वसूली एजेंटों का आचरण

Conduct of recovery agents

A lender may recover what is lawfully due. It may not frighten, shame or harass anyone to do it. These are the limits that bind banks, NBFCs and the agents they engage, including the stricter directions in force from 1 January 2027.

Guide: R-1
Category: B-1
Contact hours: 8 am to 7 pm
Reviewed: October 2026

8 to 7o'clock

the only hours in which a recovery call or visit is permitted

1day

advance notice of the agency before any visit, from 1 January 2027

6months

for which recovery calls are recorded and kept, from 1 January 2027

₹0fee

to complain to the institution, and then to the RBI Ombudsman

Part 1

What an agent may not do

एजेंट क्या नहीं कर सकता

Lenders remain responsible for the conduct of the agents they engage. These prohibitions apply to the lender's own staff as well.

No contact before 8 am or after 7 pmCalls, messages and visits are confined to these hours, unless you have yourself asked to be contacted at another time.³⁴
No threats, abuse or intimidationNo abusive or threatening language, no anonymous calls, and no persistent or excessive calling or messaging.³
No shaming through othersYour family, friends, referees, neighbours and colleagues may not be approached, intimidated or humiliated to put pressure on you.³⁴
No violence of any kindNo violence or threat of violence against you, your family, your property or your reputation. Such conduct may also be an offence of criminal intimidation.⁵
No posting on social mediaYour photograph, recordings or personal details may not be circulated on social media or in messaging groups to pressure you.⁴
No false statementsNo false or misleading statement about the debt or its consequences, such as a threat of arrest that no law provides for.⁴
No contact on sensitive occasionsNo contact during a bereavement, a medical emergency, a marriage or a similar occasion in the family.⁴
No intrusion into your privacyAgents may receive only the information needed for recovery, and may not access the contacts, photographs or messages on your phone.⁴

Part 2

What you are entitled to

आपके अधिकार

Rules marked with a date take effect on 1 January 2027 under directions notified by the RBI in August 2026.

Ask firstIdentity and authorityAn agent must carry an identity card, the lender's authorisation letter and a copy of the notice. Ask to see all three before you discuss anything.⁴
From 1 Jan 2027Name of the agencyFrom 1 January 2027 the lender must tell you which agency is assigned at least one day before any visit, and tell you at once if it changes.⁴
A receipt for any paymentPay only into the lender's own account or against an official receipt issued at once. Never pay cash to an agent without a receipt.⁴
From 1 Jan 2027A grievance officer to write toFrom 1 January 2027 the name, email, phone number and address of the lender's recovery grievance officer must appear in your loan agreement and on each recovery communication.⁴
From 1 Jan 2027A place of your choosingFrom 1 January 2027 you may be met at a place you choose. Visits to your home or workplace are permitted only after two failed attempts there.⁴
From 1 Jan 2027Records of the calls made to youFrom 1 January 2027 recovery calls must be logged and recorded, you must be told they are recorded, and the recordings kept for six months.⁴

Part 3

What changes on 1 January 2027

1 जनवरी 2027 से क्या बदलता है

The RBI's directions on the conduct of regulated entities in recovery of loans apply to banks, small finance banks, co-operative banks, NBFCs and housing finance companies.⁴

Subject	Obligation of the lender from 1 January 2027
Contact hours	Between 8 am and 7 pm only, unless the borrower has asked otherwise.
Place of contact	At the place the borrower chooses. Home or workplace only after two failed attempts there.
Notice of agency	The assigned agency named at least one day before any visit; a change notified at once.
Published list	Empanelled recovery agencies listed on the lender's website and updated within seven days of a change.
Call recording	Recovery calls logged and recorded, the borrower informed, recordings kept for six months.
Written communication	Any written recovery communication approved by the lender, naming its recovery grievance officer.
Financed phones	A device may be restricted only if the loan financed that device, after 30 days past due and due notice; calls received, SMS and emergency functions always remain available.
Compensation	₹250 an hour for a wrongful or delayed restriction of a device, and compensation under the lender's policy for loss caused by non-compliant recovery.

