Unauthorised Loan-App or NBFC Loan Showing on Your Credit Report? Action Plan

Who this guide is for

This guide is for anyone in India who has found a loan account on their credit report that they did not apply for or authorise. The lender is often a digital lending app or a non-banking financial company (NBFC) you do not recognise. It is useful if you are in any of these situations:

• You pulled your credit report (for a home loan, car loan, or job check) and saw an unfamiliar personal loan, instant loan, or "buy now pay later" account.
• Recovery agents are calling or messaging you about a loan you never took.
• Your credit score dropped sharply and you cannot explain why.
• You suspect your lost or shared documents (PAN card, Aadhaar copy, selfie) were used to open a loan in your name.
• A loan you only guaranteed for someone else is being reported as your own borrowing.

This guide covers the credit-report and complaint side of the problem. If your main issue is abusive recovery calls, contact-list harassment, or threats from a loan app, read the companion guides on loan app harassment in India and loan apps threatening your contacts for the harassment-specific steps. This page focuses on getting the fraudulent loan removed and your record cleaned.

What you can do this weekend

Friday evening

Pull your full credit report from every major credit information company. India has more than one credit bureau, and a fraudulent loan may appear on one report but not another. Each bureau is required to give you a free report once a year. Save each report as a PDF.

Read every line of the accounts section. For the loan you do not recognise, write down the exact lender name, the account or loan number, the sanction date, the loan amount, and the contact details shown. Take clear screenshots. Do not delete or hide anything yet — you need this as evidence.

Check whether any phone number, email, or address on the fraudulent account belongs to you. If they are unknown, that is strong proof the loan is not yours.

Saturday

Raise an online dispute with each credit bureau that is showing the loan. Every bureau has a dispute facility on its website where you can flag an account as "not mine" or "fraudulent". Submit one dispute per bureau and note the dispute reference number each gives you. The bureau is required to investigate with the lender and correct genuine errors.

Next, file a complaint on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal at cybercrime.gov.in. Identity-theft loans are a financial cyber fraud. Describe how you discovered the loan, name the lender, and attach your screenshots. Save the acknowledgement and complaint number. If money was actually disbursed and stolen, also call the cyber-crime helpline immediately.

Then lodge a police complaint. Visit your local police station with copies of your credit report, ID, and the cyber-complaint acknowledgement. Ask for a written acknowledgement or an FIR. An official fraud record makes it much harder for the lender to refuse deletion later.

Sunday

Write a formal complaint to the lender named on the entry — the bank, NBFC, or loan app. State clearly that you never took the loan, demand that the account be removed from all credit bureaus, and ask for copies of the KYC documents and the loan agreement they relied on. Use the template in this guide. Send it by email and, where possible, by registered post so you have proof of delivery.

If the lender is an app you cannot identify as a registered NBFC, or it is harassing you, prepare a report for the RBI Sachet portal at sachet.rbi.org.in, which lets you complain against unregistered or illegal lending entities.

Finally, organise everything into one folder: credit reports, dispute reference numbers, cyber and police acknowledgements, and your letter to the lender. Index each item. You will reuse this bundle at every escalation step.

Documents and evidence checklist

Step-by-step action plan

Step 1 — Pull your full credit reports from every bureau

Start by getting your complete credit report from each major credit information company operating in India. Do not rely on a single app's "score" — get the full report that lists every account. A fraudulent loan can appear on one bureau and not on another, so check them all. Identify the precise lender name, account number, sanction date, and amount of the entry you do not recognise, and save each report as a PDF.

Step 2 — Raise an online dispute with each credit bureau

Every credit information company is regulated under the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005, and must run a dispute-resolution process. Use the online dispute facility on each bureau's website to flag the unauthorised account as "not mine" or "fraudulent". The bureau then takes the matter up with the lender that reported the data. Note the dispute reference number for each bureau and check back for the outcome. If the lender confirms the account is fraudulent, the bureau must correct or delete it.

Step 3 — Complain in writing to the lender

Disputing with the bureau alone is rarely enough. Write directly to the lender named on the entry. State that you never took or authorised the loan and demand: deletion of the account from all credit bureaus, a copy of the loan application and agreement, and copies of every KYC document used. Lenders are obliged to have a grievance-redressal mechanism; address the letter to the grievance redressal officer or nodal officer. Send it by email and registered post and keep proof of delivery.

Step 4 — File a cyber complaint and a police complaint

A loan opened in your name without consent is identity theft and financial fraud. File a complaint on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal at cybercrime.gov.in, describing how you found the loan and naming the lender. Separately, lodge a written complaint or FIR at your local police station. Carry your credit report, ID, and the cyber-complaint acknowledgement. These official records are often the single document that finally forces a lender or bureau to delete a fraudulent entry, so do not skip them.

