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Credit Information Reporting by Credit Information Companies (CICs)

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued master directions on credit information reporting.

What are Credit Information Companies (CICs)?

Credit Information Companies (CICs) means companies that have been granted a certificate of registration by RBI under section 5 of the Credit Information Companies (Regulations) Act, 2005 (CICRA). 

The following CICs are registered with RBI –

  • CRIF High Mark Credit Information Services Private Limited
  • Equifax Credit Information Services Private Limited
  • Experian Credit Information Company of India Private Limited
  • TransUnion CIBIL Limited

What are Credit Institutions (CIs)?

Credit Institutions (CIs) means the following institutions –

  • Commercial Banks [including Small Finance Banks (SFBs), Local Area Banks and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), and excluding Payment Banks]
  • Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs), State Co-operative Banks and Central Co-operative Banks
  • All India Financial Institutions (AIFIs) regulated by RBI –
    • Export Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank)
    • National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD)
    • National Housing Bank (NHB)
    • Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)
    • National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID)
  • Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) [including Housing Finance Companies (HFCs)]
  • Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs)

What is Specified User (SU)?

Specified User (SU) means any CI, CIC being a member of another CIC, and includes such other person or institution as may be specified by RBI for the purpose of obtaining credit information from a CIC.

What is Credit Information?

Credit Information is the information related to credit facilities availed by the borrowers, which is forwarded by CIs to CICs. 

What are the directions on obtaining CIC membership by CI?

  • All CIs shall become members of all the CICs registered with the RBI.
  • One-time membership fee charged by the CICs from the CIs to become their members shall not exceed ₹10,000/- each.
  • The annual fees charged by the CICs from the CIs shall not exceed ₹5,000/- each.

What are the directions on submission of data by CIs?

  • CIs shall submit data on credit information of its borrowers (including historical data) to all CICs.
  • CICs and CIs shall keep the credit information collected / maintained by them, updated regularly on a fortnightly basis (i.e., as on 15th and last day of the respective month) or at shorter intervals as mutually agreed upon between the CI and CIC. 
  • The fortnightly submission of credit information by CIs to CICs shall be ensured within 7 calendar days of the relevant reporting fortnight. 
  • CIs financing SHGs shall report the SHG member level data to CICs.

What is the timeline for ingestion of credit information by CICs?

  • CICs shall ingest credit information data received from the CIs into their databases within 5 calendar days of its receipt from the CIs.
  • In case of data rejection, CICs shall communicate to the concerned CI, regarding rejection of the data with reasons, within 7 calendar days of receipt of the data.

What are the directions regarding credit information report (CIR)?

  • CICs shall provide access in an electronic format, to one free full credit report (FFCR) including credit score, once during a year (January – December), to individuals whose credit score is available with them. 
  • The credit scores shall be calibrated from 300 to 900 by all CICs.
  • CICs shall capture details of co-borrowers and guarantors, wherever applicable, in the Credit Information Report (CIR). 
  • The CIR shall give details of the loans availed by the customers in their capacity as borrower / co-borrower / guarantor.
  • Information relating to loans declined previously to customers shall not be reported by CICs.

When shall customer be intimated about their CIR?

  • CICs shall send alerts through SMS / email to customers when their CIR is accessed by the Specified Users (SUs). The alerts shall be sent by CICs only when the CIR enquiry reflects in the CIR of the customer.
  • CIs shall send alerts through SMS / email to customers while submitting information to CICs regarding default / Days Past Due (DPD) in existing credit facilities.

What if there is discrepancy in CIR?

  • Complainant may request a CIC / CI to update the credit information by making an appropriate correction, addition or otherwise.
  • Where the grievance / complaint involves inaccurate credit information provided by more than one CI, the complaint shall be registered by the complainant with the concerned CIC. The CIC shall coordinate with all the CIs concerned and furnish the complainant with a comprehensive resolution of the grievance.

What is the timeline for resolution of complaint?

  • CI and CIC, collectively, have an overall limit of 30 days to resolve / dispose of the complaint. 
  • CI shall forward the corrected particulars of the credit information to the CIC / complainant within 21 days from the date when the CI was informed of the inaccuracy in the credit information. This would mean that, CICs would effectively get the remainder of 9 days for complete resolution of the complaint.
  • The complainant shall be advised by the CI / CIC of the action taken on the complaint in all cases, including the cases where the complaint has been rejected. In cases of rejection, the reasons for rejection shall also be provided by CI and CIC.
  • The date of the resolution of the grievance shall be the date when the rectified CIR has been sent by the CIC / CI to the postal address or email ID provided by the complainant.

What if complaint is not resolved within the timeline?

  • Where the complaint has been received and registered by a CIC and there has been a delay in the resolution of the complaint, the CIC shall inform the concerned CIs and the complainant after the final resolution, regarding total delay (in calendar days) and the amount of compensation to be paid by the CIs and / or CIC.
  • Where the complaint has been received and registered by a CI and there has been a delay in the resolution of the complaint, the CI shall inform the concerned CICs and the complainant after the final resolution, regarding total delay (in calendar days) and the amount of compensation to be paid by the CI and / or CICs.

