Charged more than your loan's Key Facts Statement says?

1Your rights

• A KFS before you sign: under RBI's KFS rules (April 2024), lenders must give a Key Facts Statement for all new retail and MSME term loans sanctioned from 1 October 2024, explain it, and get your acknowledgement. It must be in a language you understand.
• No charges outside the KFS: fees and charges not mentioned in the KFS can't be charged at any stage of the loan without your explicit consent.
• An honest APR: the APR in the KFS must include the interest and all charges the lender levies, plus third-party charges it collects from you, such as insurance and legal fees, shown separately.
• Time to decide: a KFS stays valid for at least three working days for loans of seven days or more, so you don't have to sign on the spot.
• Penal charges, not penal interest: charges for late payment must be reasonable, disclosed in advance, and can't be added to your interest rate or have interest charged on them (rules in force since 2024).
• Who to complain to: the KFS must give the phone number and email of the lender's grievance redressal officer.

2What your lender can say no to

• Charges listed in the KFS that you accepted, and GST on them, can be charged.
• Contingent charges listed in the KFS, such as penal charges or bounce charges, can be charged when the event happens. They aren't part of the APR.
• A charge you explicitly agreed to later (for example, a service you asked for) can be charged even if it wasn't in the KFS.
• Loans sanctioned before 1 October 2024 don't have a KFS under these rules; your sanction letter and loan agreement set out the charges. You can still ask for a breakup and query anything they don't mention.

3Before you write

1. Find your KFS (or sanction letter) and your bank statement showing what was credited and debited.
2. Run the numbers in the KFS / APR checker: it shows whether the APR includes all charges and whether more was deducted than the KFS allows. Its "Write to the lender" button fills in the letter below.
3. List each charge you're questioning: date, amount and the description on your statement.
4. Check whether you agreed to it, for example an insurance form you signed. If you did, ask how to cancel it instead.

4Create your letter

Fill in your details to get a ready letter, quoting the relevant rules, that you can send to your lender.

5Send it so you have proof

The letter itself isn't proof. What the RBI Ombudsman, a consumer forum or a court will want to see is proof that the lender received it, and that depends on how you send it:

• Hand it in at the branch, with a second copy

  Very strong

  The lender's "received" stamp, signature and date on your copy (use the acknowledgement box on the printed letter)

• Registered Post or Speed Post

  Very strong

  The postal receipt, and the delivery record from India Post tracking

• Email to the lender's official grievance address

  Strong

  Your sent email with date and time, the lender's auto-reply, and any complaint ticket number. Keep the original emails, not just screenshots.

• The lender's online complaint form or app

  Strong

  The complaint reference number and confirmation. Save the confirmation page, email or SMS.

• Phone call, or speaking at the branch

  Weak

  Usually nothing you can show later. Always follow up in writing.

Keep everything together: your letter, proof of sending, the lender's replies and your loan documents. LoanReveal doesn't keep copies of your letters, so we can't confirm what you sent; the lender's stamp, the postal record or the lender's reference number is your proof. For court proceedings, electronic records such as emails may need extra formalities: ask a lawyer.

6If it isn't resolved: escalate

Write to the grievance redressal officer named in your KFS. If you don't get a satisfactory reply within 30 days, complain to the RBI Ombudsman, attaching the KFS, your statement and your letter. Charging fees outside the KFS is a breach of RBI's rules, which the Ombudsman can take up; ask for a refund of the amount and any interest charged on it.

1. Write to the lender (steps 4 and 5). If there's no reply, or you're not satisfied, write to its Principal Nodal Officer, whose details are on its website.
2. After 30 days without a satisfactory reply, file a free complaint with the RBI Ombudsman at cms.rbi.org.in, attaching your letter, the lender's reply (if any) and your loan documents.

7Keep a case file

Record every step: when you wrote, how it was delivered, reference numbers and replies. Download it as a dated PDF timeline with a checklist of documents to attach, ready for the RBI Ombudsman, a consumer forum or a lawyer.

Frequently asked questions