Part 4

What to do

क्या करें

From the first call
Keep a recordNote the date, time, number and name for each call or visit. Save messages and voice notes. Ask any visitor for the identity card, authorisation letter and notice.
Immediately, if threatened
Go to the police for any threat or violenceThreats of harm, violence or damage are matters for the police. In an emergency, dial 112. Otherwise lodge a written complaint at the police station and keep the receipt.⁵
Within a day or two
Complain to the lender in writingWrite to the lender's grievance officer, or its recovery grievance officer once named, using the letter below. Keep the complaint reference.
After 30 days, or on rejection
EscalateWrite to the Nodal Officer and then the Principal Nodal Officer. If the matter remains unresolved, file before the RBI Ombudsman, free of charge.⁶
At any stage
Register with the BureauThe Bureau places the complaint, records each date and escalates it on lapse, with you in copy.

Part 5

Letter to the lender

ऋणदाता को पत्र

Complete the bracketed particulars. Send it yourself, or register the grievance and the Bureau issues it under your Letter of Authority.

Complaint against the conduct of recovery agentsTo the lender's grievance officer

To,
The Grievance Redressal Officer,
[Name of the bank or NBFC], [Branch]

Subject: Complaint against the conduct of recovery agents, Loan Account No. [number]

Madam or Sir,

1. I am the [borrower / co-borrower / guarantor] in the above loan account.

2. On the dates set out below, persons stating that they act for your institution contacted me in a manner that the directions of the Reserve Bank of India prohibit:

   [Date, time, number or place]: [what was said or done]
   [Date, time, number or place]: [what was said or done]

3. I request that you:
   (a) give me the name and contact details of the recovery agency engaged in my account, and of your officer responsible for recovery grievances;
   (b) stop all contact outside 8 am to 7 pm, and all contact with my family, neighbours or colleagues;
   (c) inquire into the conduct described above and tell me in writing the action taken;
   (d) preserve all records and recordings of the calls made to me.

4. I do not dispute my obligation to pay amounts lawfully due. I object only to the manner of recovery.

Please reply in writing within the period fixed by your grievance redressal policy.

[Name]
[Address]
[Email address]
[Date]

Open in my email Have the Bureau send it

Part 6

Evidence to keep

रखने योग्य प्रमाण

A log of calls: date, time, number, name used
Screenshots of messages and voice notes
Photographs of the visitor's identity card and authorisation letter
Names and numbers of anyone else contacted about your loan
Receipts for any payment made
Copies of notices received
The police complaint receipt, if any
Your written complaint to the lender and its reference

Part 7

Questions

प्रश्न

Can a recovery agent come to my house?

A visit is permitted only between 8 am and 7 pm. From 1 January 2027 you must be told the agency's name at least a day earlier, you may choose the place of contact, and a visit to your home or workplace is permitted only after two failed attempts at the place you chose.

Can the lender lock my mobile phone?

From 1 January 2027 a phone may be restricted only if the loan financed that very phone, the agreement allows it, notice has been given and the loan is at least 30 days past due. Receiving calls, SMS and emergency functions must always remain available. Restriction for an ordinary personal loan is not permitted.

I am a guarantor. Do these protections apply to me?

Yes. The prohibitions on intimidation, humiliation and out of hours contact protect any person in the lender's debt collection, including guarantors and co-borrowers, and the 2027 directions provide compensation to borrowers and guarantors for losses caused by non-compliant recovery.

Is not paying a loan a criminal offence?

Non-payment of a loan is ordinarily a civil liability. A dishonoured cheque is a separate matter that may lead to proceedings under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.⁷ A threat of arrest that no law provides for is itself a prohibited false statement.

Part 8

Other guides

अन्य मार्गदर्शिकाएँ

Case Registry

A grievance left unanswered is a grievance not yet registered.