Unknown BNPL dues and late fees showing on your credit report

Reviewed on: 2026-06-12.

Rohit applied for a home loan in March. The bank's credit check threw up a surprise: an overdue pay-later account of Rs 6,340 reported by an NBFC he had never heard of, tagged to a shopping app he stopped using two years ago. The app showed late fees piling up on a Rs 1,999 order he did not recognise. He paid nothing, and that was the right first move. Whether your case is a billing error, a failed autopay, or an account someone opened in your name, the playbook is the same: identify the real lender, gather the ledger, dispute in writing with both the lender and the credit bureau, and treat anything you never signed up for as fraud.

BNPL is rarely the app's own money. Under RBI's Digital Lending Guidelines of September 2022, the app is usually a lending service provider (LSP) and a regulated bank or NBFC sits behind it. The rules require the lender's name to be disclosed to you in the Key Fact Statement and on the app. Your credit report is the fastest clue, because the entry appears under the lender's name, not the app's brand. Note three things: the lender's name, the account opening date, and the “date reported” of the overdue status.

This matters because your complaint, and any RBI escalation, must name the regulated lender. A grievance addressed only to the app's support chat goes nowhere.

Many BNPL partnerships run on default loss guarantee (FLDG) arrangements, which RBI formally permitted with conditions in June 2023. The fintech absorbs early losses, but the loan still sits on the regulated lender's books and the lender still reports your repayment record to the bureaus. In this structure, small reconciliation gaps are common: a repayment collected by the app but posted late to the lender, an autopay that failed silently after a card reissue, or a refund from a cancelled order that never reached the loan ledger. Each of these can generate a “late” marker that is the system's fault, not yours.

So pull the evidence before you argue. Download the full BNPL ledger and order history from the app, and line them up against your bank statement and UPI history. Mark each due as paid, genuinely missed, or unknown.

Run these tracks in parallel. Do not wait for one to finish before starting the next.

Raise an in-app ticket, then email both the platform's grievance ID and the lender's grievance redressal officer (every regulated lender must publish one). State the account or loan number, the disputed amount and order, attach the ledger and your repayment proof, and ask for two things in writing: reversal of the wrong dues and late fees, and correction of the entry reported to the credit bureaus. The digital lending rules require the lender to own grievances arising from its LSP. If the complaint is not resolved within 30 days, escalate to the RBI Integrated Ombudsman at cms.rbi.org.in.

Raise an online dispute with every bureau showing the entry: CIBIL, Experian, Equifax and CRIF High Mark. You can pull one free full credit report from each bureau every year, so check all four. Under the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005, the bureau routes your dispute to the lender and the correction process is expected to complete within 30 days. Keep each dispute reference number and a screenshot of the disputed line, because the line can change while the dispute runs.

If you never opened the account, or the orders are not yours, do not pay even a token amount. Payment can be read as acceptance of the debt. Report identity misuse on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal at cybercrime.gov.in or call 1930, and keep the acknowledgement number. Send the cybercrime acknowledgement to the lender with a written statement that the account was opened without your consent, and ask the lender to mark the account as disputed or fraud-tagged with the bureaus. Then check your full report for any other accounts you do not recognise.

• Full BNPL ledger or statement of account, downloaded with the date visible.
• Order and transaction history from the app, including cancelled and refunded orders.
• Bank statement and UPI references for every repayment, with dates and UTRs.
• The Key Fact Statement or loan terms naming the lender.
• Credit report extracts from each bureau showing the disputed line.
• Your grievance emails, ticket numbers and bureau dispute references.

To: Grievance Redressal Officer, [Lender NBFC/Bank name]
CC: Grievance team, [BNPL platform name]

Subject: Dispute of dues and credit bureau entry, BNPL account [number]

Sir/Madam,

1. The above account shows dues of Rs [amount] including late fees of
   Rs [amount]. I dispute this because [paid on date with UTR / order not
   made by me / account not opened by me].

2. I enclose the account ledger, order history and my repayment proof.
   [If fraud: I have reported identity misuse on cybercrime.gov.in,
   acknowledgement no. [number].]

3. Please reverse the disputed dues and late fees, correct the entry
   reported to CIBIL, Experian, Equifax and CRIF High Mark, and confirm
   both actions in writing within 30 days.

4. I have separately raised disputes with the credit bureaus, reference
   numbers [list]. If this grievance is not resolved in 30 days, I will
   approach the RBI Integrated Ombudsman through cms.rbi.org.in.

Name, registered mobile, email, date.

Mostly no, and it is better to know that early. BNPL platforms, private NBFCs and all four credit bureaus are private bodies, outside the RTI Act. Two narrow uses remain. The RBI is a public authority, so once you have filed on cms.rbi.org.in you can ask the RBI's CPIO for the status of action on your complaint. And if the lender behind the BNPL is a public sector bank, you can seek records of your own loan account from that bank's CPIO. For drafting, see how to file RTI online.

• Bank refuses to register your transaction dispute
• Withdrawal shown that you never made
• Account frozen over a fraud-linked payment
• Auto-debit continues after card replacement

Browse the full index at all practical guides.

Usually not. Payment closes the balance but the late marker stays unless the lender corrects the history. If the due was never genuine, pay nothing and dispute. If it was a real small miss, pay it and ask in writing for the status to be updated.

Because the app is a lending service provider and the loan sits with a partner bank or NBFC. The bureau entry carries the lender's name. Address your complaint to that lender, with the app in copy.

The framework under CICRA 2005 works on a 30-day cycle. The bureau verifies with the lender and updates or confirms the entry. If the lender stonewalls, escalate the lender to the RBI Ombudsman.

The lender's grievance officer, each credit bureau, and the cybercrime portal at cybercrime.gov.in. Ask the bureaus whether a fraud alert can be placed on your file, and review your report for other unknown accounts.

The RB-IOS can examine deficiencies by regulated lenders, including wrong reporting, and its awards bind the lender. File at cms.rbi.org.in after 30 days of an unresolved written grievance.

The RBI Ombudsman route may not fit. Use the platform grievance process, the National Consumer Helpline at consumerhelpline.gov.in, and e-Daakhil for a consumer complaint if you suffered loss.

Download the BNPL dispute checklist (PDF).