How much compensation shall be paid to the complainant?

  • Complainants shall be entitled to a compensation of ₹100 per calendar day in case their complaint is not resolved within 30 calendar days from the date of the initial filing of the complaint by the complainant with a CI / CIC.
  • The compensation amount shall be credited to the bank account of the complainant within 5 working days of the resolution of the complaint.

Who shall pay the compensation?

  • CI shall pay compensation to the complainant if the CI has failed to send updated credit information to the CICs by making an appropriate correction or addition or otherwise within 21 calendar days of being informed by the complainant / CIC.
  • CIC shall pay compensation to the complainant if the CIC has failed to resolve the complaint within 30 calendar days of being informed by the complainant / CI, despite the CI having furnished the updated credit information to the CIC within 21 calendar days of being informed by the complainant / CIC.
  • Compensation to be provided by the CICs / CIs to the complainant (for delayed resolution beyond 30 calendar days of filing the complaint) shall be apportioned among the CIs / CICs concerned proportionately.

What if compensation is rejected by CI / CIC?

  • The complainant can approach RBI Ombudsman, under the Reserve Bank - Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021, in case of wrongful denial of compensation by CIs / CICs.
  • In case of wrongful denial of compensation by CIs which are yet to be covered under the Reserve Bank - Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021, the complainant can approach Consumer Education and Protection Cell (CEPC) functioning from Regional Offices (ROs) of RBI.

Which cases are not covered under compensation framework?

The compensation framework is not be applicable in the following cases -

  • Disputes for which remedy has been provided under Section 18 of CICRA, 2005. The Section 18 of CICRA, 2005 provides that for disputes arising amongst, CICs, CIs, borrowers, and clients on matters relating to the business of credit information and for which no remedy has been provided under CICRA, 2005, such disputes shall be settled by conciliation or arbitration as provided in the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.
  • Complaints / references relating to (a) internal administration, (b) human resources, (c) pay and emoluments of staff, and (d) references in the nature of suggestions and commercial decisions of the CIC / CI.
  • Complaints pertaining to disputes / grievances regarding the computation of the credit score / credit score model.
  • Complaints that have been decided by or are already pending in other fora such as Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Courts, Tribunals, etc.

What are the directions on credit information reporting subsequent to cancellation of license or certificate of registration of CIs?

  • All CIs, whose licence or Certificate of Registration (CoR) has been cancelled by RBI shall be categorised as ‘Credit Institutions’ under Section 2(f)(vii) of CICRA.
  • These CIs shall continue to report credit information of the borrowers on-boarded and reported to CICs prior to cancellation of their licence or CoR to all the 4 CICs till the loan lifecycle is completed or the CI is wound up, whichever is earlier.
  • These CIs shall have access to CIRs pertaining to only those borrowers which were on-boarded and reported to CICs before the cancellation of their licence / CoR.
  • CICs shall not charge the annual and membership fees from these CIs.
  • CICs shall tag these CIs as ‘Licence Cancelled Entities’ in the CIR.
  • These guidelines shall also be applicable to those entities whose licence / CoR has been cancelled by RBI prior to issuance of these guidelines.

What are other directions?

  • CICs shall disclose on their websites, details of complaints registered against them and CIs.
  • CICs while sharing credit information of an individual with a third party entity based on consent shall ensure that the credit information shared by CICs with these entities is stored only for 6 months, or till such time the credit information is required to be retained to satisfy the purpose for which it was intended, or the individual withdraws his / her consent to store such credit information, whichever is earlier and thereafter, the stored credit information shall be deleted.
  • To institutionalize a continuing mechanism for reviewing and making changes where necessary in the data formats, a Technical Working Group (TWG) shall be formed.
  • TWG shall comprise of representatives from Public Sector Banks, Private Sector Banks, Foreign Banks, UCBs, RRBs, AIFIs, NBFCs, HFCs, ARCs, India Banks’ Association (IBA), Micro Finance Institutions Network (MFIN), Sa-Dhan and CICs.
  • Meetings of the TWG shall be held at least once in a calendar year. The four CICs shall act as convenor of the TWG by rotation (for each calendar year), in alphabetical order of the name.
  • A Standing Sub-Group of TWG shall be constituted to function as an advisory and collaborative body to offer expert insights and make recommendations on technical aspects of credit information reporting. 
  • The Sub-Group of TWG would consist of representatives from Public-Sector Banks, Private Sector Banks, Foreign Banks, SFBs, RRBs, UCBs, NBFCs, ARCs, MFIN, Sa-Dhan, and CICs.
  • Members of the Sub-Group shall be selected by the convenor with prior approval of RBI. 
  • The Sub-Group of TWG shall meet at least on a half yearly basis.
  • Recommendations of the Sub-Group of TWG shall be forwarded to RBI for perusal. If required, RBI may seek TWG’s opinion on these recommendations.


References

Reserve Bank of India. (2025, January 06). 'Master Direction – Reserve Bank of India (Credit Information Reporting) Directions, 2025'. Retrieved from https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=12764&Mode=0

Reserve Bank of India. (2025, January 06). 'Master Direction on Credit Information Reporting'. Retrieved from https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx?prid=59459


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