BNPL Account Showing Unknown Dues or Late Fees and Hitting Your Credit Report? Here Is What to Do

Who this guide is for

This guide is for anyone who uses a Buy-Now-Pay-Later or pay-later product and is now facing one of these situations:

• The app shows an outstanding due or late fee you do not recognise, or that seems larger than what you actually bought.
• You believe you paid on time, but the BNPL ledger still shows a balance, a missed instalment, or a penalty.
• You have spotted, or you fear, a late-payment or default entry on your credit report linked to a BNPL lender.
• You never opened the BNPL account at all, and you suspect someone has used your identity.

It is especially useful if you are about to apply for a loan, credit card, or home loan, because even a small wrongly reported BNPL default can affect that application.

Who this guide is NOT for

This guide does not help if the dues are clearly genuine and you simply cannot pay right now. In that case, the issue is a repayment-hardship discussion with the lender, not a dispute. It also does not cover unauthorised app-based loans that were never a BNPL purchase, or aggressive recovery-app harassment, which need a different approach. And if your problem is a wrongly marked default on a regular bank loan rather than a BNPL purchase, see our guide on a loan wrongly marked NPA despite payment.

What you can do this weekend

Friday evening

Open the BNPL app and go to the account, statement, or ledger section. Download or screenshot your full repayment ledger, the dues breakdown, and the late-fee line. Then open the order or transaction history and screenshot every purchase linked to the account. Look for the lending-partner name, usually shown as "in partnership with" or "loan provider". Note it down. This tells you whether a regulated lender (an NBFC or bank) sits behind the BNPL, which decides your escalation route later.

Saturday

Now build your repayment proof. Open your bank statement and UPI app and find every payment you made towards the BNPL account. Note the date, amount, and reference number of each one. Place these side by side with the BNPL ledger and mark which dues are already paid, which you genuinely missed, and which you simply do not recognise. If a whole order or the entire account is unfamiliar, flag it as suspected identity misuse and do not pay anything. Next, pull your free credit report from the bureaus and check whether any late payment or default has been reported against the BNPL lender's name, and from which date.

Sunday

Draft your written complaint using the template further down. Be specific: list the disputed amount, the order it relates to, and the proof that you paid or never owed it. Attach the ledger, the order history, your repayment proof, and a screenshot of the credit-report entry if there is one. Save everything in one clearly named folder. On Monday, submit the complaint through the BNPL app's grievance section and by email to the platform and the named lender, and raise a separate online dispute with each credit bureau showing the wrong entry. Keep every reference number.

Documents and evidence checklist

Step-by-step action plan

Step 1 — Pull the BNPL ledger and order history

Start with the facts the platform itself holds. In the BNPL app, download the complete ledger or account statement, the dues breakdown, and the order or transaction history. Screenshot the late-fee line separately, because penalty amounts can change over time. If the app does not show a clear statement, use its in-app chat or grievance option to request a written statement of account in email. A complete ledger is the foundation for everything that follows.

Step 2 — Check whether the dues are genuine

Now match the ledger against your own records. Line up each due and late fee against your bank statement, UPI history, and any autopay mandate debits. Three outcomes are possible. The due is already paid, in which case you have a clear billing error to dispute. The due is a real missed instalment, in which case decide whether to pay and ask for the late marker to be corrected. Or the due or even the whole account is unfamiliar, in which case treat it as suspected identity misuse and do not pay. Sometimes an autopay simply failed because of low balance or an expired mandate, which is genuine but easy to clear once you spot it.

Step 3 — Get a free credit report and check for a default

BNPL credit is often provided by, or in partnership with, a regulated lender such as an NBFC or a bank, and that lender can report your repayment behaviour to the credit bureaus. Pull your free credit report from each bureau and look for any entry linked to the BNPL lender. Check the status (such as current, late, or written off), the amount, the date, and the lender name. If there is a wrong late-payment or default entry, that is a separate problem you must fix both with the lender and directly with the bureau. If there is no entry at all, the dispute is only about the dues in the app.

Step 4 — Dispute in writing with the platform and the lender

Raise a formal written grievance, not just a phone call. Use the BNPL app's grievance section and also email the platform and the named lender. State your account or loan number, the disputed amount, the order it relates to, and attach the ledger, the order history, and your repayment proof. Ask them to remove the wrong due or late fee and, if a wrong entry was reported, to correct it with the credit bureaus. Keep the in-app ticket number and a copy of the email. A written complaint creates the trail you will need if you have to escalate.