Step 5 — Report illegal lenders on the RBI Sachet portal

Many predatory loan apps are not registered NBFCs at all, or operate without the licence they claim. If you cannot confirm the lender is RBI-registered, or it is harassing you over a fake loan, report it on the RBI Sachet portal at sachet.rbi.org.in. Sachet lets the public complain against entities lending or collecting deposits illegally, and helps the regulator act against rogue operators. For a deeper escalation route that combines grievance portals, see our guide on using CPGRAMS and RTI together.

Step 6 — Escalate to the RBI Ombudsman if a regulated lender ignores you

If the lender is an RBI-regulated bank or NBFC and does not resolve your complaint within the period it is allowed, or rejects it without good reason, you can escalate to the RBI Ombudsman under the Reserve Bank Integrated Ombudsman Scheme. File through the RBI complaint management system at cms.rbi.org.in, attaching your full evidence bundle and the lender's reply (or proof that it did not reply). The Ombudsman can direct the lender to correct the record and, in deserving cases, pay compensation for deficient grievance handling.

Step 7 — Confirm the entry is gone and protect yourself going forward

After the dispute is resolved, pull fresh credit reports from every bureau and confirm the fraudulent account has been removed and your score is recovering. Keep the closure communication. To prevent a repeat, be careful where you share KYC documents, watermark any copies you must share, and consider checking your credit report periodically so you catch any new fraud early.

Escalation ladder

Copy-paste complaint template

Replace the text in square brackets with your own details before sending. Address it to the lender's grievance redressal or nodal officer.

When RTI can help

The Right to Information Act, 2005 applies only to public authorities. Most loan apps and private NBFCs are not public authorities, so RTI usually does not reach them directly. But RTI can be a real help in a narrow set of situations connected to your dispute:

• The lender is a public-sector bank or government-owned NBFC: If the fraudulent loan was reported by a public-sector bank, you can file an RTI with its Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) asking for the records relied on. Ask for: "Copies of the loan application, sanction record, and all KYC documents used to open loan account [number] said to be in the name of [Your Name], and the action taken on my fraud complaint dated [DD/MM/YYYY]."
• Tracking a complaint with a government grievance system: If you escalated through a government portal and the trail goes cold, RTI can help you find out what was done internally on your complaint.
• Records of action against an illegal lender: Where a regulator or police body holds records about an entity you reported, an RTI can sometimes reveal whether action was taken, subject to the Act's exemptions.

To file an RTI online with a Central public authority, see our step-by-step RTI filing guide. The standard fee for Central authorities is the prescribed amount, and the CPIO must respond within 30 days. If you get no reply or an unsatisfactory one, our guide on filing a first appeal under RTI Section 19 explains the next step. For deeper strategy, The RTI Playbook covers using RTI in regulatory and financial disputes.

When RTI will not help

RTI has clear limits for this problem, and using the wrong tool wastes time:

• Private lenders and apps: A private NBFC or a private lending app is not a public authority. RTI does not apply to it. Use the lender's grievance process, the credit bureau dispute, the RBI Sachet portal, and the RBI Ombudsman instead.
• Credit bureaus: Credit information companies are private bodies regulated by the RBI; their dispute mechanism, not RTI, is the route to correct your report.
• RTI cannot delete the loan: RTI only gets you information. It cannot order a lender or bureau to remove a fraudulent account. The deletion comes from the dispute, the lender, the Ombudsman, or a consumer commission — RTI only supports those steps with documents.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Paying to make it stop: Never pay a recovery agent to "settle" a loan you never took. Paying can be treated as accepting the loan and weakens your fraud case. Report the harassment instead.
• Disputing with only one bureau: The fraudulent loan may sit on several credit reports. Dispute it with every bureau that shows it, or it will keep dragging your score down.
• Skipping the police or cyber complaint: Many lenders and bureaus will not delete a fraud entry without an official fraud report. The cyber complaint and FIR are not optional formalities — they are the documents that finally unlock the deletion.
• Not asking for the KYC used: Always demand copies of the documents the lender relied on. They reveal how your identity was misused and are powerful evidence for the police and the Ombudsman.
• Letting deadlines slide: Note the date you complain to the lender. Once its allowed grievance period lapses without resolution, escalate promptly to the RBI Ombudsman — do not wait indefinitely.
• Confusing harassment with the credit-report issue: They are linked but separate. If your bigger problem is abusive calls or contact-list threats, follow our dedicated guides on loan app harassment and threats to your contacts alongside this one.
• Ignoring SMS-based scams that lead here: Some fake "reward" and loan-offer messages are how scammers harvest your details in the first place. See our guide on reporting reward-points expiry scam SMS to spot and report them.
• Not keeping a clean evidence folder: Every escalation asks for the same documents. Build one indexed folder once, and reuse it for the bureau, the lender, the Ombudsman, and any court.