: The Foundation Layer
Behavioral trust works best when basic identity and business legitimacy are verified. That's why Proqure includes a verification framework as the foundation.
GSTIN Verification
Business registration and tax compliance verification for sellers and repeat buyers.
Phone Verification
WhatsApp-based phone number verification to prevent fake accounts and spam.
Trial Period
New users can submit a trial RFQ before full verification to experience the platform.
Verification ≠ Guarantee. GSTIN verification confirms a business is registered. It does not guarantee payment or delivery. That's where behavioral trust takes over — observing actual performance over time.
Progressive Exposure: How Trust Grows
Trust on Proqure is never "all or nothing." It starts small and grows based on consistent good behavior.
Stage 1: New User
Low AccessTrial RFQ allowed. Limited visibility to sellers. Basic verification pending.
Stage 2: Verified User
Medium AccessGSTIN verified. First real transaction. Trust history begins.
Stage 3: Established Trader
High AccessMultiple successful transactions. Consistent payment/delivery. Dispute-free record.
Stage 4: Trusted Partner
Premium AccessLong-term consistent behavior. Higher order values. Premium visibility.
Key Principle:
Good behavior compounds. Bad behavior follows.
Every successful transaction makes the next one easier. Every dispute or default makes future access harder. Trust is earned progressively and lost quickly — exactly like real-world trade relationships.
The Proqure Trust Tiers
Every trader progresses through trust tiers based on behavior, not promises. Here's what each tier means.
New User
Starting Point
Every trader begins here. You can explore the platform and submit a trial RFQ to understand how Proqure works.
How to Progress:
Complete phone verification and submit GSTIN documents
Verified Trader
Business Verified
Your business identity is confirmed. You can now participate fully in the marketplace and build your behavioral trust history.
How to Progress:
Complete multiple transactions with consistent, professional behavior
Established Trader
Proven Track Record
You have a documented history of successful transactions, timely payments or deliveries, and fair dispute resolution.
How to Progress:
Maintain consistent excellence over extended time period
Trusted Partner⭐
Elite Status
Long-term platform participants with exceptional consistency. Counterparties know they can rely on you for important transactions.
Benefits:
Premium visibility, higher order value access, maximum counterparty trust
Why Trust Tiers Matter
Fair & Transparent
Everyone knows the rules. Progress based on behavior, not connections.
Rewards Consistency
Good behavior compounds. Your reputation becomes valuable capital.
Reduces Risk
See counterparty tier at a glance. Make informed decisions.
Important: Your tier is not permanent. It reflects your recent and long-term behavior. Consistent good behavior moves you up. Repeated issues move you down. This keeps the system honest and responsive.
What Trust Signals Look Like
Trust isn't abstract. Both buyers and sellers see concrete signals when evaluating each other.
Buyers See (about sellers):
- ✓ Verification status (GSTIN verified/pending)
- ✓ Number of successful orders completed
- ✓ Average delivery time vs. promised time
- ✓ Quality dispute rate
- ✓ Response time to RFQs
- ✓ Trust tier (New / Verified / Established / Trusted)
Sellers See (about buyers):
- ✓ Verification status (GSTIN verified/pending)
- ✓ Number of orders placed and completed
- ✓ Payment discipline (on-time payment rate)
- ✓ Unfair dispute history
- ✓ Average order value (to assess credit exposure)
- ✓ Trust tier (New / Verified / Established / Trusted)
Important: No single metric is absolute. Experienced traders look at the full picture — just like they do offline. A new buyer with verified GSTIN might be worth quoting to. An established buyer with one recent dispute might still be trustworthy if their long-term record is clean.
How Disputes Are Handled
Disputes are inevitable in any market. What matters is how they're resolved and what record they leave.
On Proqure, disputes are structured and recorded, not hidden.
The Process:
Dispute Raised
Buyer or seller raises a dispute with details and category (quality/delivery/payment/other)
Both Parties Respond
The other party is notified and can respond with their version and evidence
Resolution or Escalation
Parties can resolve directly. Unresolved disputes are recorded and impact trust standing.
Trust History Updated
The outcome becomes part of both parties' visible history for future traders to assess
Fair Dispute Resolution Improves Trust
If you resolve disputes responsibly, acknowledge genuine issues, and work toward solutions, it strengthens your reputation over time.
Repeated Disputes Reduce Visibility
A pattern of unresolved disputes, unreasonable claims, or evasive behavior reduces your access to future opportunities.
Why This Approach Strengthens Markets
Markets collapse when bad behavior is invisible.
Markets stabilize when behavior is remembered.
Proqure's trust system works because it:
- • Preserves accountability — participants remain responsible for their behavior
- • Rewards consistency — good actors gain progressive access and reputation capital
- • Makes bad behavior expensive — poor performers lose visibility and opportunity over time
- • Reflects reality — mimics how experienced traders already assess risk offline
- • Scales trust — reputation becomes portable across categories and geographies
- • Strengthens discipline — knowing behavior will be remembered encourages better performance
We're not trying to eliminate risk. We're trying to make it visible, contextual, and manageable.
That's what durable market infrastructure does — it organizes trust so good actors win more often and bad actors become expensive.