Step 5 — File a dispute with the credit bureau

If your credit report shows a wrong BNPL entry, raise an online dispute directly with each affected bureau, separately from your complaint to the lender. The bureau will contact the lender to verify the disputed entry and then update the record as per its rules. Keep the dispute reference number and a screenshot of the disputed line. Disputing with the bureau and with the lender at the same time gives you two parallel routes to a correction, which is faster than relying on only one.

Step 6 — Escalate to the lender grievance officer and the RBI

If the platform and lender do not resolve it within their stated timeline, escalate in writing to the lender's grievance redressal officer, whose details regulated lenders publish on their website. Reference your earlier complaint number. Where the BNPL is backed by a regulated lender (an NBFC or bank) and the grievance is not resolved satisfactorily within the prescribed window, you can take the complaint to the RBI through its Complaint Management System at cms.rbi.org.in under the Reserve Bank-Integrated Ombudsman Scheme. For identity-misuse cases, also file a complaint on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and consider a police complaint.

Escalation ladder

Copy-paste complaint template

Replace the text in square brackets with your own details before sending.

When RTI can help

The Right to Information Act, 2005 applies only to public authorities — bodies that are owned, controlled, or substantially financed by the government. BNPL apps, fintech platforms, and private NBFCs are not public authorities, so you cannot file an RTI against them. The same is true of credit bureaus such as CIBIL, Experian, Equifax, and CRIF High Mark, which are private companies. So RTI is not the tool to use against the BNPL platform or the bureau directly.

RTI can still be useful in a narrow but real way. The Reserve Bank of India is a public authority under the RTI Act. If your BNPL is backed by a regulated lender and you have already escalated a complaint to the RBI through cms.rbi.org.in, you can file an RTI with the RBI's Central Public Information Officer to ask whether your complaint has been received and registered, and the status of action taken on it. RTI to the RBI is about the regulator's own records and process, not about ordering a private lender to act.

If the lender behind your BNPL happens to be a public sector bank, then that bank is a public authority, and you can file an RTI with its Public Information Officer about its own records relating to your account. For the step-by-step process, read our guide on how to file an RTI online in India, and see CPGRAMS and RTI for government service complaints for how the two tools can be used together. If a public authority does not respond in time, our guide to the RTI first appeal and second appeal explains your next move.

When RTI will not help

The BNPL platform and the credit bureau: These are private bodies. RTI does not reach them. Your real remedies are the platform's grievance process, the lender's grievance officer, the credit bureau's dispute process, and the RBI route where a regulated lender is involved. Use those first and in writing.

Private NBFC lenders: Most fintech BNPL credit is financed by private NBFCs, which are not public authorities. RTI cannot be filed against them. The right route is a complaint to the NBFC's grievance officer and, if unresolved, the RBI Ombudsman at cms.rbi.org.in.

What RTI cannot compel: Even where RTI applies — for example to the RBI — it gives you information, not an order to reverse a due or delete a credit entry. The correction has to come from the lender and the bureau through their own processes. RTI information can support your case, but it is not a substitute for the dispute itself.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Paying the disputed amount just to make it stop. If the due is not genuinely yours, paying can make recovery of your money very hard, and it may not even remove a wrongly reported default. Confirm the dues are real before paying anything.
• Disputing only with the platform and not the credit bureau. A wrong entry sits in the bureau's records. Raising a dispute with the lender alone may not get it corrected quickly. Dispute with both, in parallel, and keep both reference numbers.
• Not identifying the actual lender. The app brand and the regulated lender are often different. Your complaint and any RBI escalation must name the lender, which you can find in the loan details, the key facts statement, or your credit report.
• Relying on phone calls instead of writing. A verbal complaint leaves no trail. Always raise the grievance in the app and by email so you have a dated record and a reference number for escalation.
• Ignoring a possible identity misuse. If the account or orders are not yours, do not just argue about the amount. File a fraud complaint with the platform and lender, dispute the bureau entry, lodge a cybercrime complaint, and check whether other accounts have been opened in your name.
• Going to the RBI for a non-regulated product. The RBI Ombudsman route works where an NBFC or bank lender is involved. If the BNPL is a pure wallet or merchant pay-later with no regulated lender, the RBI route may not apply — use the platform grievance and, if needed, the consumer route.
• Letting the dispute lapse. Disputes have timelines. If you do not follow up on your reference numbers, the matter can stall. Note the dates and chase the platform, lender, and bureau until you get written confirmation.